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“What we can expect from the Pan-European Movement?”

The following document is the March 18, 1928 issue of the Pan-European Movement’s Hungarian-language periodical, the Pan-European Bulletin, written in English language. It was edited by the Hungarian Ferenc Faluhelyi (October 29, 1886 – December 24, 1944), an international law expert and founder of the Institute of Minorities of the University of Pécs. This record will be on display at the first thematic exhibition of the European Digital Treasures project, entitled Construction of Europe – History, Memory and Myth of Europeanness over 1000 years. You can read more about the exhibitions here.

“What We Can Expect From The Pan European Movement?” (Anniversary of issue, 18.03.1928), Location of original record: National Archives of Hungary Reference code: HU MNL BaML XIV 20 b 38 4

Over the years, the interests of Ferenc Faluhelyi gradually aimed from public and criminal law to international law – which he consistently mentioned as interstate law in his lectures and studies. As a researcher and professor, he had been concerned with minority issues since 1926, proclaiming the principle of the equality of states and, within this, the need for the citizens of individual nations to exercise their fundamental rights. He considered the issue of minority protection as a point of doing.

The Hungarian Pan-European Committee was established in Budapest on June 24th, 1926. Lawyers, economists, and representatives of the economic and financial circles played a prominent role in establishing and promoting the goals of the movement. The pursuit of the Hungarian committee – similarly to the government’s foreign policy – started from the injustice of the peace treaty and fought for its revision.

The Pan-European Movement was an appropriate answer to the issue of the national minorities, since its main feature was the aspiration to reduce the significance of the state borders. A united Europe was important for them, because the continent could only defend itself from the threats of the Soviet Union by the power of unity. The idea was to bring the Pan-European Movement closer to the customs union, with unconditional respect for minority rights, language and cultural development, and free contact between minorities in other parts of the country, especially with their “blood brothers in the motherland”.

Hungarian Pan-Europeanists considered it important to clarify their relationship with the nation and to define the relationship between the European and national elements. Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi believed that the feeling of belonging to a nation – like the religion – could be a private matter, and thus the concept of a European nation could be formed. Hungarian Pan-Europeanists did not accept this position, rejected it, considered it a utopia to strive for uniformity, and saw the uniqueness and strength of a united Europe in the totality, harmonious coexistence and cooperation of individual cultures represented and mediated by different nations.

The Pan-European Movement also attracted significant personalities in Hungary, but was unable to put pressure on government circles that did not recognise – or did not want to recognise – the forum provided by the Pan-European Movement to promote foreign policy goals and seek allies. The Hungarian government, like other European governments, did not want to achieve its foreign policy goals by coordinating them with the interests of other states, in a Pan-European framework, but by balancing them between states, taking advantage of their contradictions. The possible development of the Pan-European orientation of the government – as in the case of the other states – could have been greatly helped by the official establishment of the Franco-German rapprochement and cooperation. By the time the Briand Plan based on this could have been discussed, the economic situation was no longer appropriate and the Pan-European political environment was becoming less and less appropriate.

The achievements of Ferenc Faluhelyi in the field of protection of the minorities were honored in 1933 by the Hague-based Association Internationale Pour les Études du Droit des Minorités, and in that year he was awarded the Badge of the Order of the Crown of Italy for his distinguished knowledge and presentation of Italian international law.

Anna Palcsó
Public Education Officer, National Archives of Hungary

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International Women’s Day

March 8 is the International Women’s Day. The day has been celebrated since 1910, and on March 8, since 1914. The United Nations recognised Women’s Day in 1975, in connection with the International Year of Women. The day was instituted to honour the fight for women’s rights and to support a demand for universal suffrage for women.

Meeting concerning voting rights of Norwegian women, at the opening, 3 June, 1902 in the Old Ballroom at the University of Oslo. Photo: Severin Worm-Petersen; National Archives of Norway, reference code: RA/PA-0379/ U29_3598.

The photograph above is from a meeting held in the Old Ballroom at the University of Oslo in June 1902. The meeting was concerned with the voting rights of Norwegian women, the key demand of the Suffragette Movement since the turn of century.

Mrs. Fredrikke Marie Qvam (1843–1938), 1896, founder of the Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, liberal politician and wife of Prime Minister Ole Anton Qvam. Photo: Henriksen; National Archives of Norway; reference code: RA/PA-0379/U4_0406.

