Main entry:

Roberts, Sean E.

Title & Author:

Printing a Mediterranean world : Florence, Constantinople, and the renaissance of geography / Sean Roberts.

Publication:

Cambridge : Harvard University Press, ©2013.

Description:

xiii, 293 pages, 25 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Series:

I Tatti studies in Italian Renaissance history

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: gifts from afar -- Ptolemy in transit -- The rebirth of geography -- Making books, forging communities -- Printing tolerance and intolerance -- Conclusion: resurrection and necromancy.

Summary:

In 1482, the Florentine humanist and statesman Francesco Berlinghieri produced the Geographia, a book of over one hundred folio leaves describing the world in Italian verse, inspired by the ancient Greek geography of Ptolemy. The poem, divided into seven books (one for each day of the week the author "travels" the known world), is interleaved with lavishly engraved maps to accompany readers on this journey. Sean Roberts demonstrates that the Geographia represents the moment of transition between printing and manuscript culture, while forming a critical base for the rise of modern cartography. Simultaneously, the use of the Geographia as a diplomatic gift from Florence to the Ottoman Empire tells another story. This exchange expands our understanding of Mediterranean politics, European perceptions of the Ottomans, and Ottoman interest in mapping and print. The envoy to the Sultan represented the aspirations of the Florentine state, which chose not to bestow some other highly valued good, such as the city's renowned textiles, but instead the best example of what Florentine visual, material, and intellectual culture had to offer.

Resources:
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ISBN:

9780674066489
0674066480

Subject:

Berlinghieri, Francesco, 1440-1501. Geographia.
Ptolemy, active 2nd century. Geographia.
Geographia (Berlinghieri, Francesco)
Geographia (Ptolemy)
Cartography Italy Florence History 15th century.
Cartography Turkey Istanbul History 15th century.
Cartographie Italie Florence Histoire 15e siècle.
Cartographie Turquie İstanbul Histoire 15e siècle.
Cartography.
Europe Maps Early works to 1800.
Turkey History Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918.
Empire ottoman Histoire.
Europe.
Italy Florence.
Turkey.
Turkey Istanbul.

Form/genre:

Early works.
History.
Maps.
Cartes géographiques.

Added entries:

I Tatti studies in Italian Renaissance history.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 286345
Call No.: BIB 226591
Status: Available