Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps

by Chet Van Duzer

The sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps, whether swimming vigorously, gamboling amid the waves, attacking ships, or simply displaying themselves for our appreciation, are one of the most visually engaging elements on these maps, and yet they have never been carefully studied. The subject is important not only in the history of cartography, art, and zoological illustration, but also in the history of the geography of the "marvelous" and of western conceptions of the ocean. Moreover, the sea monsters depicted on maps can supply important insights into the sources, influences, and methods of the cartographers who drew or painted them. In this highly-illustrated book the author analyzes the most important examples of sea monsters on medieval and Renaissance maps produced in Europe, beginning with the earliest mappaemundi on which they appear in the 10th century and continuing to the end of the 16th century.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Maps, Medieval, Mythology, Reference

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2013

Reviews

[Vic Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only gave this book three stars for the art of the maps. The text is very scholarly, even arrogant at times. Lots of book/atlas titles and quotes from map indexes in their original language in the text then translated to English, sometimes. The reader doesn't always get a translation. A lot of info that should be in footnotes/endnotes has to be plowed thru or skipped over.
The author also also excludes some basic information that could have easily been included. For instance, on page 89 he says "In April of 1526 he set sail from Sanlucar de Barraeda on a voyage..."
I'd never heard of this port before so I had to look it up. The author could have included something like "the Spanish port of" or "...in southern Spain" or any number of other ways to communicate that basic information but chose not to. The author's tone just really put me off.
The maps and the art on the other hand, are wonderful. Colorful, interesting, sometimes amusing, and always fascinating. That's what saves this book from a two star, or worse, review.
I'd only recommend this to people interested in the history of cartography.

[Emma Sea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hell of a piece of scholarship. *wild applause*

I'd recommend accompanying this read with Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art and Ornament and the Grotesque: Fantastical Decoration from Antiquity to Art Nouveau. The influence of the classical Roman acanthus leaf motif is really noticeable here.

[kimberly_rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Richly and copiously illustrated, extremely detailed text, but mind-numbingly dry prose style and drably organized. I think, with this level of detail, it's a book only a seriously intense studier of Medieval and/or Renaissance maps or of the evolution of European society's concepts around sea creatures would want to labour through.

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations with a text that can be a bit redundant. The range of sea monsters is fascinating.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting monsters and interesting maps. Early whale monsters are toothy fish with twin spouts on their heads. The two-tailed mermaid retains her popularity through the ages. I liked the page showing the artistic evolution of the walrus from aquatic elephant to naturalistic depiction, but otherwise the book lacks any grand organising principle.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read with fabulous pictures to observe.

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggest, the book focuses on sea monsters as they appear on medieval maps.It explores the first maps that showed sea monsters and how some maps and scientific publications influenced future maps. The book contains many reproductions in colour of old and famous maps and also detailed images of relevant sea monsters. It's a beautiful book with awe-inspiring images. Probably a great candidate for a coffee table book.

I took it down two stars because:

1. Not all the mentioned maps and sea monsters are represented in the book, which is a pity; I had to Google a few of the maps mentioned to be able to follow, and even googling I couldn't find detailed images of some of the monsters… what's the point of this book, then? 😞

2. This book is great for research because it has references and citations of all sources and thorough explanations; but for a non-academic reader it becomes a bit repetitive

3. The book is full of insight early on, which is great; I was expecting the pace of surprising information to continue steadily, but sadly most of the insight is at the beginning of the book, with the rest feeling more like a blow-by-blow description of the evolution of maps

[แมวป่วย ทำงานเพื่อสนับสนุนงานอดิเรก · Rating 4 out of 5]

ขณะรีวิว : อ่านจบแล้ว

เป็นหนังสือแบบตำราเชิงวิชาการเลย คนเขียนนำแผนที่ตั้งแต่สมัยยุคกลาง ซึ่งเป็นยุคสมัยที่การเดินทางยังต้องพึ่งพาเรือ และการออกข้ามมหาสมุทรยังเป็นเรื่องอันตราย เพราะไม่มีใครรู้ว่ามีอะไรอยู่ข้างหน้า

จินตนาการ เรื่องเล่า นิยายปรัมปรา จึงมีส่วนมากในการแต่งแต้ม เติมแต่ง รังสรรสิ่งที่เรียกว่า แผนที่แห่งท้องทะเลขึ้นมา

คนเขียนนำแผนที่ทั้งหมดที่มีการเขียนขึ้น มาอ้างอิง วิเคราะห์เพิ่มและชี้แจงให้เห็นถึงความเชื่อในแต่ละพื้นที่และยุคสมัย โดยทุกจุดที่เขียนมีการอ้างอิงจากแผนที่ที่ถูกเขียนขึ้นจริง และมีภาพประกอบให้ดูเรื่อย ๆ ในเล่ม

