Utopia and the ‘Pacific Rim’: The Cartographical Evidence
Lakowski, Romuald I.
Early Modern Literary Studies 5.2 (September, 1999)
Abstract
This article examines the influence of Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Geographical accounts (Ptolemy, Macrobius, Sacrobosco and the Cosmographiae introductio) on More’s Utopia, especially with regard to theories about the five climatic zones and the Antipodes. It also draws on contemporary maps to argue that More’s geographical understanding was not modern, and that he thought of the island of Utopia in primarily Antipodean and Asian (“Indian”), rather than American terms. In support of this a number of major cartographical discrepancies in maps are pointed out: South America is shown as close to Asia, North America does not appear on most maps, the Earth’s Circumference is underestimated by 20-30% and the size of Asia greatly exaggerated, and a number of important geographical features (India, Ceylon, the Malaysian Peninsula and Indonesia) are incorrectly placed well South of the Equator. An appendix discusses More’s knowledge of Macrobius.
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