Join the Yale Library's Preservation & Conservation Services department for a presentation on recent research on the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library's Vinland Map.

Speakers:

Paula Zyats, Assistant Chief Conservator, Preservation and Conservation Services, Yale Library

Marie-France Lemay, Paper and Photograph Conservator, Preservation and Conservation Services, Yale Library

Richard Hark, Conservation Scientist, Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

The Vinland Map was introduced to the world in 1965, as a newly discovered mid-15^th century map of the world, purportedly showing both Greenland and a part of the northeastern coast of the North American continent known as ‘Vinland’. Some viewed this as an exciting revelation that proved the Vikings were the first to reach America, at least 50 years before Columbus. Others remained skeptical; doubt over the map’s authenticity fueled decades of cartographical, historical and scientific research. This presentation will trace the known history of the Vinland Map and its relationship with its seldom mentioned companions, a 15^th century copy of a portion of Beauvais’ Speculum Historiale, and a rare copy of a 13^th century travelogue, the Hystoria Tartarorum. Multiple analytical and imaging tools were utilized to study the paper, parchment and ink of all three manuscripts allowing new discoveries to be made about the mysterious Vinland Map.

This presentation is part of Preservation & Conservation Services' Preservation Week 2021 celebration.