30.16 - The Vinland Map and the Tarter Relation, Skelton, Marston, and Painter, 1965, 4th edition, April 1966, Yale University Press, New Haven
The book analyzes two documents that came to light in the late 1950’s. The first is a manuscript account of the expedition of Frair Carpini across Central Asia on a mission to the Mongols (1245 – 47). The second is a world map including the Western Ocean with representations of Iceland, Greenland and the land mass named “Vinland” (known as the North American mainland in medieval Norseman writings). The controversial Vinland map, if genuine; would demonstrate that some Europeans were aware of at least a portion of North America some 50 years before Columbus. In 1957, the map was offered for sale by a private library to the British Museum, where it was examined by R. A. Skelton, then Superintendent of the Map Room. The museum turned it down, but Skelton had enough interest to write this book about the controversial map.