$50 US dollars!!!! Yeah right. Maps, no matter the accuracy, were treasured documents worth more than their weight in gold. Maps were considered state secrets and were stored in the vault along with the gold and the jewels, and the more the accurate the map the more valuable it was. For example, a Carthaginian captain sunk his ships on some rocks killing his entire crew while escaping from the Romans just to prevent them from obtaining his maps. When the captain returned to Carthage, he was treated with a hero's welcome. That's how valuable maps were at that time. Ancient and medieval generals valued the map scrawled on gold plates more than the plates themselves. Any if the map was carved in wood, it would still be worth more than a chest full of gold. Maps were transportable information, and information was valuable. Generals would fight battles just to obtain a map. This continued even up to the American Civil War. It was only recently that maps became cheap, and today, a good map is still worth it's weight in gold.
The accuracy itself really didn't matter as long as the map was readable. Consider that battles during this time were fought in such a way that the general could see the entire battle from a strategically placed hill on the battle field, unlike today. It was more important for the map to be readable, even in dim lighting. Mapmakers would only use contour lines as construction lines in creating hatchures (sp?). Contour lines are lines running at a particular elevation. See any of today's USGS Topo Maps for example of a contour line. Contour lines were much more accurate than hatchures. Hatchures were short lines running perpendicular to the contour lines.
The printing press changed things, but it did not decrease the cost of a map just because it was more affordable. The most recent map, even though it was more inaccurate than an earlier map, was worth more and in greater demand just because it was recent. Any map in color was worth more than a map in black and white. Something that increase the cost of a map were the inks used for the colors. In order to achieve color, mapmakers would create a paste very similiar to watercolor paints. However, certain colors were more expensive than others, like blue. In making blue, the color was called ultramarine, required lapis lazul(sp?) as a material, and this jewel was not a cheap item. Ultramarine was a great color for depicting oceans and rivers. However, red was easily obtained from local wildflowers and clays.
Mapmakers would also steal maps from other mapmakers. They would steal the printing plates to make the map, replace the original mapmakers name with there own, and then sell the prints from the plate as if it was their own.
If your planning to use any maps in your game, and you want to be historically accurate, I suggest that you read the book "The Story of Maps" by Lloyd Arnold Brown. It's an extremely well written book about maps, and despite it's name, it's also very entertaining too.
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Posted - 6/11/2002 8:09:56 PM
