The Self-Made Map
Cartographic Writing in Early Modern France
Published on 3. January 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
392 pages
978-0-8166-7448-0 (ISBN)
Description
The Self-Made Map argues that during the Renaissance in France a "new cartographic impulse" affected both the "graphic and imaginary forms of literature." In this wide-ranging and fascinating work, Tom Conley demonstrates that as new maps were plotted during this period, a new sense of self emerged, one defined in part by the relationship of the self to space.
Conley traces the explosion of interest in mapmaking that occurred with the discovery of the New World, and discusses the commensurate rise of what he defines as cartographic writing-writing that "holds, penetrates, delineates, and explores space." Considering the works of such writers as Rabelais, Montaigne, and Descartes, Conley provides a "navigation" through the printed page, revealing the emerging values of Renaissance France. In his examination of the placing of words, letters, and graphic elements in books, he exposes the playful and sometimes enigmatic relation between spatial organization and text.
Conley also exposes the ideological exercise inherent in mapmaking, arguing that Renaissance cartography is inseparably bound up with the politics of the era. He undertakes close readings of maps and illustrations, discussing the necessity of viewing Renaissance maps in the context of their typographic layout, graphic reproduction, and literary and ideological import.
Richly illustrated throughout, The Self-Made Map combines studies of art, geography, history, literature, and printing to show a clear historical transformation, along the way linking geographical discoveries, printing processes, and political awareness. Conley's provocative analysis discloses how early modern printed literature and cartography worked together to crystallize broader issues engaging the then emergent status of cultural identity, nation, and individuality.
Conley traces the explosion of interest in mapmaking that occurred with the discovery of the New World, and discusses the commensurate rise of what he defines as cartographic writing-writing that "holds, penetrates, delineates, and explores space." Considering the works of such writers as Rabelais, Montaigne, and Descartes, Conley provides a "navigation" through the printed page, revealing the emerging values of Renaissance France. In his examination of the placing of words, letters, and graphic elements in books, he exposes the playful and sometimes enigmatic relation between spatial organization and text.
Conley also exposes the ideological exercise inherent in mapmaking, arguing that Renaissance cartography is inseparably bound up with the politics of the era. He undertakes close readings of maps and illustrations, discussing the necessity of viewing Renaissance maps in the context of their typographic layout, graphic reproduction, and literary and ideological import.
Richly illustrated throughout, The Self-Made Map combines studies of art, geography, history, literature, and printing to show a clear historical transformation, along the way linking geographical discoveries, printing processes, and political awareness. Conley's provocative analysis discloses how early modern printed literature and cartography worked together to crystallize broader issues engaging the then emergent status of cultural identity, nation, and individuality.
Reviews / Votes
"This book is a formidable display of interdisciplinary learning; it offers close and provocative new readings of works by writers unfamiliar and familiar." -Modern Language Quarterly "Relating cartography to early modern self-fashioning, Conley provides the concept of 'the self-made map' with an extensive graphic material framework that promises to reshape how his readers see early-modern books and maps as material signifiers of self and nation." -Tim Murray, Cornell University "Conley has written an interesting book, eclectic in scope, concerning the impact of a new cartographic impulse on literature during the Renaissance in France. . . . The book is handsomely produced and contains numerous illustrations . . . A meaningful addition to the history of cartography." -ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Minnesota
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8166-7448-0 (9780816674480)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tom Conley is Lowell Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and chair of visual and environmental studies at Harvard University.
