Quote:Mark Knowles: So to me many of the specific details relate to buildings with distinct features or illustrations of architectural features.
I think they do too. And the first 9 or so years I delved into the map, I assumed it represented real places (possibly a strip map), so I looked at zillions of domes, courtyards, fountains, lighthouses, etc., etc. I collected a huge number of examples.
But, I am not so sure now. After looking at thousands of medieval maps and schematic diagrams, I realized that many illustrators used real-looking architecture to illustrate mythical or only semi-real worlds (like the supposed travels of "John de Mandeville" and the mythical "New Jerusalem" and numerous others).
I also noticed something rather important. Even if they were illustrating something from an exotic place or a different culture, they OFTEN drew it in terms of their own culture. For example, sometimes Africans were drawn as black, but not always, and the King of India would sometimes be drawn like a white guy (like a Northern European) with a long beard. The only "Indian" thing about him was his turban. The same with architecture. Sometimes they drew eastern domes, but often they drew European castles to represent eastern places.
So now I am trying to look at it in more flexible ways. Maybe real, maybe partly real, maybe partly cosmological or mythical. Maybe not quite so literal a map as I first (and probably wrongly) assumed.