The golden age of maritime maps : when Europe discovered the world / under the direction of Catherine Hofmann, HeÌleÌne Richard, Emmanuelle Vagnon.

"First published in France under the title L'Age d'or des Cartes Marines © EÌditions du Seuil, 2012."--Title page verso.

Catalog of the exhibition at BibliotheÌque nationale de France, Paris, October 23, 2012-January 27, 2013.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 248) and index.

Oceanic overture / Frank Lestringant -- The fascination of portolans: historiography and collections / Catherine Hofmann -- How portolan maps were made and used through the centuries / Catherine Hofmann, HeÌleÌne Richard, Emmanuelle Vagnon -- Catalonian atlas -- The Mediterranean: the cradle of portolan maps / Emmanuelle Vagnon -- Navigational maps: the first widely distributed maps / Ramon J. Pujades i Bataller -- Mediterranean cartographers of the 16th and 17th centuries / Corradino Astengo -- Antique, medieval and new world cities on portolan maps / Jean-Yves Sarazin -- Insular maritime cosmography and European expansion during the Renaissance / Georges Tolias -- Nautical planisphere / NicoloÌ de Caverio -- The challenge of the oceans / HeÌleÌne Richard -- The exploration and geopolitical stakes of Iberian cartography (15th and 16th centuries) / Luisa MartiÌn-MeraÌs Verdejo -- From the Mediterranean to the ocean: new problems, new solutions / Joaquim Alves Gaspar -- Norman hydrographers (16th and 17th centuries) / Sarah Toulouse -- Universal cosmography / Guillaume Le Testu -- The iconography of the new world (15th-17th centuries) / Surekha Davies -- Hydrographers along the Thames (16th and 17th centuries) / Sarah Tyacke -- The Miller atlas -- The distribution of knowledge / Emmanuelle Vagnon -- Medieval cartography of the Indian Ocean: the imagined ocean / Emmanuelle Vagnon -- Nautical and humanist cartography of the Indian Ocean (16th and 17th centuries) / ZoltaÌn Biedermann -- Cartography of the Dutch East India Company's far east routes / Hans Kok -- Map of the Pacific Ocean / Hessel Gerritsz.

"'Portolan charts,' so called from the Italian adjective portolano, meaning 'related to ports or harbours,' were born during the 12th century in the maritime community. These charts, drawn on parchment and crisscrossed with lines referring to the compass directions, indicated the succession of ports and anchorages along the shores, and were used by European sailors exploring the world up until the 18th century. Not only used as navigational instruments on boats, they were also produced for wealthy sponsors in the form of illuminated images of the world, to illustrate the economic and political interests of the major European sea powers. This book takes stock of the state of knowledge on these maps, bringing together contributions from a dozen European specialists, who trace the history and diversity of styles and places of production of these charts. This type of mapping is approached from three angles. The first part, 'The Mediterranean,' refers to the manufacture and use of the first charts, centered on the Mediterranean, and the persistence of this tradition in the Mediterranean basin until the 18th century. The second part, 'Wide Open Spaces,' shows how these regional charts have evolved from a technical and iconographical point of view at the time of the great European voyages, in order to include the oceans and new worlds. The third part, 'The Indian Ocean,' shows how these charts, in a maritime area where ancient civilizations coexisted, were dependent on other cartographic traditions (ancient, Arab, Asian) before joining the information reported by Portuguese sailors and European trading companies in the modern era."--Publisher's website.