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Mermaids on Maps and Sea Charts

Mermaids on maps and sea charts were never just random doodles in empty water. In some cases they helped fill the ocean with marvel, danger, and story. In others they signaled that a map was a luxury object meant to enchant viewers as much as guide them. And on the most practical charts, their absence can be just as meaningful as their presence. Cartography turned the mermaid into a way of imagining the sea itself.