Rediscovered $10-million dollar map that changed view of the world
- December 20, 2009 22:12
In 2001, the Library of Congress paid $10 million for a rare map made in 1507 by Martin Waldseemueller. What makes it so unusual? The map bestows the name America on the New World. Though Waldseemueller made 1,000 copies, all were lost until 1901 when a Jesuit teacher, Father Joseph Fischer, stumbled upon a copy stashed in an old portfolio in Germany. A new book by Toby Lester, “The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name" tells the adventure.