Synopses & Reviews
From dragons and serpents to many-armed beasts that preyed on ships and sailors alike, sea monsters have terrified mariners across all ages and cultures and have become the subject of many tall tales from the sea. Accounts of these creatures have also inspired cartographers and mapmakers, many of whom began decorating their maps with them to indicate unexplored areas or areas about which little was known. Whether swimming vigorously, gamboling amid the waves, attacking ships, or simply displaying themselves for our appreciation, the sea monsters that appear on medieval and Renaissance maps are fascinating and visually engaging. Yet despite their appeal, these monsters have never received the scholarly attention that they deserve.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;In
Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, Chet Van Duzer analyzes the most important examples of sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps produced in Europe. Van Duzer begins with the earliest
mappaemundi on which these monsters appear in the tenth century and continues to the end of the sixteenth century and, along the way, sheds important light on the sources, influences, and methods of the cartographers who drew or painted them.and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;A beautifully designed visual reference work,
Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps will be important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the andldquo;marvelousandrdquo; and of Western conceptions of the ocean.
Review
and#8220;[B]eautifully illustrated. . . . People interested in maps, cryptozoology, folklore, and arcane zoology and zoological history will want to check it out.and#8221;
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andldquo;The book features striking images of maritime monsters taken from maps of the ocean made between the 10th and 16th centuries.andrdquo;
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andldquo;An in-depth dissection of ancient maps and sea beasts from days past.andrdquo;
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andldquo;Full of charming stories and cartographic detail, Chet Van Duzerandrsquo;s book is an entertaining and rewarding book for general readers and a well-researched reference for scholars.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In the large-format, hardcover that this thing is, itandrsquo;s basically as near to the ultimate nerd-level coffee table book that you could ever want, and I love it for that.andrdquo;
Review
and#8220;[An] authoritative, wide-ranging study. . . . Sumptuously produced. . . . The author is an encyclopedic scholar of historical cartography, with a magisterial command of comparative knowledge and scrupulous attentiveness to detail.and#8221;
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andldquo;Medieval and Renaissance map scholar, Chet Van Duzer, backed by the British Library as publisher, have teamed up to produce a spectacular new book,
Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, a topic, oddly enough, for which there is little by way of real precedent. This book will become the sea monster authority by default. Although this beautiful book is a product of academic quality, it is very readable and accessible and requires no prior knowledge.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A truly charming book, and one that will turbocharge the imagination of anyone staring over the side of a boat at a bunch of waves that could hide just about anything.andrdquo;
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and#8220;Lavish. . . . The sea monsters depicted throughout Van Duzerand#8217;s beautifully illustrated British Library volume strike absolute wonder in the reader today, and the author provides valuable insight into what medieval and Renaissance viewers must have made of these sinewy, silly, horned, fanged, and fearsome creatures. . . . Van Duzer reminds scholars that it sometimes helps to let the eye wander to the margins, to get a different historical perspective of medieval perspectives of their surrounding seas. This critical analysis of a hitherto ignored cartographic trope adds much-needed depth to our understanding of medieval and later perceptions of the sea and its mysterious creatures.and#8221;
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andquot;Duzer offers a sublime examination of the genealogy of individual sea monsters and the artistic techniques of placing them on maps. . . . The author and the British Library both deserve great praise for creating such a visually stunning work.andquot;
Synopsis
From satyrs and sea creatures to griffins and dragons, monsters lay at the heart of the medieval world. Believed to dwell in exotic, remote areas, these inexplicable parts of Godand#8217;s creation aroused fear, curiosity and wonder in equal measure. Powerfully captured in the illustrations of manuscripts, such as bestiaries, travel books and devotional works, they continue to delight audiences today with their vitality and humour.
and#160;
Medieval Monsters shows how strange creatures sparked artistsand#8217; imaginations to remarkable heights. Half-human hybrids of land and sea mingle with bewitching demons, blemmyae, cyclops and multi-headed beasts of nightmare and comic grotesques. Over 100 wondrous and terrifying images offer a fascinating insight into the medieval mind.
