10-02-2018, 10:43 PM
I intended this thread rather as a somewhat neutral investigation of how the foldout was supposed to be handled. You don't write labels in all possible directions if there isn't any turning around involved. That's why I find JKP's observation on the roundel start signs of relevance.
If you take the bottom right roundel and turn it so that the sign comes into the common position, the labels also balance out, and the sheet's corner points nicely to the left.
This would properly place the two suns east and west. The famous three-dot-sign would become north.
Still it's confusing because there seems to be a shifting preference for the map to be held, depending on which part you're looking at. That's the fascinating part.
And there's shifting in JKP's marks too. In the bottom left roundel, which would be north, the sign aligns perfectly with the "north" symbol. But in the bottom right roundel (above) the sign is pretty close to the sun which would indicate west.
So in my opinion (or rather, faint impression) the map does have a consistent orientation, but each roundel has a suggested direction of looking at it.
If you take the bottom right roundel and turn it so that the sign comes into the common position, the labels also balance out, and the sheet's corner points nicely to the left.
This would properly place the two suns east and west. The famous three-dot-sign would become north.
Still it's confusing because there seems to be a shifting preference for the map to be held, depending on which part you're looking at. That's the fascinating part.
And there's shifting in JKP's marks too. In the bottom left roundel, which would be north, the sign aligns perfectly with the "north" symbol. But in the bottom right roundel (above) the sign is pretty close to the sun which would indicate west.
So in my opinion (or rather, faint impression) the map does have a consistent orientation, but each roundel has a suggested direction of looking at it.