In the picture, the Norwegian humanitarian and feminist Mrs. Fredrikke Marie Qvam addresses the meeting of 500 people. She was the leader of the Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, the organisers of the meeting. The Association was founded in 1884 to safeguard women’s rights and strive for an inclusive society through the voluntary activities of its members. The Association pursued causes such as the improvement of women’s education and finances, preventing violence against women and increasing their political influence. After female voting rights in national elections were achieved in 1913, they worked to improve women’s political participation and for greater gender equality in school, education and working life.

The historical event when Norwegian women from the bourgeoisie and the middle class could vote for the first time in a Parliamentary election, 1909. Photo: Anders Beer Wilse; Norwegian Folk Museum, reference code: NF.06828-009.

In 1893, New Zealand was the first country in the world to introduce female voting rights in national elections. Finland was the first country in Europe to introduce women’s suffrage, in 1906, followed by Norway in 1913 and Denmark in 1915, with many other countries following suit in the years around the end of World War I.

The United Nations supported the introduction of women’s voting rights following World War II. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) defined it as a basic right within its 189 member countries.

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Photography in Malta

Sometimes, administrative records are a documentation of normal moments that eventually have a great impact on society. The National Archives of Malta records one such event that happened 121 years ago.

On March 4, 1840, the French ship Dante entered the harbour of Malta. Coming from the Levant, all passengers were placed in quarantine. Two of them, Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (1789-1865) and his nephew Frédéric Auguste Antoine Goupil-Fesquet (1806-1893), brought photography to Malta.

Register of Arrivals in the Great Harbour of La Valletta, Malta, with the arrival of the “Dante” on March 4, 1840

Their voyage had started in Marseille in October 1839, passing through Malta, the island of Syros, Santorini, Crete and Smyrna, Egypt, the Holy Land, Syria and Constantinople. Gaspard-Pierre-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière (1798-1865), who took the first photographs of the Acropolis of Athens and the pyramids of Egypt, joined them on this voyage.

During the trip, Vernet and Goupil-Fesquet produced many daguerreotypes of the places they visited, using the new photographic technique that had just appeared. In fact, Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) perfected the scientific process of photography in France and made it public in March 1839.

Vernet (1789-1865) and Goupil-Fesquet took advantage of the quarantine in Lazzaretto in Malta to invite some guests and show them the new and surprising photographic process. They invited the Governor, Sir Henry Bouverie, other artists and distinguished guests, including the French Consul, to witness a practical demonstration of the new art in the Lazzaretto.

The Maltese papers noted that the experiment that resulted in the first photograph shot in Malta was “perfectly successful” (Il Portafoglio Maltese, 16 March 1840).

These French pioneer photographers left Malta on March 29, heading for Rome. In 1842, they published a number of daguerreotypes they had produced in the East with the title “Les Excursions Daguerriennes”.

Leonard Callus, National Archives of Malta

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The merchandise products: Plan of a machine to raise fresh water from the river to the Alcazar of Toledo and supply the city

Continuing with our series of presentations of the merchandise products, we want to show you the bottle of water inspired by the document “Plan of a machine to raise fresh water from the river to the Alcazar of Toledo and supply the city” 1561 – Simancas General Archive (Spain) that will be part of the exhibition “European Discoveries: From the New World to New Technologies” in the framework of the European Digital Treasures project.

Commissioned by the Spanish State Archives, the designer Ángel Merlo was in charge of creating this product.

Historical background

Plan of a machine to raise fresh water from the river to the Alcazar of Toledo. 1561. General Archive of Simancas (Spain)

Giovanni Turriano, born in Italy in 1500, was a mathematician, astronomer, inventor, watchmaker and engineer. He began his career as a watchmaker in Milan. Later he began working at the service of Emperor Carlos V. And then he began working as a civil engineer paid by the monarchy. In 1565 he was hired to build an engine to supply the Alcázar of Toledo with fresh water from the nearby Tajo river. He succeeded in building it in three years, and it was done so well that he was hired to build another one. The machine was at the time the highest water elevator in the world, providing Toledo with 17 cubic meters of water a day raised from 100 m below.

Inspiration

Glass bottle, Spain. Designer: Ángel Merlo

The Spanish designer Ángel Merlo took the drawing on this record as an inspiration to create a product for domestic or sport use. The bottle is made of glass and stainless steel with circular screen printing in black around it, protected with a softshell sleeve personalised with the Digital Treasures logo. The description and data of the product are printed on the label.

