A series of hand-drawn maps, sketched in the early 1970s to accompany the 1905 fantasy novel 'The Temple of Fire', written by 'Lewis Ramsden' (A. Lisle Dowding).
Partly by the very nature of fanart mapping, when there is no accessible authorised original map, but also resulting from the choices I have made, some elements were my invention - the familiar processes of filling in the gaps and extrapolation.
'The Temple of Fire' is built upon the premise that, centuries before the book opens, an enterprising, courageous and vigorous group of Iranians led by a determined royal escaped the downfall of the Sassanian Empire of Persia and established that regime anew on the cliff-girdled Siren Island off the Atlantic coast of South America.
Doctor Dowding's 'The Temple of Fire', which inspired these maps, has been labelled 'racist' by one reviewer which I think is unduly harsh, especially by the standards of its publication date. It must be acknowledged, however, both that some of the characters hold out-dated assumptions and attitudes, and that racial devolution/regression is no longer seen as a respectable evolutionary theory.
On the other hand, pre-WWI dynastic rules as to whom members of royal or imperial dynasties might legitimately marry were a feature of the time. This is one reason why anyone who argues that Queen Atossa's rejection of Zamasp's marriage petition is racism is on shaky ground. And who these days would dare to deny to women, even royal women, a large degree of personal choice?
'The Temple of Fire' is a book that should be accessible to readers everywhere, either by by being republished as a print book, or by having the text (+ illustrations*) made available at an on-line site. My old maps of Siren Island are posted here in the hope that they will be of some interest to those with the good fortune to read A. Lisle Dowding's adventure novel.
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* The colourful illustrated front covers of both Collins editions, plus John Schonberg's [Schönberg's] 5 b&w plates and his coloured frontpiece, can be viewed on my AurelArkad Photobucket pages. I believe that the frontpiece picture needs either cleaning up or complete redrafting.
Note: This book should not be confused with 'The Temple of Fire: A Romance of the Southern Seas', by Francis Henry Atkins, writing as Fred Ashley, published by Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd., and illustrated by Vincent Daniel, which seems also to have been first published in 1905.
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