I started last night the book Myths of Geography: Eight Ways We Get the World Wrong by Paul Richardson. I am only 2 chapters in, but so far it is a fascinating read about Geography and where some of our conceptions of the world come from.

The book references the Hereford Mappa Mundi (map). It is a map of the T-in-O variety that puts East on the upper part of the map. Everything outside of the O of the map is the "Unknown" lands. The T is made up of the Mediterranean, Greece, and Egypt. Everything is in Latin and from nearly 700 years ago, but it is still recognizable even though the creator(s) were not trying to make it accurate.

The book also is an introduction for me to Muhammad al-Idrisi's Tabula Rogeriana (map) where it has South at the top and Mecca in the center. The map is shown in Wikipedia upside down, but I want to study it right side up so I can find place names. Europe is a little hard to decipher because of the arabic, but I do see small things like Sardinia.

And finally there is the Waldseemüller map also known as the Universalis Cosmographia (map). It is the first map that mentions America over 500 years ago (over South America). America is an honorarium for Amerigo Vespucci, a bit of trivia most school age children learn, but not always the context.