Synopses & Reviews
The mysterious Great Southland, or Terra Australis, captured the European imagination for centuries before it became a documented fact. This book traces the history of pictorial imagery associated with the search for the "Fifth Continent"--paintings, handcolored maps, drawings, etchings, tapestries and artifacts--which are discussed in the context of the link between art and exploration. Beautifully illustrated with Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch and English images, this book is an exciting visual account of the construction of Terra Australis in the European imagination and as scientific fact.
Review
"The Furthest Shore is a book I am glad to have, especially for its hard to come by illustrations and the excellent way in which Eisler shows different versions of sketches and drawings originally done on site and then copied, like de Bry's engravings of John White's drawings of Native Americans." Lydia Wevers, Utopian Studies"For a variety of audiences, this will be an interesting book to read, as well as a beautiful volume to own." John T. McGrath, Sixteenth Century Journal
Synopsis
This book traces the history of pictorial imagery associated with Terra Australis, showing the link between art and exploration.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [157]-175) and index.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Introduction; Part I. The Invention of a Southern Continent: 1. Terra Australis in antiquity and the Middle Ages; 2. Terra Australis in the early Renaissance; 3. Java la Grande and Magellanica; 4. Spanish vision of the Austral world: Medaña, Quirós, Torres; 5. Exotica in sixteenth century Spain; 6. Art, science and exploration in Elizabethan England; Part II. The Southern World in the Age of Dutch Expansion (1606-1756): 7. The Dutch image of the Southland; 8. Dutch Australian expeditions: 1606-36; 9. Antony van Diemen and the Great Southland (1636-45); 10. Art and the Dutch trading companies; 11. The Great Southland and the republic of letters: Nicolaas Witsen (1641-1717) and his Kunstkammer; 12. Epilogue; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography.