The MagazineAmerica MappedHow the Old World saw the New World in perspective.Aug 9, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 44
• By LAWRENCE KLEPP
 The Fourth Part  The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name by Toby Lester One of the striking things about the Age of Exploration is the central role that imaginary places played in it. The two young Germans who literally put America on the map in 1507, coining the name and attaching it to a southern slice of new world, also put the medieval legends Gog and Magog and the Kingdom of Prester John on the same map. Late medieval travelers had looked all over for Prester John’s realm—Asian steppes and mountains, India, Africa. Columbus sailed west expecting to find Cathay and Cipangu (idealized versions of China and Japan) conveniently located on the other side of the Atlantic, and never stopped thinking he had reached their vicinity. Before and after him there were fortunate isles and fountains of youth and seven cities of gold and other mirages to lure explorers on. If it weren’t for illusions, it seems, no one would ever leave the house. To read more, you must be a Weekly Standard Subscriber We're Sorry,
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