Orlando Ferguson: A flat-Earth map (1893)

(Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA)

A drawing made by the American resident Orlando Ferguson (1846–1911). This drawing shows, in what Orlando Ferguson called, a map of a square and stationary Earth. Orlando Ferguson was a supporter of the idea that the world is flat and not round. To counter the so-called 'Columbus phenomenon' (where the mast of a ship coming in over the horizon gradually gets taller and taller until you can see the ship) he made up an idea that the world is square, stationary and the Earth itself is imprinted with an 'inverse toroid'. Lining the rim of the basin is the jagged coast of Antarctica, which forms the icy edge of the world. The sun, moon and North star are depicted as rotating lamps suspended at the end of arc-shaped arms rooted in the Arctic. Ferguson disputed the existence of gravity and supported his idea with quotes from the Bible (seen at the bottom): he placed, for example, a guardian angel in each corner of the Earth (Revelations 7: “four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds.”). On the right is a round Earth with two men clinging on to it with the text "These men are flying on the globe at a rate of 65,000 miles per hour around the sun, and 1,042 miles per hour around the centre of the earth (in their minds). Think of that speed!". In the lower right corner is a small text inviting the viewer to buy the book from Orlando Ferguson (who calls himself professor): "Send 25 cents to the Author, Prof. Orlando Ferguson, for a book explaining this Square and Stationary Earth. It Knocks the Globe Theory Clean Out. It will Teach You How to Foretell Eclipses. It is Worth Its Weight in Gold". Drawing from 1893.