The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (Expanded Edition)

Manguel, Alberto; Guadalupi, Gianni; Greenfield, Graham (Illustrator); Cook, James (Illustrator)

ISBN 10: 0156260549 / ISBN 13: 9780156260541

Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego/New York, 1987

About this Item

Take a fabulous journey to over 1,200 imaginary worlds, cities, islands, countries, & continents in literature invented since the legends of Homer. Orig. published in 1980, this is the new expanded edition, first issued in 1987 (Second Printing) which offers 200+ original illustrations & maps throughout its pages. Octavo with brightly decorated wrapper is in Near Fine condition: looks, feels, & smells just slightly less crisp than Brand New, marred only by very minimal edgewear & former owner's name & date in pen on half title page. Else, completely clean, binding tight & square, pages white & unmarked, colors bright. We are also offering a hardcover edition of this title with DJ; please see our listing #024010. Our photos depict the Exact book you will receive, never "stock" images of books we don't actually have. Same day shipping on all orders received Weekdays by 2 pm Pacific time; later orders, weekends, & holidays ship very next business day. SORRY: book is too large for expedited domestic or international shipping without preapproval of substantial (at least double) postage increase per USPS rates.

Seller Inventory # 012398

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places (Expanded Edition)
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego/New York
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0156260549
• ISBN 13: 9780156260541
• Binding: Soft cover
• Illustrator: Greenfield, Graham; Cook, James
• Edition: Revised Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fairy Tales-Folklore-Fables-Mythology
  • Science Fiction-Fantasy
  • Illustrated Books/Illustrators

About this title

Synopsis

From Atlantis to Xanadu and beyond, this Baedeker of make-believe takes readers on a tour of more than 1,200 realms invented by storytellers from Homer's day to our own. Here you will find Shangri-La and El Dorado; Utopia and Middle Earth; Wonderland and Freedonia. Here too are Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and the fabulous world of Harry Potter. The history and behavior of the inhabitants of these lands are described in loving detail, and are supplemented by more than 200 maps and illustrations that depict the lay of the land in a host of elsewheres. A must-have for the library of every dedicated reader, fantasy fan, or passionate browser, Dictionary is a witty and acute guide for any armchair traveler's journey into the landscape of the imagination.

Review

Like an ordinary geographical dictionary, The Dictionary of Imaginary Places contains alphabetically organized entries for more than a thousand locales. In this case, however, the locales in question are far from ordinary--they range from the orc-ridden wastes of Tolkien's Middle-earth to the languorous shores of Homer's Island of the Lotus-Eaters. Though for the most part these fantastical lands are mapped and chronicled with straight-faced seriousness, the encyclopedia is not without a certain deadpan wit. For example, the entry for Oz describes "a large rectangular country divided into four small countries.... As a famous visitor once remarked, Oz is not Kansas." This handsome and whimsically charming book, adorned with fanciful line drawings and maps, is rich with enough fictive detail to please the most inveterate reader.