In the designer’s own words: “The document prompted me to create a product related to the transportation of water, but more modern and simple. I chose to make a bottle because I wanted it to be a practical item to use on a daily basis and thus give more visibility to the European Digital Treasures “brand”. Besides, it had to be a viable product, not very expensive to produce. Then I looked for the appropriate glass of water and the way to personalise it. I rejected the idea of putting a label of paper because of the lack of durability and I made a circular serigraphy by treating and vectorising the original image.”

 Spanish State Archives

You can find more info about the record and the designer here:

Diseño de un ingenio para subir agua del rio Tajo al Alcazar de Toledo y proveer a la ciudad (ES-47161-AGS2 – ES-47161-AGS-UD-13790) on www.archivesportaleurope.net

https://angelmerlo.es/

 

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On the making of cannons and missiles

Conrad Haas (1509-1576), a famous 16th century military engineer, was a pioneer of rocket propulsion and, indirectly, one of the earliest pioneers of space exploration. Born near Vienna in a village called Dornbach (today part of the XVII. district of Vienna), he entered the service of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. and joined the imperial armed forces going to Transylvania in 1551 where he was appointed Arsenal Master in Sibiu (German: Hermannstadt).

In 1529 he began writing an ambitious and extraordinary innovative treatise on rocket technology. Using his knowledge of mathematics, chemistry, physics, ballistics and pyrotechnics, he produced a text which presents for the first time many concepts and designs that became established in modern rocket technology. He is thus one of the undisputed pioneers of modern missile and rocket engineering as his plans also include manned rockets.

Coligatus of Conrad Haas about cannons and missiles (1400 – 1569). Arhivele Nationale ale României

The text is ambitious and original, a masterpiece in its genre, with 17 different types of rockets described. Haas was the first person to put into writing the concept of motion of multi-stage rockets, of different fuel mixtures using liquid fuel including brandy, delta-shaped fins for the flying machines and bell-shaped nozzles. Besides the calculations and written descriptions of these innovative technologies, Haas also provided colour illustrations in his manuscript to show the design of his devices and experiments.

Haas appears to have worked on this treatise for more than 25 years. The manuscript was completely unknown until its discovery in the State Archives of Sibiu in 1961. The work of Conrad Haas is part of a bigger volume together with two other manuscripts – the “Book of Fireworks” and the “Book of Military Techniques” – and consists of 282 pages.

Although war and battles played a crucial role in his life, Conrad Haas personally held a very pacifistic opinion as he stated at the end of his treatise: “But my advice is more peace and no war, the guns should be left under the roof, so the bullet is not shot, the powder is not burned wet, so the king keeps his money, the gunsmith his life; that is the advice of Conrad Haas.”

Karl Heinz, Scientific and Strategic Project Management
“European Digital Treasures”, ICARUS

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Antal Pál Draskovich’s thesis sheet

The following document is the thesis paper of Pál Antal Draskovich of Trakostyán on silk, written in Latin, presented on the occasion of the 335th anniversary of its publication. This record will be on display at the first thematic exhibition of the European Digital Treasures project, entitled Construction of Europe – History, Memory and Myth of Europeanness over 1000 years. You can read more about the exhibitions here.

Location of original record: National Archives of Hungary
Reference code: HU-MNL-OL – P 125 – № 11961

The theses of the dissertation – which are defended in public debate at the universities – were usually published in the form of an ornate design on a single sheet. Theses printed on paper and parchment, decorated with artistic copper engraving were also common, but the copy presented here is made on silk. In terms of its theme, it includes examination topics collected from the subject of logics, from the first year of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nagyszombat (today: Trnava, Slovakia).

At the University of Nagyszombat, founded in 1635, besides philosophy and the basic sciences such as logics, physics and metaphysics, students also studied theology and law. In line with the new educational principles introduced by the Jesuits, the emphasis in education was primarily on getting to know, to understand, and to clearly articulate these in writing. Thus, during the exams, the ability to debate played an extremely important role, in addition to the acquired knowledge. The exams were conducted in the framework of monthly public debates held on Saturday afternoons, which were led by the teacher of the given grade. According to the study regulations, the debates were to be attended by pre-defined contributors: the student, of course, as well as three defenders (defendentes) and three reviewers (oppugnantes). The content and topics (theses) of the discussion were also bound, which were posted in advance at the exam venue, on more solemn occasions they were also printed out and sent to the guests invited for the exam.

