Estotiland

Estotiland is a region of land appearing on the Zeno map, ostensibly on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean in the location of Labrador. The map on which it appears was purportedly made in the early 15th century by Antonio Zeno. According to the letters accompanying the map, the existence of Estotiland was learned from fishermen who had sailed across the North Atlantic in the 14th century. Both the map and the accompanying letters are considered by most historians to be 16th century forgeries.

"'Estotiland' is listed, along with Eden and Arcadia, under the heading 'utopia, paradise, heaven, heaven on earth' in Roget's International Thesaurus (New York: Crowell, 1962)"; it is one of the sources for "'Russian' Estoty" in Vladimir Nabokov's Ada.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Brian Boyd, ADAonline, Part One, Chapter 1, English Department, University of Auckland, http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ada11.htm#3.18, retrieved 2008-05-10