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Under the Riggings of the Sea in Wind-Rose Lines
What an excellent work is that written by Evridiki Livada-Duca that enthrallingly kept me awake many nights over the festive season; as most of you know, I am very much a lover so to speak of charts and in particular cartography ever since I studied the “bible” of “Maps and Map-Makers of the Aegean.” Needless to say I have been fascinated by all those charts I have come across in the chart-room of the Santa Despina in 1957 and other vessels in my life! My library holds over twenty books on charts from all over Planet Ocean.
The recent book from Mrs Livada-Duca is Maps, Ports, Coastal Landscapes of Cefallonia and Ithaca – Under the Riggings of the Sea in Wind-Rose Lines.
Cartography as the author says is a magical journey, but more importantly for this book with her exceptional meticulousness it is more than that; every page with maps / charts and drawings consists of facts of history for the Ionian Islands and beyond.
Maps, ports, coastal landscapes of Kefallonia (Cephalonia) and Ithaca from her archive and collection are of paramount importance; after all a map /chart at the same time is a work of art, a scientific record as well as a political tool / document so to say!
Enthusiasts such as me fall under the spell of haunting phenomena such as the wind-rose lines, the symbols that show the frequency and strength of winds!
At a time when Greece’s neighbours object to Greece’s sovereignty all over the extensive Greek archipelago – East and West, this piece of art comes at no better time and the EU, NATO and others MUST read and study works such as this to understand the reality. A very special book for all!
This work has been translated into English by Ourania Kremmida, winner of the Hellenic Society of Literary Translators 2017 Award; an Odysseia Publication in Argostoli, Kefallonia, Greece.
ISBN 978-960-98322-4-3