Content
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
Cartographic Writing-The Relation to the Unknown-The Perspectival Object-Pictograms-The Signature-Approaches
1. Franco-Burgundian Backgrounds
Some Figural Relations with Space: A French Model: Jean Fouquet-Wit and Rivalry: The Portrait of Guillaume Juvenal des Oursins-A Nascent Grid of Narrative-A Poetic map: Jean Molinet
2. The Letter and the Grid: Geoffroy Tory
Three Allegories-A Fourth Allegory: Architecture, Letter, and Nation- Betrayals of Diagram and Text-A Well-Joined Marquetry-A Cartography of the Letter
3. Oronce Fine: A Well-Rounded Signature
A Craftsman's Adolescence-The Fine Animal: A Face and a Strategy (Voyage a la terre sainte)-From Signature to Self-Portrait-From Portrait to Self-Made Identity: The Protomathesis-The Heart of the World: The cordiform Maps-Gallia and the Topographical Map in Le sphere du monde-The Analogical Style
4. Words a la Carte: A Rabelaisian Map
Beginnings-Tourism-The Itinerary: Notable Places-Encounters of the First Kind-Reprieve: Spaces to Listen-A City Named Parr rys-Words a la Carte-Rabelais and the "Cordiform" Text
5. An Insular Moment: From Cosmography to Ethnography
A Topography of the Face-The Isolario and Cosmography-Andre Thevet's Staging of Alterity-Some Fortunes of La cosmographie universelle and Its Ethnography
6. An Atlas Evolves: Maurice Bouguereau, Le theater francoys
The Idea of a National Atlas-Iconography: The Title Page and Opening Pages-Bouguereau's Maps-Maps and Texts Compared: Nicolai and Symeone-An Atlas of Rivers: Chorography, Potamography, and the Image of a Nation-The Signature: Bouguereau's Vanishing Point
7. Montaigne: A Political Geography of the Self
A Book Engineered-The Book as a Cardinal Form-The Politics of "Des cannibals"-Fumee's Gomara and "Des coches"
8. La Poeliniere and Descartes: Signatures in Perspective
The Map of Les trois mondes-The Cartesian Map-The Perspectival Signature: Between Center and Margin-A Saturation of Names
9. Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction
Cartographic Writing-The Relation to the Unknown-The Perspectival Object-Pictograms-The Signature-Approaches
1. Franco-Burgundian Backgrounds
Some Figural Relations with Space: A French Model: Jean Fouquet-Wit and Rivalry: The Portrait of Guillaume Juvenal des Oursins-A Nascent Grid of Narrative-A Poetic map: Jean Molinet
2. The Letter and the Grid: Geoffroy Tory
Three Allegories-A Fourth Allegory: Architecture, Letter, and Nation- Betrayals of Diagram and Text-A Well-Joined Marquetry-A Cartography of the Letter
3. Oronce Fine: A Well-Rounded Signature
A Craftsman's Adolescence-The Fine Animal: A Face and a Strategy (Voyage a la terre sainte)-From Signature to Self-Portrait-From Portrait to Self-Made Identity: The Protomathesis-The Heart of the World: The cordiform Maps-Gallia and the Topographical Map in Le sphere du monde-The Analogical Style
4. Words a la Carte: A Rabelaisian Map
Beginnings-Tourism-The Itinerary: Notable Places-Encounters of the First Kind-Reprieve: Spaces to Listen-A City Named Parr rys-Words a la Carte-Rabelais and the "Cordiform" Text
5. An Insular Moment: From Cosmography to Ethnography
A Topography of the Face-The Isolario and Cosmography-Andre Thevet's Staging of Alterity-Some Fortunes of La cosmographie universelle and Its Ethnography
6. An Atlas Evolves: Maurice Bouguereau, Le theater francoys
The Idea of a National Atlas-Iconography: The Title Page and Opening Pages-Bouguereau's Maps-Maps and Texts Compared: Nicolai and Symeone-An Atlas of Rivers: Chorography, Potamography, and the Image of a Nation-The Signature: Bouguereau's Vanishing Point
7. Montaigne: A Political Geography of the Self
A Book Engineered-The Book as a Cardinal Form-The Politics of "Des cannibals"-Fumee's Gomara and "Des coches"
8. La Poeliniere and Descartes: Signatures in Perspective
The Map of Les trois mondes-The Cartesian Map-The Perspectival Signature: Between Center and Margin-A Saturation of Names
9. Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index