AnirudhaOrigin Of The Map
At first, the team suggested that this map was created by mapmaker George Wildey who was from London. However, after researching more about the Chimney Map they found out that George Wildey did create the map but he copied it from two men who were from Amsterdam. Back then, artists tried to copy each other for the appreciation and even Wildey did the same thing.
The Original Creator
It was these two popular mapmakers, Schenk and Valk, who created the map in the 17th century. The map was very huge as it had eight sheets of paper which became a problem for the library and the experts who were working on it. The experts couldn’t believe their luck that this original creation of two famous mapmakers was lying in front of them.
The Restoration
The restoration process of the map started, as feared the map was damaged on many layers and it seemed like it was almost impossible to restore the map. For one moment experts lost all the hope and they were ready to believe that this one piece of history would remain a mystery forever.
Never Lose Hope
But with the help of other experts the team was able to put the map together piece by piece and in the end, was able to make it almost perfect. While the restoration was being done the experts were also able to gather new information about the map detailing and the information it held. For historians, it was a time capsule that took them to the era of Dutch colonization.
Time Capsule
Piece by piece they were able to put back the chimney map and as they were doing it they were getting new and new information about Dutch colonization. In the map, they could see several sea battles that were fought in places like Portugal and China. The map held information about the most important times of that era.
The Black Legend
There were also drawings on the map that spoke about the Black Legend, or the period when indigenous peoples in Latin America suffered by the hands of Spanish invaders. With each passing day that was being spent on the map, the experts were finding unknown information that people spoke about. Now it was all there right in front of them.