The Islands That Never Were
The more you look at maps, the more apparent it becomes that they aren’t always just lifeless, objective depictions of the spatial distribution of objects. Early maps, which began to replace the simple panoramic views of cities which had preceded them, often featured images and lengthy passages describing (and usually praising) the depicted city, country, and ruler. The famous ‘Agas’ map of London from the mid-16th century is one of the first proper maps of the city and features text which lauds the ‘Ancient city’ and alludes to the notion of London as a ‘New Troy’ established by the Trojan Brutus. Landmarks — most notably St Paul’s Cathedral — were drawn almost side-on to emphasise their importance, contradicting the map’s general perspective (the same decision was made by William Morgan in 1682). Some maps even include things that aren’t really there. John Ogilby’s famously detailed map of London from 1677 depicts both the ‘New [Fleet] Canal’ and ‘New [Thames] Key’ as though they were finished when in reality both were under construction and were neither permanently constructed.
What most maps did not intentionally include, however, were land masses or locations which simply did not exist. One common problem for cartographers since the classical era has been the recorded existence of islands which have later been discovered not to exist. These have become known as phantom islands.
