Book ID: CBB403961047

The World for a King. Pierre Desceliers' World Map of 1550 (2015)

unapi

Mapmaking has always been a serious business, whether surveying property limits, marking international boundaries or plotting lines of travel. Yet cartographers of all periods had a sense of humour, and mapmakers often used their artistic talents to create maps not for strictly geographical purposes but for the pleasure and entertainment of others. In this book, an expert cartographic researcher uncovers 100 curious, entertaining maps, drawn mainly from the unrivalled map collection in the British Library. Many of the maps depict countries in human or animal form, among them the famous 'Leo Belgicus' - the Low Countries in the shape of a lion. Many of the maps featured here were created for recreational play, with the secondary purpose of educating through enjoyment, including some of the very earliest cartographical game-maps, jigsaws, playing-card maps and even a jigsaw globe.With advances in printing techniques, publishers found they could affix maps to all manner of objects, often commemorative, such as the tankard celebrating Nelson's victory at Trafalgar in 1805. There are also maps on cups and saucers, tea towels, umbrellas, scarves and commemorative medals.

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Reviewed By

Review Alison Sandman (2018) Review of "The World for a King. Pierre Desceliers' World Map of 1550". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 631-631). unapi

Review Camille Serchuk (2016) Review of "The World for a King. Pierre Desceliers' World Map of 1550". Imago Mundi: A Review of Early Cartography (pp. 248-249). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB403961047/

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Authors & Contributors
Harper, Tom
Barber, Peter
Shannon, William D.
Roy W. McIntyre
Wegmann, Monika
Baynton-Williams, Ashley
Concepts
Maps; atlases
Cartography
Geography
Science and politics
English language
Things; objects in the world
Time Periods
17th century
16th century
Early modern
20th century
19th century
Renaissance
Places
England
France
London (England)
Europe
East Indies
Ireland
Institutions
British Library
Royal Society of London
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