Here Begins the Dark Sea: Venice, a Medieval Monk, and the Creation of the Most Accurate Map of the World

by Meredith Francesca Small

Overview

The remarkable story of the cartographic masterpiece—the Venetian mappa mundi—that revolutionized how we see the world.

In 1459 a Venetian monk named Fra Mauro completed an astonishing map of the world. Seven feet in diameter, Fra Mauro’s mappamundi is the oldest and most complete Medieval map to survive into modernity. And in its time, this groundbreaking mappamundi provided the most detailed description of the known world, incorporating accurate observation, and geographic reality, urging viewers to see water and land as they really existed. Fra Mauro's map was the first in history to show that a ship could circumnavigate Africa, and that the Indian “Sea” was in fact an ocean, enabling international trade to expand across the globe. Acclaimed anthropologist Meredith F. Small reveals how Fra Mauro’s mappamundi made cartography into a science rather than a practice based on religion and ancient myths.

Here Begins the Dark Sea brings Fra Mauro’s masterpiece to life as a work of art and a window into Venetian society and culture. In telling the story of this cornerstone of modern cartography, Small takes the reader on a fascinating journey as she explores the human urge to find our way. Here Begins the Dark Sea is a riveting testament to the undeniable impact Fra Mauro and his mappamundi have had over the past five centuries and still holds relevance today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781639364190
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	351,598
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Meredith F. Small is a professor of anthropology at Cornell University and the author of Our Babies Ourselves; What's Love Got to Do With It? and Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization, also available from Pegasus Books. She has written for Natural History Magazine, Discover, Scientific American, and is a commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. She lives in Philadelphia.

Editorial Reviews

"For all interested in maps and the history of exploration, this book is a wonderful read."

The Explorers Journal

"Here Begins the Dark Sea is a captivating exploration of Fra Mauro’s creation of the most accurate world map of its time. The book takes readers on a journey through the history of mapmaking, revealing the innovative thinking and dedication that went into Fra Mauro’s masterpiece. It is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the history of mapmaking or medieval geography."

Medieval Archives 

Praise for Inventing the World

From the Publisher

05/01/2023

This is anthropologist Small's (Cornell Univ.) second book on late medieval Venice. The first, Inventing the World, tied together Venice's unique social structure and the wealth of inventions that sprang from its inhabitants' fertile minds. This book focuses on one artifact: the astonishing world map that Camaldolese monk Fra Mauro completed in 1459 under commission from the King of Portugal. It was not only big (at seven feet wide) but also, given the limitations of European travel at the time, an astonishingly accurate, stunning work of cartography that was an encyclopedia too. The hundreds of notations inscribed on it offered valuable information for travelers and merchants. While Mauro's Africa may be misshapen, it shows a continent that could be circumnavigated to reach Asia; this had never been represented on a Western map. Small provides a history of mapmaking and speculates on why readers find them fascinating; she asserts it's the combination of beauty and practicality that's magnetizing. Except for Prester John, the book omits most carryovers from biblical and classical myths. VERDICT This thoughtful and enlightening book will likely appeal to history and cartography lovers of all levels.—David Keymer

Library Journal

2023-03-11
A study of one of history’s most influential maps.

In this follow-up to Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization, Cornell anthropologist Small provides a fascinating exploration of the impressively detailed mappa mundi created by Venetian monk Fra Mauro. Crafted by Mauro and his team between 1450 and 1459, the map, 7 feet in diameter, is on display in Venice, and it is both an artistic masterpiece and an encyclopedic resource that includes numerous textual explanations. Small begins by explaining the history and significance of mapmaking before moving on to chronicle the work of this particular mapmaker. Fra Mauro, whose real or full name is lost to history, was a Camaldolese monk on the Venetian island of San Michele. As the author notes, his life story is murky. “The creator of one of the greatest maps in the world remains an enigma,” she writes. Nevertheless, his map speaks for him, literally, in that many of his comments on the map are written in the first person. Small explains that Fra Mauro, though himself not a traveler, relied on eyewitness accounts for his information. Working in the trade city of Venice, he was well placed to learn about faraway places. The result is a map that visualizes Africa better than any map up to this point; it also includes places such as Japan in a time when very little was known to Europeans about East Asia. Beyond this, Fra Mauro laid out his map with a southern orientation and did not center it around Jerusalem or Europe. His map, writes the author, was “the instigator of change, the map that rejected religion and went so far as to embrace the nascent methodology and philosophy of science.” Small concludes by describing Fra Mauro’s influence on European exploration, cartography, and culture.

Interesting and approachable, this book will appeal to any student of geography or world history.

Kirkus Reviews

Around 1450, the Venetian government commissioned a monk named Fra Mauro to make a mappa mundi, a map of the world. His map is a circle nearly 7 feet in diameter, crammed with illustrations and annotations; the work took several years. When it was done, it was the most detailed and accurate map of the known world that anyone had yet made. Here Begins the Dark Sea is an engaging guide to Fra Mauro’s times and techniques.

The Wall Street Journal