New Worlds: Maps From The Age of Discovery

Quercus, 2009 4to (29.5 cm), 224 pp. Publisher's laminated boards and dust jacket (minor shelf-wear). "Take a journey into the past, to a world where exotic beasts and even stranger locals stalk cartographic voids, where sea monsters and floating islands lurk beyond uncertain shores, where the borders between myth and reality are blurred. Here, gathered from five centuries of exploration, are over 200 maps of oceans and continents, mountains and forests, cities and shires. Presented in chronological order, these maps record the adventures and discoveries - not to mention fantasies and outright lies - of explorers, merchants and travelers. Taken together, they chart our discovery of the world as science, legend, politics and art are blended together by the cartographer's craft." (from the publisher's synopsis)