WASHINGTON, D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A map thought lost for almost five centuries is found and is now on display. It's often called America's birth certificate.
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Created in 1507, the Waldseemüller map is the first map to show a Pacific Ocean, the Western Hemisphere and a continent called America.
"It is the first map of its kind, in projecting the world as it is as we know it now," Elmer Eusman, conservator at Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., told Ivanhoe.
But a 500 year old, one-of-a-kind map needs a special display case. Conservators worked with engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to design a unique, air-tight enclosure.
"This is a completely sealed case that is designed to be passive for many years, where if you don't do anything to it, it will be just fine for many, many years." Richard Rhorer, engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology told Ivanhoe.
The encasement is sealed with a thick sheet of non-reflective laminated glass to keep out harmful ultraviolet light. While sensitive monitoring devices measure temperature changes 24-hours a day. Special valves flush out oxygen from the air -- which damages the paper and ink -- and replace it with harmless argon gas. "The idea is to make a very good seal," said Rhorer.
The map cost 10 million to purchase, but well worth the cash. "If you consider that this map is 500 years old and looking at it, in what great shape it's still in, that's pretty amazing," said Eusman.
