Archipelago: An Atlas of Imagined Islands

by Huw Lewis-Jones (Editor)

What is it about islands that is so alluring, and why do so many people find these self-contained worlds irresistible? Utopia and Atlantis were islands, and islands have captured the imaginations of writers and artists for centuries. In 1719, Daniel Defoe published his tale of a castaway on a desert island, Robinson Crusoe, one of the first great novels in the history of English literature and an instant bestseller. Defoe’s tale combined the real and the imagined into a compelling creative landscape, establishing a whole literary genre and unleashing the power of islands in storytelling.

To celebrate the tercentenary of the publication of Robinson Crusoe, Archipelago presents a truly international range of leading illustrators who imagine they too have washed up on their own remote island. In specially created maps, they visualize what their island looks like, what it’s called, and what can be found on its mythical shores. In a panoply of astonishingly creative responses, we are invited to explore a curious and fabulous archipelago of islands of invention that will beguile illustrators, cartographers, and dreamers alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Maps, Travel

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2019

About the author

Huw Lewis-Jones is a British historian, editor, broadcaster and art director. Formerly a historian and Curator of Art at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lewis-Jones left Cambridge in June 2010 to pursue book and broadcasting projects. He is the Editorial Director of the independent publishing company Polarworld.

Lewis-Jones is now working on an exploration of classic mountain photography and a large photography project for the national charity the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. His most recent books as an author are a new history of the South Pole and an Arctic travel narrative for television with popular BBC presenter and adventurer Bruce Parry.

Lewis-Jones' first book was Face to Face: Polar Portraits, an account of historic and modern photographic portraiture, published in 2008. British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes wrote its Foreword. The book was The Sunday Times 'Book of the Week' and a 'Book of the Year' in The Observer and received much praise elsewhere. It was also published in Italy by De Agostini and in Germany by Geo and Frederking and Thaler. The Explorers Journal described it as 'one of the most stunning books of photography in recent times'.

The next in his series, Ocean Portraits, a celebration of the sea told through rare historic imagery and modern maritime photography, was released in the United Kingdom in late 2010 by Conway, an imprint of London-based publishing house Anova Books. It is understood there will also be French and German language editions. Its Foreword was written by pioneering yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Described by Wanderlust magazine as a trove of 'portraiture at its best; personal, insightful and delightfully intriguing', it was selected by The Guardian as one of 'the year's best photography books'. Lewis-Jones has now completed Mountain Heroes: Portraits of Adventure, with a significant international team of authors and mountaineers including Doug Scott, Sir Chris Bonington, Stephen Venables, and the celebrated National Geographic photographers Gordon Wiltsie and Cory Richards. It won the Adventure Book of the Year at the World ITB Awards in Germany.

He is also the author of children books (Blue Badger, Bad Apple, Croc o’Clock, etc.).

Reviews

[Judith de Diego · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Hola! Soy la traductora al español de esta joyita de libro. 🙋 Lo traduje en plena pandemia, cuando todos estábamos encerrados en casa, y gracias a él pude viajar y dejar atrás, a ratos, días difíciles. Superdivertido y con unas historias-imágenes salidas de un sueño expresionista.

Mapas y textos para robinsones del siglo XXI que no saben dónde están ni dónde van... ni les importa demasiado.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and a great gift book.

[Agus Gelosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

La isla de los panaderos que naufragaron y que se extinguieron porque se quedaron sin levadura en polvo y harina imposible superarla

[Covadonga Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leído en español en la edición de libros del zorro rojo. Precioso monumento a la imaginación, con una antología de ilustradores impresionante y textos cuidados y divertidos. Un regalo perfecto.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea more than the execution. Most of these imagined places are just silly rather than magical, and the write-ups of their history are often cursory and lacking in any coherent world-building. This book shows the importance of a writer with a deep imagination to bring out history and story tied to cartography, as these that depend only on the input and imagination of the artist are often very superficial and lacking in any kind of substance. Too many of these maps are diagrammatic for me as well, reminding me of the old Dell Mapbacks which often did not have maps per se, but rather diagrams of a limited area.

[Mike Mcconnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Islands in this book have a beautiful double page spread, a little bit of backstory, and just enough to let your imagination jump off.

Working my way through, two or three Islands at a time, had been an absolute joy.

Second only to Judith Schalansky's Atlas of Remote Islands.

[Stephen the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a wonderfully imaginative and beautiful distraction of design, word play and language... just one small gripe- why such a small font??

[Patrick Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I was hoping for but I am sure others will enjoy it more than me.