Synopsis
The medieval world was teeming with monsters--on the edges of manuscript pages, on the fringes of maps, not to mention crowding in from all sides of the known world. Believed to dwell in exotic, remote areas, these inexplicable parts of Godand#39;s creation aroused fear, curiosity, and wonder in equal measure. Powerfully captured in the illustrations that filled bestiaries, travel books, and even Bibles and devotional works, these misshapen brutes continue to delight audiences today with their vitality and humor.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Filled with satyrs, sea creatures, griffins, dragons, and devils, Medieval Monsters is a cornucopia of illustrations from medieval manuscripts that are at once fascinating, grotesque, and amusing. This successor to the British Libraryand#39;s Medieval Cats and Medieval Dogs provides an accessible and informative guide to bewitching demons, blemmyae, Cyclops, and multi-headed beasts of all sorts. Over one hundred wondrous and terrifying images show how strange creatures sparked artistsand#39; imaginations to incredible heights, while offering fascinating insights into the medieval mind.
About the Author
Damien Kempf is a medieval historian specializing in the study and interpretation of manuscripts.Maria L. Gilbert is senior writer and editor at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Classical Antecedents
The Earliest Medieval Maps with Sea Monsters: Beatus Mappaemundi
and#8220;Let the Waters Bring Forth Abundantlyand#8221;: Sea Monsters in the Creation
Sea Monsters in the Harbor of Brindisi
An Imagined Mappamundi with Sea Monsters
Sea Monsters on the Ceiling
Giant Sea Monsters on Two Small Mappaemundi
and#8220;A Vast Sea Where There is Nothing But the Abode of Monstersand#8221;
Two Monumental Mappaemundi with Few Sea Monsters
Three Sea Monsters Battling in the Atlantic
Pictorial Excursus: The Dangers of Sea Monsters
Sea Monsters on Nautical Charts: Giant Octopuses, Sirens, Sharks
How to Buy a Sea Monster
Whaling Between Myth and Reality
A Nest of Sea Monsters at the Bottom of the World
Whales as Big as Mountains
Terrifying Monsters in the Indian Ocean
A Skeptic about Sea Monsters: Fra Mauro
Pictorial Excursus: Whimsical Sea Monsters
Invented Sea Monsters in the Circumfluent Ocean
The Manuscript with the Most Sea Monsters
Sea Monsters in Printed Editions of Ptolemy
The Sea Monsters of the Earliest Surviving Terrestrial Globe
The Sea Monsters of Waldseemand#252;llerand#8217;s Map of 1507 and Schand#246;nerand#8217;s Globe of 1515
Lighting a Fire on a Whaleand#8217;s Back
Pictorial Excursus: The Cartographic Career of the Walrus
The Debut of the Sea Monsters of the Renaissance
Olaus Magnus and the Most Important Sea Monsters of the Sixteenth Century
Mercatorand#8217;s Globe of 1541: The Influence of Olaus Magnus
The Ulpius Globe: Sea Monsters Before Their Time
The Monster that Stops Ships in Their Tracks
Pictorial Excursus: More Whimsical Sea Monsters
From Sea Dragons to a Sawfish: The Rylands Library Map of 1546
Evidence of a Sea Monster Specialist
The Curious Career of the Flying Turtle
The Eclecticism of Giacomo Gastaldi
The Sea Monsters of Gerard Mercatorand#8217;s Great Map of 1569
Sea Monsters Cavorting Among the Mediterranean Isles
The Sea Monsters Surrounding Iceland in the First Atlas
A Haunting Sea Monster Reappears
Whales Fantastic and Realistic at the End of the Sixteenth Century
Two New World Sea Monsters
Conclusion
Endnotes
Index
Index of Manuscripts