เป็นหนังสือที่ดีมีคุณค่า แต่ถามว่าอ่านสนุกไหม ไม่เลย.. การเรียบเรียงเป็นแบบเชิงวิชาการแท้ ๆ ไม่ใช่เรื่องเล่า ไม่มีการใส่นิยายปรัมปราหรือความเชื่ออะไรเข้าไป ทำให้บางทีอ่านไปหลับไปบ้าง แต่แนวแบบนี้ก็ไม่ได้ต้องการความตั้งใจอ่านมากเท่าไหร่ คืออ่านเพื่อเปิดโลก
ยังไงก็ถือว่าเป็นหนังสือดีเล่มนึงค่ะ

<<อ่านรีวิวงานอื่นๆ https://www.facebook.com/SickCatReview

[Sara Madureira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although the theme is interesting I found the text extremely boring, repetitive and overload of unnecessary information. I was expecting more of a image - description and perhaps the myths surrounding that specific sea monster. The image and text were all over the place not matching the same page which made it worse to keep up with and stay interested. I found there was an endless repetition of influential material for different artists and long explanations of things that I don’t deem necessary for the theme. I guess you will enjoy it if you’re into super detailed information and care to know what works influenced mythical sea creatures.
I was however disappointed and it felt like a chore to read it.

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved books about maps. I find them, and their views of the world fascinating, especially ancient and medieval maps. Looking at how people viewed their world then is so enlightening. The addition of art depicting mythical monsters just adds to the fascination. Seeing how the monsters are depicted is one of the most intriguing aspects, the artistry of them. It's also enlightening to see where the monsters are shown to have lived, and the places where they could have been seen. An entertaining book to just flip through, and look at the art and cartography.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much a YMMV bit of work. The pictures are greatly entertaining, showing beasts supernatural (mermaids) and intended to be real (a walrus that looks more like a saber-tooth). However the topic itself is way specialized: looking at different maps, identifying the sea monsters, explaining the sources for the image. I like reading about maps and I still found this dull at times, but the pictures remain great.

[Dnim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book after finding an old globe with monsters in it at home and after seeying it at the Museum of Natural History in NY. The illustrations are well reproduced, but I was expecting more information on what inspired the monsters and I felt many names were thrown without offering previous context. A few times I could relate a possible animal to a monster that was not explained. The text could be better put together in a way that was not dull, but still interesting, worth read.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The creatures captured in these medieval and Renaissance era maps are fascinating. I'm particularly fond of the aquatic horses and elephants (once upon a time, people believed that every animal on land had its equivalent in the sea), and I loved seeing the depictions of animals like whales and walruses evolve over time. The book gave me ideas for maps I'd love to own and display one day.

[Zachary Kreft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful reproductions of old maps, along with explanations of the thinking of the people who created them and their world view, as well as the utility of these creatures to hostorians. An excellent work.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very neat book! It's exactly what it says on the title - sea monsters in old maps - but I need to emphasize that this is beautiful. There are probably close to 200 color illustrations throughout the book, and the author highlights all kinds of details that I might gloss over.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

No real structure- just jumps from short essay to short essay. But good use of images and is well-designed.

Well researched but could benefit from a more structured layout with chapters or sections.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry for a book about maps, which is a bit unfortunate. The content is interesting, the histotical information relevant but the writing is too much of a sleeping pill.

[Steve Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the images. The text was a bit boring and repetitive.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty thorough overview of the what/how/why of sea monsters on medieval maps, without endlessly repeating images of more or less the same thing(s).

[Hannah Semmelhack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very cool! The images were amazing, and it was a nice little tour through why there are sea monsters on maps.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful and exhaustive book, though a little bit to academic for light reading. I ended up skimming many sections and let the illustration captions guide my journey through the book.

[Olaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely illustrated, text a bit dry, I was looking for backgrounds on where the sea monsters came from, and although it was sometimes explained, mostly it was not.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Tina]

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Fascinating stuff. The drawings are hilarious and some of the things people believed in the Medieval Ages... lol I particularly love the monstrous drawings of walruses and dolphins.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title pretty much sums it up. If you want a book examining sea monsters found on medieval maps then this is it. The text is mostly a deeper explanation of what is found on various medieval maps. This can be a bit frustrating as the focus is so narrow it sometimes misses the larger context. I found myself heading to Google to learn more about the map makers and the documents the author references.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

By "read" I of course mean "skimmed while I looked at the sweet-ass monsters and mermaids".

[Mills College Library]

912.1962 V246 2013

[Iroquois · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally would have loved this as a kid, but still love now too