Edward Wright Map

5 Minn. Judges Named to Oversee Political Map Case

A five-member judicial panel that could decide how Minnesota's political maps look for the next 10 years has been appointed.

The panel selected by Minnesota Chief Justice Lorie Gildea includes judges first put on the bench by four different governors with varied political backgrounds. Redistricting would fall to the courts if lawmakers don't arrive at a compromise plan with the governor soon.

The panel consists of Appeals Court Judge Wilhelmina Wright and District Court judges Ivy Bernhardson, James Florey, Edward Lynch and John Rodenberg.

The once-a-decade assignment of redrawing legislative and congressional boundaries coincides with population changes reflected in the census. The task can determine how competitive races are for years to come and who controls positions of power.

Lawsuits over Minnesota redistricting are pending in state and federal court.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.

Rare Antique Maps: 1720 Herman Moll Map of South America (South ...

Title:    A new & exact map of the coast, countries and islands within the limits of ye South Sea Company, from ye River Aranoca to Tierra del Fuego, and from there through ye South Sea to ye north port of California, &c. with a view of general and coasting trade-winds and particular draughts of the most important bays, ports, &c., according to ye newest observations, by Herman Moll Geographer. Description:    One of Herman Moll’s most interesting and influential maps. Issued c. 1719 – 1720, at the height of the South Sea Bubble, this is Moll’s map illustrating the limits and goals of the South Sea Company. Centered on South America, this map covers from Florida to Tierra del Fuego and from an insular California to the coasts of Africa.

The South Sea Company was a British joint stock venture charted near the end of the Spanish War of Succession (1702 – 1714). Ostensibly, Britain, which was beginning to gain an upper hand over Spain, founded the South Sea Company to disrupt and ultimately seize control of Spain’s trade wealth in the Americas. Under John Blunt and Robert Hartley, England’s Lord Treasurer, the South Sea Company was granted exclusive trading rights to all commerce in Spanish America. The trading rights granted to the South Sea Company presupposed a British victory in the war, which did not occur until several years later in 1813. Though not as grand or extensive as originally hoped, the 1714 Treaty of Utrecht granted the South Sea Company limited trade rights in Spanish America as well as the coveted Asiento , the contract to supply African slaves to the Spanish colonies.

At Jonathan’s Coffee House, an early version of Wall Street, Moll’s circle of influential financiers, educated pirates, and talented promoters launched a campaign of propaganda in support of the South Sea Company. By mid-1720, despite engaging in little or no commerce, rabid speculation had pushed the per-share value of South Sea Company to over £1000 , creating the world’s first recorded stock bubble. Around September the bubble burst, with the stock price crashing to under £100 per share, causing a rash of bankruptcies as those who bought on credit scrambled to liquidate their stock. Moll himself is not known to have earned any money from directly speculating on the South Sea Company, however, his timely issue of illustrative maps and other publications no doubt turned a handsome profit.

The voyages and works of John Davis, the navigator

The Hakluyt handbook

A memoir on the Indian surveys

Rhumb lines and map wars, a social history of the Mercator projection

The mapping of the world, early printed world maps, 1472-1700