Before MapQuest, neighborhoods outside my own seemed so distant and even a little scary. The film The Warriors portrays NYC from the Bronx to Coney Island as deadly for a gang framed for murder. Some actually believed that this movie was based on reality just like the books and maps on exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum were in the 16th century and earlier. The Book of Marvels: Imagining the Medieval World exhibits illustrations of far off lands that astonished those who either could not or would not dare journey to visit themselves. While many were entertained, explorers and merchants of luxury commodities actually relied on these books and maps. They depicted places like the Land of Darkness, people like the Antipodeans who had reversed feet, and creatures like Cynnamolgus birds that made nests of cinnamon sticks. Visit the Morgan Library and marvel for yourself.
