THE FOLIO SOCIETY

This beautiful, richly illustrated volume celebrates the amazing and varied history of map-making, from the dawn of civilisation to the present day. In page after page of exquisitely detailed images and brilliantly informative text, Cartographia shows how maps have acted as visual records of mankind’s achievements and discoveries.

Maps are mirrors on the past, intriguing enigmas, and illuminating works of art. Over 200 maps have been brought together, selected from the largest cartographic collection in the world at the US Library of Congress, including many of the rarest in existence: the Waldseemüller Map of the World from 1507, the first to feature the designation ‘America’; a 1755 map of the British and French dominions in North America, one of the most important in the history of the United States; and a fascinating range of Asian, African and Oceanic maps that challenge traditional western perspectives.

Cartographia offers a truly unique insight into mankind’s vision of the world, our understanding of it and how it has changed over the centuries.