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. 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. 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 "marvelous" and of Western conceptions of the ocean.
Industry Reviews
"Full of charming stories and cartographic detail, Chet Van Duzer's book is an entertaining and rewarding book for general readers and a well-researched reference for scholars."--Alessandro Scafi "Times Literary Supplement " "[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."--Marina Warner "New York Review of Books " "An in-depth dissection of ancient maps and sea beasts from days past."--Andrew Belonsky "Out " "Lavish. . . . The sea monsters depicted throughout Van Duzer'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."--Vicki Ellen Szabo, Western Carolina University "Nautical Research Journal " Full of charming stories and cartographic detail, Chet Van Duzer s book is an entertaining and rewarding book for general readers and a well-researched reference for scholars. --Alessandro Scafi "Times Literary Supplement "" [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. --Marina Warner "New York Review of Books "" Lavish. . . . The sea monsters depicted throughout Van Duzer 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. --Vicki Ellen Szabo, Western Carolina University "Nautical Research Journal "" An in-depth dissection of ancient maps and sea beasts from days past. --Andrew Belonsky "Out "" 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.
--Sam Llewellyn "Marine Quarterly "" In the large-format, hardcover that this thing is, it s basically as near to the ultimate nerd-level coffee table book that you could ever want, and I love it for that.
--Aidan Flax-Clark "Lapham's Quarterly "" "In the large-format, hardcover that this thing is, it's basically as near to the ultimate nerd-level coffee table book that you could ever want, and I love it for that."
--Aidan Flax-Clark "Lapham's Quarterly " "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."
--Sam Llewellyn "Marine Quarterly "
