Imagined Corners : Exploring the World's First Atlas

Binding, Paul

ISBN 10: 0747230404 / ISBN 13: 9780747230403

Published by Review / Headline Book Publishing (2003), London, 2003

About this Item

No signatures. Dust-jacket protected in archival mylar cover.; [6], 314 pages. Blue boards with gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 246 x 183mm. Numerous illustrations, including many in colour. "The 'Theatrum orbis terrarum' was a watershed publication; it changed lives and altered perceptions for ever. Published in Antwerp in 1570, it did something no previous book had done: here was the world in all its component parts, the chance to see our planet as a place of staggering variety and ultimate unity. It was the world's first ever atlas. Brainchild of Abraham Ortelius, the 'Theatrum' reflected the great vitality of the era, the prevailing zest for exploration and discovery, and the linked activities of international commerce and map-making. In his native city of Antwerp, then the world's liveliest port, Ortelius was member of a circle of extraordinary men including the age's most eminent printer, Chrisophe Plantin, and greatest geographer, Gerard Mercator. His warm, compelling personality meant that his momentous work was born of friendship and collaboration, at a time when the Low Countries were struggling under the brutal yoke of Hapsburg Spain." - from dust-jacket blurb.

Seller Inventory # 24494

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Imagined Corners : Exploring the World's First Atlas
• Publisher: Review / Headline Book Publishing (2003), London
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0747230404
• ISBN 13: 9780747230403
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Published in Antwerp in 1570, the Theatrum orbis terrarum did something no previous book had done—it presented the world in all its component parts, offering the chance to see our planet as a place of staggering variety and ultimate unity. It was the world’s first atlas. Brainchild of Abraham Ortelius, the Theatrum reflected the enormous vitality of the era, the prevailing zest for exploration and discovery, and the linked activities of international commerce and mapmaking. Paul Binding has immersed himself in the Antwerp that produced Ortelius and his atlas, and he draws on a mass of letters, personal documents, maps, and pictures to bring it vividly to life. A masterly volume that stands as a tribute to the human need to impose order and reason on an all-too-turbulent world.

About the Author

Paul Binding is a novelist, critic, poet, cultural historian, and a Senior Associate Member of St Antony’s College, Oxford.