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

by Donald S. Johnson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Prior to the discovery of continental drift and the birth of islands by volcanic action, a different sort of movement and birth of landmasses took place: the continual cartographic displacement of approximately 27,000 nonexistent islands reputed to exist in the Atlantic and the ontological displacement of the islands from imaginative "existence" on maps and in traveler's tales. Johnson traces the birth, lives, and deaths of seven of these elusive islands of the Atlantic--including their towns, villages, and exotic inhabitants such as St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgin companions (what a lure this must have been to lusty sailors!)--from maps and ship's logs. In the process, he reveals much about the ways in which imagination becomes reality through social consensus and the authority of the printed document. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Quill (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380730782
• ISBN-13: 978-0380730780
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,698,001 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tale Tales and Mistaken Identities, June 29, 1998

By	Lenore S. Schellinger "linn556" (Humble, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Until the problem of longitude was worked out in the 1700s, sailors and cartographers had great difficulty affixing exact locations of land masses. Islands were particularly elusive, and many of them had a habit of wandering around in the ocean! Occasionally, someone would bump into an island; think a new discovery was made; give it a name; and then spread the news to mapmakers. Some islands got discovered and named several times. Other islands were imagined or invented. Imagine the confusion of a poor navigator trying to figure out where he was if he was relying on a map drawn from hearsay.

Phantom Islands of the Atlantic is filled with quaint maps and illustrations. Mr. Johnson's narrative is breezy and entertaining yet well-researched and informative. This book is a delight!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Mythological History, September 29, 2000

By	"kingsransom" (Como, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantom Islands of the Atlantic: The Legends of Seven Lands That Never Were (Hardcover)

There are numerous islands which have appeared on maps of the Atlantic Ocean which then disappeared when later maps were published. This delightful book tells the stories of some of these islands. These island discussed in this book are:

1.The Isle Of Demons, upon which Marguerite de la Roche spent over two years before being rescued.

2.Frisland, a large island with a king and numerous towns, sometimes south of Iceland, sometimes south of Greenland, sometimes in between.

3.Buss Island, sometimes small, sometimes large, east or west of Frisland.

4.Antillia, the Isle of Seven Cities, just West of Spain.

5.Hy-Brazil, circular with a river through it, just West of Ireland.

There are two chapters regarding two religious stories which were related to islands. One of them is the voyage of Saint Brendan, a story which inspired some to identify the islands as locations of miraculous occurrences.

Part history, part fairy tale, it is very entertaining reading of islands which, in fact, never even existed but were listed on maps for hundreds of years.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars quaint little interesting text, March 23, 2004

By	David N. Reiss (Haymarket, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a quaint text that is very interesting. I find the discussion of imaginary lands in the Atlantic to be very fun to read about. The imaginary lands that never really existed were a symptom of something greater within the human condition: our yearning for a better place than we where are currently.

Of course, most of the lands that he discusses were just secondary discoveries of places we had already been too, and/or aspects of them got misreported, or facts about them garbled. Frisland was probably just a misreported encounter with Iceland by somebody who wasn't aware or Iceland's existence, or thought he was nowhere near Iceland for whatever reason. None of these would be out of the question, since things like accurate measurement of ones Longitude laid in the future and illiteracy was very rampant until relatively recent times.

To use a quote that Donald Johnson uses, "The power of wish and the power of words are chief gods in the world of fable" - C. B. Firestone. Meaning that sometimes people want to dream things because they want too. And if they decide to believe those thoughts... while, it might not be healthy for them, like other vices, in moderation is probably okay for them.

Later generations, and most notably British, French and later American navel cartographers removed the mystery lands because they wanted to know where islands really were, like in case you really need to make land fall in an emergency. So, they cleaned up the nonexistent places from the old maps.

Beliefs in these lands made people feel better about themselves for whatever reasons they might have had. Today people immerse themselves into less healthy systems at times. Was something lost? Not really. We just moved our inherent yearning to other places... many have moved their thoughts to the stars and thoughts of other planets. Some yearning of that nature can be healthy, but it can be carried to extremes.

I liked this book because it placed some of this kind of thinking into a historical context.