Phantom Islands of the Atlantic: The Legends of Seven Lands That Never Were

Explores strange tales of seven mythical islands that were claimed, described, and carefully mapped but never existed, combining history and myth to explain how these lands, conjured out of rumor, mistaken identity, and sheer fantasy, managed to stimulate hope and the imaginations of explorers for centuries.

Until the invention of modern navigational intruments (most notably the chronometer, in the 1730s, which enabled sailors to mark longitude), geographic calculations drew upon legends and unverifiable reports from ancient mariners who, sailing only by latitude and the stars, could not pinpoint precisely where they had been. Early cartographers filled their maps with the satanic beasts and horrific (or idyllic) landscapes the sailors described. As navigation became more scientific, these "lands that never were" disappeared from the maps. After presenting ancient and medieval geographical theories, Johnson, a sailor who has crossed the Atlantic five times in a 27-foot schooner, tells seven of these island tales. The Isle of Demons off Newfoundland was reputedly inhabited by bears, walruses and a variety of mythological animals. St. Brendan, a sixth-century Irish monk, was said to have discovered the islands that came to bear his name on a seven-year voyage that may have been a religious fantasy. The fifth century's Saint Ursula, legend has it, left Britain for Rome by boat, accompanied by 11,000 virgins. Johnson also tells of the tantalizing searches for Frisland, Buss Island, the Isle of Seven Cities and Hy-Brazil, a foggy green isle off the west coast of Ireland that was eyed as a midway station for trade to the Orient. This admirably researched and well-written account, with numerous maps and illustrations, vividly illustrates how interesting the often overlooked science of geography can be. BOMC and QPB selections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Entertaining voyages into the geography of the imagination, from a sailor and journalist (Charting the Sea of Darkness, not reviewed). In the early days of cartography, islands came and islands went. Unable to plot longitude, explorers should have advised their mapmakers: Here there be islands, maybe. There were other reasons for these illusory shards of terra firma: mirages and delusions, shape-shifting mountains that emerged and then sank again beneath the waves, and offshore banks. In the North Atlantic, a few of these phantom isles have persisted in our imaginations--it is their story that Johnson relates. There is the Isle of Demons, said to be populated by beasts and evil spirits. Johnson fancies the demonic cries heard by mariners were those of nesting pelagic birds, perhaps on Funk Island. There is the curious disappearence of the inhabited island of Frisland, supposedly discovered by the 14th-century voyager Nicolo Zeno. Buss Island, frequently sighted by ships looking for the Northwest Passage, is now gone; was it just another ``false horizon created by the tricks and deceptive appearances of the Arctic atmosphere''? Consider Antilla, its seven cities home to seven refugee bishops, and Hy-Brazil, revealed once every seven years when its veil of fog lifts. Easily one of the best tales is that of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgin companions, martyred by Huns at the behest of the Roman emperor. The islands named after her are no phantoms--they sit clear as day in the Caribbean, tagged by Christoper Columbus--but her legend may well be, suggests Johnson. He pulls together as much as he can about vanished or fabulous islands, plumbing ancient texts for sightings and commentary, poring over early maps that chart the peregrinations of the islands, then serves up his findings with a light, bright touch. A feast for those who hunger after terra incognita. (35 maps and illustrations) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Johnson is a maritime historian and sailor who has crossed the Atlantic five times in a 27' sailboat. His "phantom islands" were usually "discovered" after a storm or during a fog when the navigator was disoriented. Returning voyagers would associate their landfall with a legend and it would then appear on a contemporary map. The first chapter, "Mapping the Unknown Seas," establishes the kind of cartographic and navigational inaccuracies that affected the landfalls of the early explorers, including their inability to calculate longitude accurately, the effects of ocean currents, and magnitude deviations at the poles. For each of the seven islands?Isle of Demons, Frisland, Buss Island, Antilla, Hy-Brazil, Saint Ursula's Island, and the Islands of Saint Brendan?Johnson details the history of its discovery, its probable location, and the date it first appeared on maps. There are plenty of good stories here; a nice addition for public and academic collections.?John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In the dawn of the Renaissance, as the age of discovery and exploration got off the ground (so to speak), expeditions into uncharted waters of the Atlantic Ocean brought a vast amount of new information back to those waiting in Europe. But in many instances, early information was wrong or misleading at best; and as Johnson reveals in this edifying book, some islands that were thought at the time to exist in the North Atlantic actually didn't. In a compelling blend of history, cartography, geography, and mythology, Johnson focuses on seven such "phantom" islands, including the Isle of Demons, purportedly located off the coast of Newfoundland and populated by mythological creatures, and a place called Hy-Brazil, supposedly found off the coast of Ireland. For a wide audience of history and travel lovers. Brad Hooper