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

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.

Donald S. Johnson is the author of Charting the Sea of Darkness: The Four Voyages of Henry Hudson, which won acclaim from the New York Times and Sea History, and his Cruising Guide to the Coast of Maine is a sailor's bible. He has also written numerous articles on sailing, navigation, maritime history. When not sailing or lecturing, Johnson lives in Perry, Maine.