Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

Although he produced over one hundred maps which were copied and reprinted hundreds of times over the course of more than a century, Giacomo Gastaldi (ca. 1500-1566) remains an understudied and somewhat enigmatic figure in the history of cartography. Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World is the first monograph in any language devoted to the most important Italian cartographer of the sixteenth century, a man whose maps provided the first detailed and authoritative coverage of the entire earth. Besides relating all known biographical data on the cartographer, Douglas Sims's pioneering study contains a wealth of information on sixteenth-century cartography in general, on the study and interpretation of maps, and technical aspects of their engraving and publishing. He delves deeply into sixteenth-century theories of the continents, the mythical Gulf of Anian (a prefiguration of the Bering Strait), the medieval Arabic geographer Abulfeda, and on Giovanni Baptista Ramusio, who compiled the most complete record of the great age of exploration. The study concludes with a detailed cartobibliography describing 136 maps which can be attributed to Gastaldi, and a bibliography of more than 700 sources.

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Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

Although he produced over one hundred maps which were copied and reprinted hundreds of times over the course of more than a century, Giacomo Gastaldi (ca. 1500-1566) remains an understudied and somewhat enigmatic figure in the history of cartography. Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World is the first monograph in any language devoted to the most important Italian cartographer of the sixteenth century, a man whose maps provided the first detailed and authoritative coverage of the entire earth. Besides relating all known biographical data on the cartographer, Douglas Sims's pioneering study contains a wealth of information on sixteenth-century cartography in general, on the study and interpretation of maps, and technical aspects of their engraving and publishing. He delves deeply into sixteenth-century theories of the continents, the mythical Gulf of Anian (a prefiguration of the Bering Strait), the medieval Arabic geographer Abulfeda, and on Giovanni Baptista Ramusio, who compiled the most complete record of the great age of exploration. The study concludes with a detailed cartobibliography describing 136 maps which can be attributed to Gastaldi, and a bibliography of more than 700 sources.

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Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

by Douglas W Sims
Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World

by Douglas W Sims

Paperback

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Overview

Although he produced over one hundred maps which were copied and reprinted hundreds of times over the course of more than a century, Giacomo Gastaldi (ca. 1500-1566) remains an understudied and somewhat enigmatic figure in the history of cartography. Giacomo Gastaldi Maps the World is the first monograph in any language devoted to the most important Italian cartographer of the sixteenth century, a man whose maps provided the first detailed and authoritative coverage of the entire earth. Besides relating all known biographical data on the cartographer, Douglas Sims's pioneering study contains a wealth of information on sixteenth-century cartography in general, on the study and interpretation of maps, and technical aspects of their engraving and publishing. He delves deeply into sixteenth-century theories of the continents, the mythical Gulf of Anian (a prefiguration of the Bering Strait), the medieval Arabic geographer Abulfeda, and on Giovanni Baptista Ramusio, who compiled the most complete record of the great age of exploration. The study concludes with a detailed cartobibliography describing 136 maps which can be attributed to Gastaldi, and a bibliography of more than 700 sources.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798892821261
Publisher: Boreas Press
Publication date: 05/10/2025
Pages: 924
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.82(d)

About the Author

Douglas Sims was an independent scholar who devoted decades to the study of early cartography, and in particular, Italian cartography of the sixteenth century. With a degree in Slavic languages, Sims made a living by teaching English to non-native speakers. When not so engaged, he devoted countless hours to researching the life and works of Giacomo Gastaldi. He completed the first version of this book in typescript and copyrighted it in 2014. He spent the next eight years revising the manuscript and readying it for publication, work made more arduous by his and his wife's cascading medical problems. At Doug's request, Robert Karrow began providing feedback on the manuscript in 2023, work he was still engaged in when he learned of Doug's tragic death in December 2023 as a result of injuries suffered in a house fire. Karrow and Doug's sister Margot Sims took it on themselves to see the book into print.
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