Dithmar Blefken

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dithmar Blefken was a German preacher and minor 17th century geographer. Very little is known about his life.

Blefken is known for Islandia (complete name Islandia, sive Populorum & mirabilium quae in ea Insula reperiuntur accuratior descriptio), a description of Iceland published first in 1607 in Leiden. He claimed it to be based on his journey to the island while accompanying merchants from Hamburg; this is, however, not certain. Arngrímur Jónsson, a contemporary Icelandic scholar, was a fierce critic of Blefken's work (as well as of other authors). ^[1] Although the book contained many inaccuracies it was quite influential at the time, especially in northern parts of Europe.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ See http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/list/00-05.txt, a mail discussion about Blefken.

[edit] Literature

• Monique Mund-Dopchie (Université catholique de Louvain): A beau mentir qui vient de loin: défaillances de la mémoire et forgeries dans l´Islandia du voyageur Dithmar Blefken (1cre éd. 1607), in Neulateinisches Jahrbuch, 2004, ISBN 3487127245.
• Wolfgang Müller: Neue Nordwelt, 2005, ISBN 3935843224. The German language book summarizes descriptions of Iceland by several authors, including Blefken.