The thesis sheet of Pál Antal Draskovich is an especially decorative paper corresponding to the tastes of the Baroque era, which contains six exam topics explaining the subject and usefulness of the science of logic. The printed text on silk is surrounded by a hand-painted, richly colored floral ornament, which is adorned with the coat-of-arms of the Draskovich family.

Pál Antal Draskovich of Trakostyán (1668–1693) is a member of a Hungarian noble family of Croatian origin. His father, Judge royal Miklós Draskovich, held the second highest secular rank among the country’s nobles. However, he was executed in Vienna for taking part in the Wesselényi conspiracy, which aimed to overthrow the rule of the Habsburg House in Hungary and Croatia. Count Pál Antal’s mother was Krisztina Nádasdy – the daughter of Ferenc Nádasdy, one of the most powerful noble in the country and Júlia Anna Esterházy. This fact could have been a guarantee that, despite the public dragging of the head of the family, Pál Antal could receive a quality education.

Pál Antal Draskovich held a public debate on February 9, 1686 at the University of Nagyszombat. This thesis was probably made as a gift for the uncle of Pál Antal’s, palatine Pál Esterházy. Unfortunately, the life story of the young man with high hopes ended soon, and no major political career could take place since he died at the age of 25. His thesis sheet, on the other hand, is a beautiful example of the Baroque cultural and educational history. It will be seen as part of the third pillar of the exhibition Construction of Europe – History, Memory and Myth of Europeanness over 1000 years, which also deals with the creation and further traditionalization of the Christian knowledge base.

Dorottya Szabó, senior archivist, National Archives of Hungary
Anna Palcsó, public education officer, National Archives of Hungary

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The Sámi National Day on February 6

The Sámi National Day (Northern Sámi: Sámi álbmotbeaivi) on February 6 is an ethnic national day for the indigenous Sámi people. It commemorates the date when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway. This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find common solutions.

In the European Digital Treasures project, we have included one document that relates to the Sámi people. It is a page from a textbook in Sámi entitled ABC (1951), and was made by Margarethe Wiig. When the book was published, it was the first textbook dedicated to Sámi children in their own language. The book is an example of how European countries have changed their policies towards minorities after World War II.

Margarethe Wiig (1903-2002) was the wife of a Norwegian priest and later bishop, Alf Wiig. From 1923 to 1934 she and her husband lived in Karasjok (Norway), where he was parish priest. Karasjok is located in the middle of the Finnmark plateau, in the midst of the Norwegian part of Sápmi (the Sámi area).

While Wiig lived in Karasjok, she became aware that there were no textbooks for education in Sámi. She was convinced that “an ABC book based on these children’s environment with partial use of their own language not only would be desirable, but also necessary.” Optimistic and committed, she set off, without any formal qualifications.

Wiig worked closely with Sámi children and experts in Sámi language and pedagogy when the book was made. She also drew inspiration from ABC books from other countries. The work with the textbook was an assignment from the Ministry of Church and Education, which was responsible for approving textbooks. She fought several battles with the ministry. They were for a long time negative to the idea of including texts in Sámi, but Margarethe Wiig was very determined that the book should have parallel texts in Sámi and Norwegian, so that the Sámi children could learn to read their own mother tongue.

In the final phase of the work on the book, the authoress was summoned to a secret meeting with the Ministry of Church and Education and the Ministry of Defence. In the meeting she was told that she had to change the map in the book (on the page shown here). Originally, she had placed a reindeer over both Norway, Sweden and Finland. It should illustrate that the Sámi covered areas in all three countries. That had to be changed so the reindeer didn´t touch Finnish land. Only many years later did she understand why. During the Cold War, Norway wanted only limited relations with Finland, due to the threat from the Soviet Union, to which Finland with its long common national border was very exposed.

The ABC book was a huge success. Sámi children had finally got their own textbook. It has been characterised as the most important in Sámi textbook history. And not only that, the book became popular in wide circles not least because of the colourful and beautiful illustrations. Several hotels in Finnmark had the book for sale. Good publicity for Norway, said the Ministry. Rumours of the successful textbook reached all the way to Korea. There it was used as a model for a textbook for Korean children. Margarethe Wiik later received a letter of thanks with greetings from 70,000 teachers and 3 million school children in Korea.

