Screen LibraryThe golden age of maritime maps : when Europe discovered the world /
"'Portolan charts, ' so called from the Italian adjective portolano, meaning 'related to ports or harbours, ' were born during the 12th century in the maritime community. These charts, drawn on parchment and crisscrossed with lines referring to the compass directions, indica...
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| Corporate Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Group Author: | ; ; |
| Published: |
Firefly Books,
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| Publisher Address: | Richmond Hill, Ontario ; Buffalo, New York : |
| Publication Dates: | 2013. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: |
English French |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"'Portolan charts, ' so called from the Italian adjective portolano, meaning 'related to ports or harbours, ' were born during the 12th century in the maritime community. These charts, drawn on parchment and crisscrossed with lines referring to the compass directions, indicated the succession of ports and anchorages along the shores, and were used by European sailors exploring the world up until the 18th century. Not only used as navigational instruments on boats, they were also produced for wealthy sponsors in the form of illuminated images of the world, to illustrate the economic and political interests of the major European sea powers. This book takes stock of the state of knowledge on these maps, bringing together contributions from a dozen European specialists, who trace the history and diversity of styles and places of production of these charts. This type of mapping is approached from three angles. The first part, 'The Mediterranean, ' refers to the manufacture and use of the first charts, centered on the Mediterranean, and the persistence of this tradition in the Mediterranean basin until the 18th century. The second part, 'Wide Open Spaces, ' shows how these regional charts have evolved from a technical and iconographical point of view at the time of the great European voyages, in order to include the oceans and new worlds. The third part, 'The Indian Ocean, ' shows how these charts, in a maritime area where ancient civilizations coexisted, were dependent on other cartographic traditions (ancient, Arab, Asian) before joining the information reported by Portuguese sailors and European trading companies in the modern era."--Publisher's website. |
| Item Description: |
"First published in France under the title L'Age d'or des Cartes Marines © Éditions du Seuil, 2012"--Title page verso. Catalog of the exhibition at Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, October 23, 2012-January 27, 2013. |
| Carrier Form: | 256 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 27 x 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (page 248) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781770852389 : 1770852387 |
| Index Number: | GA359 |
| CLC: | P285.3-09 |
| Call Number: | P285.3-09/G618 |
| Contents: |
Oceanic overture / The fascination of portolans: historiography and collections / How portolan maps were made and used through the centuries / Catalonian atlas -- The Mediterranean: the cradle of portolan maps / Navigational maps: the first widely distributed maps / Mediterranean cartographers of the 16th and 17th centuries / Antique, medieval and new world cities on portolan maps / Insular maritime cosmography and European expansion during the Renaissance / Nautical planisphere / The challenge of the oceans / The exploration and geopolitical stakes of Iberian cartography (15th and 16th centuries) / From the Mediterranean to the ocean: new problems, new solutions / Norman hydrographers (16th and 17th centuries) / Universal cosmography / The iconography of the new world (15th-17th centuries) / Hydrographers along the Thames (16th and 17th centuries) / The Miller atlas -- The distribution of knowledge / Medieval cartography of the Indian Ocean: the imagined ocean / Nautical and humanist cartography of the Indian Ocean (16th and 17th centuries) / Cartography of the Dutch East India Company's far east routes / Map of the Pacific Ocean / |