A controversial map that casts doubt on when Europeans discovered Australia will be displayed down under for the first time at the nation’s largest spatial event, Ozri 2013.
Novae Guineae Forma and Situs – a 1593 map that depicts a giant, unnamed land mass believed by some experts to be Australia – pre-dates the earliest confirmed map of the continent by more than a decade.
It is part of an exclusive collection of the nation’s earliest chartings – nearly all of which have never been displayed outside Europe – that will be exhibited by the National Library of Australia.
National Library of Australia Curator of Maps Dr Martin Woods will deliver a presentation on the exhibition at Ozri 2013 (details below), and will be available for interviews and image opportunities.
He said Novae Guineae Forma and Situs shows a southern continent below New Guinea complete with people, monsters and the Great Dividing Range
“The map contradicts official thinking that Europeans were unaware that Australia existed prior to the 1606 Dutch landing on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula,” Dr Woods said.
Other maps in the exhibit include the first European atlas of China, created in 1655; an extremely rare sharkskin pocket globe from 1791; and maps by navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders revealed he copied parts of his first map of Australia from century-old Dutch charts.
Ozri 2013 is hosted by Esri Australia, the market leader in Australia’s $2.1 billion mapping technology industry.
Complimentary media passes are available by downloading and emailing the online media pass application or contacting Alicia Kouparitsas using the details below.
Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia – Dr Martin Wood, National Library of Australia
Date:
Thursday 5 September 2013
Time:
9.15am – 9.35am
Location:
Plaza Auditorium
Brisbane Convention Centre
Merivale St, South Brisbane
The exhibit will be held throughout Ozri 2013 in the Exhibition Hall.
Website: http://esriaustralia.com.au/event/ozri-2013-sed-261
