The World Map, 1300-1492
The Persistence of Tradition and Transformation
Published on 9. September 2007
312 pages
978-1-4214-0430-1 (ISBN)
Description
In the two centuries before Columbus, mapmaking was transformed. The World Map, 1300-1492 investigates this important, transitional period of mapmaking. Beginning with a 1436 atlas of ten maps produced by Venetian Andrea Bianco, Evelyn Edson uses maps of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to examine how the discoveries of missionaries and merchants affected the content and configuration of world maps.
She finds that both the makers and users of maps struggled with changes brought about by technological innovation-the compass, quadrant, and astrolabe-rediscovery of classical mapmaking approaches, and increased travel. To reconcile the tensions between the conservative and progressive worldviews, mapmakers used a careful blend of the old and the new to depict a world that was changing-and growing-before their eyes.
This engaging and informative study reveals how the ingenuity, creativity, and adaptability of these craftsmen helped pave the way for an age of discovery.
She finds that both the makers and users of maps struggled with changes brought about by technological innovation-the compass, quadrant, and astrolabe-rediscovery of classical mapmaking approaches, and increased travel. To reconcile the tensions between the conservative and progressive worldviews, mapmakers used a careful blend of the old and the new to depict a world that was changing-and growing-before their eyes.
This engaging and informative study reveals how the ingenuity, creativity, and adaptability of these craftsmen helped pave the way for an age of discovery.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
3 s/w Zeichnungen, 35 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
3 Line drawings, black and white; 35 Halftones, black and white
File size
22,30 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4214-0430-1 (9781421404301)
DOI
10.1353/book.3516
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2007
Johns Hopkins University Press
€62.30
Article not available for order
Person
Evelyn Edson recently retired as professor of history at Piedmont Virginia Community College. She is the author of Mapping Time and Space: How Medieval Mapmakers Viewed Their World.
Content
Preface
Introduction: Andrea Bianco's Three Maps
1. The World View of the Mappamundi in the Thirteenth Century
2. Marine Charts and Sailing Directions
3. Sea Chart and Mappamundi in the Fourteenth Century
4. Merchants, Missionaries, and Travel Writers
5. The Recovery of Ptolemy's Geography
6. Fra Mauro: The Debate on the Map
7. The Persistence of Tradition in Fifteenth-Century World Maps
8. The Transformation of the World Map
Conclusion: The World Map Transformed
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction: Andrea Bianco's Three Maps
1. The World View of the Mappamundi in the Thirteenth Century
2. Marine Charts and Sailing Directions
3. Sea Chart and Mappamundi in the Fourteenth Century
4. Merchants, Missionaries, and Travel Writers
5. The Recovery of Ptolemy's Geography
6. Fra Mauro: The Debate on the Map
7. The Persistence of Tradition in Fifteenth-Century World Maps
8. The Transformation of the World Map
Conclusion: The World Map Transformed
Notes
Bibliography
Index
