Overview

"First Published in 1998. An exploration narrative can be a tale of adventure and endurance, a technical account of navigation and seamanship, or a political history of the overseas empires that were built up in the wake of the explorers. In New Found Lands, Peter Whitfield takes a different approach. By focusing on the maps that the explorers themselves used, Whitfield reveals how the both the explorers and their patrons understood their expanding world and their place in it, what they were seeking and how they thought they could achieve it, and how they integrated new knowledge into their evolving world view. The maps in New Found Lands present the geographical ideas of the time, making plain the power that came with increasing technical and geographical knowledge. They also serve as evocative and poignant reminders of the limited knowledge of these explorers. For up until very recent times, as these maps show, there have been areas of the world remaining to be explored and ""new found lands"" to discover. This lavishly illustrated book progresses chronologically, starting with the explorers of the ancient world, covering the East, the New World, the Pacific, Australia and the Modern Era. It will enrich our understanding of the voyages of discovery undertaken over the past 2000 years and will delight any map or history lover. Also inlcludes 150 color and black and white maps."

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9780415920261

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Reviews

This is a book to get lost in on a cold winter's night. ...[This book] was clearly a labour of love, as the author laments that he can can give only the barest summaries of the adventures he recounts with relish. <br>- Bowdens <br> It's a highly enlightening book of cartography, and demonstrates humankind's need to know where it has been, where it is and where it can go. Education mixed with fun discovery dominate Whitfield's work. <br>- Illinois Times, 30 August 1998 <br> New Found Lands provides a new approach to historical and cartographic coverage... Plenty of description accompanies these black and white and color reproductions of old maps, making for a fine exploration and historical review. <br>- Reviewer's Bookwatch, September 1998 <br> Recommended for all public and academic libraries. <br>- Library Journal, 10/98 <br> This is a book to get lost in on a cold winter's night. <br>- The Montreal Gazette, 11/98 <br>

This is a book to get lost in on a cold winter's night. ...[This book] was clearly a labour of love, as the author laments that he can can give only the barest summaries of the adventures he recounts with relish. -- Bowdens It's a highly enlightening book of cartography, and demonstrates humankind's need to know where it has been, where it is and where it can go. Education mixed with fun discovery dominate Whitfield's work. -- Illinois Times New Found Lands provides a new approach to historical and cartographic coverage... Plenty of description accompanies these black and white and color reproductions of old maps, making for a fine exploration and historical review. -- Reviewer's Bookwatch Recommended for all public and academic libraries. -- Library Journal This is a book to get lost in on a cold winter's night. -- The Montreal Gazette It's a fascinating journey through the old map files of many libraries and museums, following everyone from Vasco de Gama to Lewish and Clark to even some Chinese explorers...it's terrific. -- Burlington Times-News ...a carefully crafted book, both in terms of the attractive and well-reporduced colour maps and the well-written and compelling narrative...a reliable work with compelling prose descriptions of important and exciting adventures. -- Canadian Journal of History

Author Information

"Peter Whitfield runs his own company publishing facsimiles of historical maps. In 1995 he was curator of the British Library exhibit, ""The Earth and the Heavens: The Map Maker's Art."" He currently lives in London."

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