Norway’s Sámi policy had more or less focused on assimilation from the late 1800s to the 1960s. However, following World War II, there was a gradual shift in the attitude towards the Sámi people and their culture, coinciding with the rebirth of Sámi political organisations. The use of Norwegian and Sámi in schools is a good example of this shift. For several decades from the late 1880s, the school authorities, backed by politicians, pursued a strict policy of Norwegianisation. All school books were in Norwegian, and Sámi was only used as an auxiliary language to help pupils in the lower grades.

After World War II, government authorities included those who wished to abandon the Norwegian policy of assimilation and provide conditions that were more conducive to the promotion of the Sámi language and culture. Use of the written Sámi language has indeed increased since the 1970s. The Sámi Parliament was established in 1989 to deal with (among other things) issues relating to Sámi language, culture and society.

Text by Ole Gausdal, National Archives of Norway
Illustrations from the ABC book reproduced with the approval of
The Arctic University Museum of Norway

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Reminding is knowing who we are.
The Vrba-Wetlzer Report.

Auschwitz Protocols. 26/08/1944 Budapest (Hungary). General Archive of Administration- Spain

The Auschwitz Protocols are available on the Archives Portal Europe (APE).

The recent history of Europe is the history of the migrations that have taken place on our continent over the last 80 years. The Second World War and the immediate post-war reconstruction led to unprecedented forced population movements. Although deportation policies were not new in Europe, what was new was the systematic plan to relocate populations in masse for the purpose of extermination.

The memory of war, deportations and genocide is part of our lives and explains what we are as Europeans. For this reason, celebrating January 27th, the day on which the Nazi camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated in 1945, is to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and to remember that we can never again descend into hell.

This killing camp, located in southern Poland, was made up of almost thirty industrial facilities. Approximately 1,300,000 Europeans were sent there. Entire families, most of them Jewish, Roma and Sinti from all areas occupied by the Reich, were selected upon arrival. Only those individuals fit for work were initially spared. Those who were not selected were immediately taken to the gas chambers. However, those selected for forced labor suffered living conditions that inevitably also led to certain death. Auschwitz was the most efficient extermination camp the Nazis ever built.

Auschwitz Protocols. 26/08/1944 Budapest (Hungary). General Archive of Administration- Spain

Although the Allies knew about Auschwitz and what was happening there since 1942, two young Slovak Jews who escaped from the camp, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, gave detailed testimony of what was occurring in April 1944. For the first time it was described in detail the operation of the camp by a report that incorporated the sketches of both the chambers and crematoria, as well as the figures of deportations by country. A copy of the document, which had been translated into German, came to the hands of the Jewish Aid and Rescue Committee in Budapest, which distributed it among the diplomatic legations, and ended up reaching the Allies. Spanish Ambassador Ángel Sanz Briz received a copy in French and he sent it to Madrid in August 1944 after having verified with other colleagues the truth of the story.

Auschwitz Protocols. 26/08/1944 Budapest (Hungary). General Archive of Administration- Spain

The testimony of Vrba and Wetzler determined the image that the Allies got about the Nazi camps, and what it was more important, the public opinion of their respective countries because the report was opened to the mass media. Indifference and skepticism faded when it became known, even among Germans who listened secretly BBC broadcasts. After the war, the accused Nazi chiefs in the Trial of Major War Criminals in Nuremberg had to see how the American prosecutor Jackson used the data of the forced deportations to Auschwitz mentioned in the report as evidence.

However, the forced deportations without the purpose of extermination were extended to shape the new post-Hitler Europe thanks to Postdam Agreement. Millions of people were uprooted and forced to get linguistic and cultural homogeneity in different countries. Then it was the Germans turn. For example, Hungary expelled 623,000 Germans, Romania 786,000, the re-established Czechoslovakia 3,000,000 and Poland 1,300,000.

Showing this kind of documents from our archives, such as the one drawn up by Vrba and Wetzler, is a moral obligation that we all have with the victims of the Holocaust and the people who helped to fight the Third Reich. They help to know what happened and also, hopefully, to prevent genocides or terrible acts such as the mass deportation of those considered different.

Jesús Espinosa-Romero
Deputy Director
General Archive of Administration- Spain

The documents: Auschwitz Protocols. Reports about the situation of Hungarian prisoners and deportees in German concentration camps,  located in the General Archive of Administration – Spain, will be part  of the roaming exhibitions of the European Digital Treasures project: Exiles, Migratory Flows and Solidarity.

