Finding Their Way at Sea: The Story of Portolan Charts, the Cartographers Who Drew Them and the Mariners Who Sailed by Them

Richard L. Pflederer

ISBN 10: 9061944902 / ISBN 13: 9789061944904

Published by Brill | Hes & De Graaf, 2012

Leichte Kratzer / Abnutzungen / Druckstellen. With an introduction by Tony Campbell. The story of sea charts, of manuscript portolan charts in particular, is a story intimately intertwined with the history of the western world during some of the most significant and eventful periods of recorded history. Through these astonishingly beautiful and functional charts, we can trace developments in trade and warfare, exploration and colonial domination from the late medieval period through the Renaissance and into the Age of European Enlightenment. Beginning with their introduction in the late thirteenth century, these sometimes quaintly fanciful portolan charts enjoyed an important place in the navigator's sea chest until they were finally superceded in the eighteenth century by their cheaper but far less charming printed cousins. In the mid-fifteenth century when the Europeans first ventured beyond their home waters and into the open oceans, their successes and their sometimes-heroic failures were documented on charts of the newly discovered oceans and coasts. These new charts, although depicting faraway coasts and employing the latest navigational techniques, were drawn on vellum in the same style as Mediterranean Sea charts. They served the dual purposes of recording information gleaned from previous voyages and guiding the mariners of subsequent voyages. Seller Inventory # 80069607-3f9b-410a-9766-cc940065ef43

Synopsis:

The story of sea charts, of manuscript portolan charts in particular, is a story intimately intertwined with the history of the western world during some of the most significant and eventful periods of recorded history. Through these astonishingly beautiful and functional charts, we can trace developments in trade and warfare, exploration and colonial domination from the late medieval period through the Renaissance and into the Age of European Enlightenment. Beginning with their introduction in the late thirteenth century, these sometimes quaintly fanciful portolan charts enjoyed an important place in the navigator s sea chest until they were finally superceded in the eighteenth century by their cheaper but far less charming printed cousins. In the mid-fifteenth century when the Europeans first ventured beyond their home waters and into the open oceans, their successes and their sometimes-heroic failures were documented on charts of the newly discovered oceans and coasts. These new charts, although depicting faraway coasts and employing the latest navigational techniques, were drawn on vellum in the same style as Mediterranean Sea charts. They served the dual purposes of recording information gleaned from previous voyages and guiding the mariners of subsequent voyages. With an introduction by Tony Campbell (former map librarian at the British Library).

About the Author: Richard Pflederer is an independent scholar who has focused his study over the last twelve years on portolan charts and atlases. He has personally examined charts and atlases in dozens of institutions around the world and is the author of six reference books and numerous articles on the subject. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of several international groups including the International Map Collectors Society, the Society for the History of Discoveries and the Washington Map Society, where he serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. He is also founder of the Williamsburg Map Circle. He has lectured in a variety of locations including England, the US and Italy.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Finding Their Way at Sea: The Story of ...
Publisher: Brill | Hes & De Graaf
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: As New