Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World
Trading Territories tells the compelling story of maps and geographical knowledge in the early modern world from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth century. Examining how European geographers mapped the territories of the Old World—Africa and Southeast Asia—this book shows how the historical preoccupation with Columbus’s “discovery” of the New World of America in 1492 obscured the ongoing importance of mapping territories that have since been defined as “Eastern,” especially those in the Muslim world. In this book, now available in its second edition and updated with a new preface by the author, Jerry Brotton shows that trade and diplomacy defined the development of maps and globes in this period, far more than the disinterested pursuit of scientific accuracy and objectivity, and challenges our preconceptions about not just maps, but also the history and geography of what we call East and West.
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Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World
Trading Territories tells the compelling story of maps and geographical knowledge in the early modern world from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth century. Examining how European geographers mapped the territories of the Old World—Africa and Southeast Asia—this book shows how the historical preoccupation with Columbus’s “discovery” of the New World of America in 1492 obscured the ongoing importance of mapping territories that have since been defined as “Eastern,” especially those in the Muslim world. In this book, now available in its second edition and updated with a new preface by the author, Jerry Brotton shows that trade and diplomacy defined the development of maps and globes in this period, far more than the disinterested pursuit of scientific accuracy and objectivity, and challenges our preconceptions about not just maps, but also the history and geography of what we call East and West.
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Trading Territories: Mapping the Early Modern World
Trading Territories tells the compelling story of maps and geographical knowledge in the early modern world from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth century. Examining how European geographers mapped the territories of the Old World—Africa and Southeast Asia—this book shows how the historical preoccupation with Columbus’s “discovery” of the New World of America in 1492 obscured the ongoing importance of mapping territories that have since been defined as “Eastern,” especially those in the Muslim world. In this book, now available in its second edition and updated with a new preface by the author, Jerry Brotton shows that trade and diplomacy defined the development of maps and globes in this period, far more than the disinterested pursuit of scientific accuracy and objectivity, and challenges our preconceptions about not just maps, but also the history and geography of what we call East and West.
Jerry Brotton is professor of Renaissance studies at Queen Mary University of London and a leading expert in the history of cartography. He presented the BBC4 series Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession in 2010, and is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books, including Global Interests: Renaissance Art between East and West, cowritten with Lisa Jardine, and the best-selling and prize-winning A History of the World in Twelve Maps.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. An Empire Built on Water: The Cartography of the Early Portuguese Discoveries 3. Disorienting the East: The Geography of the Ottoman Empire 4. Cunning Cosmographers: Mapping the Moluccas 5. Plotting and Projecting: The Geography of Mercator and Ortelius 6. Conclusion References Bibliography Index
What People are Saying About This
Lisa Jardine
In this outstanding study of maps and mapping, Jerry Brotton reveals a dynamism in the transaction between East and West beyond anything we have previously appreciated.
Larry Wolff
Brotton succeeds admirably in looking at maps and mapping in original and provocative ways. He uses a wealth of materials to produce a small book that bristles with interesting ideas and perspectives.
