Overview

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume, first published in 1897, contains the first English translation of the Greek monk Cosmas Indicopleustes' description of the universe and of his voyages to India, written c.550 C.E. His vivid descriptions of India, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia provide invaluable information on vanished monuments and cultures, though his book also insistently proposes that the earth is flat and denounces the 'Pagans' (mainstream ancient philosophers including Ptolemy) who, like most of Cosmas' Christian contemporaries, argued in favour of a spherical earth.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cosmas Indicopleustes ,  J. W. McCrindle
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
ISBN:  

9780511708473

ISBN 10:   0511708475
Publication Date:   10 November 2010
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Undefined
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

Editor's preface; Introduction; The author's supplication for divine aid; Prologue I; Prologue II; 1. The places and figures of the universe; 2. The position, figure, length and breadth of the Earth; 3. The Tower of Babel; 4. A recapitulation of the views advanced; 5. Description of the Tabernacle; 6. The size of the Sun; 7. The duration of the heavens; 8. Interpretation of the Song of Hezekiah; 9. Courses of the Sun and Moon and other heavenly bodies; 10. Passages from the Christian Fathers confirming the author's views; 11. Description of certain Indian animals and plants, and of the island of Taprobanê (Ceylon); 12. Old Testament narratives confirmed by Chaldaean, Babylonian, Persian and Egyptian records; Appendix; Index.

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