Dear All,

Apologies for cross-posting to Carto-soc, Liber-gdc, Lis-maps, 
Maphist-l, Maps-l, and various Gough Map aficionados ......


The Bodleian Library is collaborating with scholars from Queen's 
University Belfast on 'Mapping the Realm', a research project funded 
by the British Academy to create an interactive online version of the 
Bodleian's celebrated medieval Gough Map of Great Britain. The map 
itself is believed to date from around 1360, the clues to its 
accurate dating based on historical changes of place name and studies 
of the hand used to inscribe those names onto the map. However, 
neither the identity of its author or its exact origins are known. 
Drawn in pen, ink and coloured washes on two skins of vellum, the 
map's dimensions measure 115 x 56cm. It was donated to the Bodleian 
Library in Oxford by Richard Gough in 1809, along with the rest of 
his collection of maps, prints, books and drawings, under the terms 
of his will. The map was bought by Gough at a sale in 1774 for half a 
crown. 

The 'Mapping the Realm' research project consists of a 
multi-disciplinary team of academics based at Queen's University 
Belfast. It is being directed by Keith Lilley (Geography), with 
support by Chris Lloyd (Geography) and Paul Ell (Centre for Data 
Digitisation and Analysis). The research fellow is Steve Trick. The 
project team also includes Professor Bruce Campbell (Geography), 
Professor John Thompson (English), and Mark Gardiner (Archaeology). 
The research is being carried out in collaboration with the Bodleian 
Library through Map Librarian, Nick Millea.

The project seeks to find out more about this enigmatic map. Using a scan of the original, 
undertaken by DigiData Technologies for an Oxford Digital Library project, the Gough Map 
has been analysed at the School of Geography at Queen's using a Geographical Information 
System (GIS). GIS has made it possible to study the map's content and attempt to assess 
how it was made, who made it, and what it was made for - all questions yet to be resolved.

The map has also been made interactive and is accessible via the following link from the 
Bodleian Map Room's home page:
	http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/herefrme.htm
There is also a direct link via Queen's:
	http://sarah.gg.qub.ac.uk/website/goughmap/viewer.htm

As well as seeing a digital version of the Gough Map users will also 
be able to identify the features that the map shows, such as towns and
cities, roads and rivers, and study accompanying data relating to 
these places. It is hoped that 'Mapping the Realm' will inspire 
future research into what is both the earliest surviving route map of 
Britain, and the earliest surviving map depicting Britain with a 
recognisable coastline.


With best wishes,
Nick Millea
________________________________________________________

Nick Millea
Map Librarian, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG
tel:      01865 287119
fax:     01865 277139
email: [log in to unmask]

homepage: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/
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