Printing a Mediterranean World Florence, Constantinople, and the Renaissance of Geography

Roberts, Sean

ISBN 10: 0674066480 / ISBN 13: 9780674066489

Published by Harvard Univ Pr, 2013

About this Item

274 pages. 9.50x6.50x1.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # __0674066480

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Printing a Mediterranean World Florence, Constantinople, and the Renaissance of Geography
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674066480
• ISBN 13: 9780674066489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.65 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

In 1482, the Florentine humanist and statesman Francesco Berlinghieri produced the Geographia, a book of over one hundred folio leaves describing the world in Italian verse, inspired by the ancient Greek geography of Ptolemy. The poem, divided into seven books (one for each day of the week the author ";travels"; the known world), is interleaved with lavishly engraved maps to accompany readers on this journey.Sean Roberts demonstrates that the Geographia represents the moment of transition between printing and manuscript culture, while forming a critical base for the rise of modern cartography. Simultaneously, the use of the Geographia as a diplomatic gift from Florence to the Ottoman Empire tells another story. This exchange expands our understanding of Mediterranean politics, European perceptions of the Ottomans, and Ottoman interest in mapping and print. The envoy to the Sultan represented the aspirations of the Florentine state, which chose n

About the Author

Sean Roberts is the 2014-2015 Robert Lehman Fellow at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.