Mapping Time and Space
How Medieval Mapmakers Viewed Their World
Evelyn Edson(Author)
The British Library Publishing Division
Published on 1. January 1998
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-7123-4535-4 (ISBN)
Description
Medieval world maps have been viewed in the past as quaint, amusing and simply wrong. This text studies these maps differently, showing that the medieval world view, as expressed in maps, was not only a matter of measuring space, but of placing the Earth in a philosophical and religious setting. A major component of this setting was the passage of time, and many medieval maps show a narrative of human spiritual development: creation, the giving of the law, the coming of Christ, and the Last Judgement. Viewing medieval maps, not as isolated pieces of parchment, but in the context of the manuscripts in which they appear (not necessarily geographies, but more often calendar manuscripts, scientific treatises and histories) reveals the roles played in medieval thought, and how, in turn, medieval thinking determined the form and content of maps.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
British Library Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 colour illustrations, 70 b&w illustrations, notes, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 176 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7123-4535-4 (9780712345354)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Introduction to medieval maps; illustrated histories; the nature of things; space and time in the Computus manuscript; maps in three Computus manuscripts; maps in medieval histories; histories without maps, maps as histories; spiritual maps.