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Edvard Munch’s will

2021 will be a great year for Edvard Munch’s art. During the spring, a brand new museum will open its doors. The new museum is situated at Oslo´s waterfront and is tailor-made for the world´s largest collection of art by Edvard Munch. And what is more, it all grew out of Edvard Munch´s will.

Edvards Munch´s passport, issued 15 October 1925. From his probate file. The National Archives of Norway – The Regional Archives of Oslo

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) is one of the Modernism’s most significant artists, world-famous for his painting The Scream. His career as an artist saw him move away from naturalism and an accurate record of objects, instead seeking personal representations to express the mental life of modern man. Influenced by the symbolist movement, Munch later went on to become a pioneer of expressionist art.

Munch´s will

When he died on 23 January 1944, Edvard Munch left no heirs. He left behind an extensive and valuable artistic production: 1,100 paintings, 18,000 graphic works, 4,500 watercolors and drawings, six sculptures, countless letters and other correspondence. The distribution of the inheritance was determined through the will dated 18 April 1940. It was drawn up just nine days after Nazi troops invaded Norway, and annulled all previous ones. The Nazis are said to have threatened to seize Munch´s property, and he was worried for his paintings, which he regarded as his children.

Edvard Munch´s will, dated 18 April 1940. The National Archives of Norway – The Regional Archives of Oslo

In his will, Munch explains how his wealth, artwork and literary works should be distributed and managed: “The Municipality of Oslo inherits my remaining artworks, drawings, woodcuts, lithographs, intaglio prints, together with the woodcut blocks, lithographic stones, and the engraved copper plates. Prints must not be pulled from my lithographic stones, woodblocks or copper plates. Only 10 – ten – impressions of each of my remaining graphic works may be sold.”

Edvard Munch´s will be on display in exhibition no. 1 of the European Digital Treasures.

Lambda

The first Munch Museum in Oslo opened its doors in 1963, almost twenty years after Munch’s death. After nearly 60 years, the old museum building no longer provides what Munch´s art requires and deserves.

The new Munch Museum, Lambda. Photo: Adrià Goula

The new museum is a highly distinctive museum building and is called Lambda. It has 11 galleries on 13 floors and a gallery space of 4,500 square meters. The new museum has been designed by the Spanish architect Juan Herreros and his partner Jens Richter from the architect practice Estudio Herreros. It will offer a range of approaches to Edvard Munch´s art and life, as well as works by other Modernists and contemporary artists in dialogue with Munch.

For more information see:

Edvard Munch´s life

Presentation of the new museum

Presentation of the old museum (in Norwegian)

A tour of Edvard Munch´s property

A tour of Edvard Munch´s summer house

Ole Gausdal, National Archives of Norway

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The merchandise products: Atlas of Fernão Vaz Dourado, 1571

ÉCHARPE, Portugal, Designers Diogo Bessa;
Mário Fonseca; Ana Catarina Silva

We present another designer product born within the framework of the European Digital Treasures project. Its creators are the designers Diogo Bessa, Mário Fonseca e Ana Catarina Silva, from the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA). Their source of inspiration was one of the several folios of  the atlas of Fernão vaz Dourado, dated 1571, whose holder is  the Torre do Tombo National Archive (ANTT).

The full description of the Atlas is available on line, as well as the images of the different folios that compose it (https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4162624).

Atlas of Fernão Vaz Dourado, 1571

About its author, Fernão Vaz Dourado (c. 1520-c.1580), we know he was a soldier and one of the three portuguese cartographers probably born and formed in Portuguese India. He mapped the known world of Europeans at the time, the coastline of the continents visited by sailors along their voyages. With the exception of polar zones, the only missing elements are the costs of some islands in Oceania (including Australia and some islands north of this continent) the North and North East coasts of Asia (north of Japan) and the entire North West region of North America, as well as the interior of the continents.

However, and according to what is known in our days about the cartographic workshops, such works could have been the product of a slow, complex, segmented and collective effort.

The new merchandise product is an écharpe, presented in an transparent envelope, which is 100% recycled material, containing contextual information about the document that gave rise to it and about the National Archive.

Lucília Runa, Senior Technician / E-administration and innovation, General Directorate of Books, Archives and Libaries, Portugal

The different stages of its creation and development process are presented in the following video: