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MR. SELDEN'S MAP OF CHINA: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer

MR. SELDEN'S MAP OF CHINA: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer

MR. SELDEN'S MAP OF CHINA: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer
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MR. SELDEN'S MAP OF CHINA: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer Hardback - 2013

by Brook, Timothy

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New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press, 2013. First American Edition, First Printing . Hardcover. NEW - COLLECTIBLE/New. BRAND NEW & COLLECTIBLE. First Edition, First Printing. Exploring the story behind a handpainted 17th century Chinese martine map, donated to Oxford's Bodleian Library in 1654 by lawyer John Selden (1584 - 1654), where it sat undisturbed for some 350 years in 2009. Sinologist Timothy Brook probes the mystery of how this ancient Chinese map finds its way to England of King James II. 211 pgs with 28 illustrations. 8 chapters: 1, What is Wrong with this Map?; 2, Closing the Sea; 3, Reading Chinese in Oxford; 4, John Saris & the Chinese Captain; 5, The Compass Rose; 6, Sailing from China; 7, Heaven is Round, Earth is Square; and 8, Secrets of the Shelden Map, followed by Epilogue and 2 appendices.

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Details

  • Title MR. SELDEN'S MAP OF CHINA: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer
  • Author Brook, Timothy
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First American Edition, First Printing
  • Condition New
  • Pages 240
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Bloomsbury Press, New York, NY
  • Publication date 2013
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 017325
  • ISBN 9781620401439 / 1620401436
  • Weight 1.08 lbs (0.49 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.41 x 6.45 x 0.92 in (23.90 x 16.38 x 2.34 cm)
  • Category History - General History
  • Library of Congress subjects South China Sea, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2013026421
  • Dewey Decimal Code 912.164
  • Quantity available 1

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From the publisher

Timothy Brook's award-winning Vermeer's Hat unfolded the early history of globalization, using Vermeer's paintings to show how objects like beaver hats and porcelain bowls began to circulate around the world. Now he plumbs the mystery of a single artifact that offers new insights into global connections centuries old.

In 2009, an extraordinary map of China was discovered in Oxford's Bodleian Library-where it had first been deposited 350 years before, then stowed and forgotten for nearly a century. Neither historians of China nor cartography experts had ever seen anything like it. It was so odd that experts would have declared it a fake-yet records confirmed it had been delivered to Oxford in 1659. The "Selden Map," as it is known, was a puzzle that needing solving.

Brook, a historian of China, set out to explore the riddle. His investigation will lead readers around this elegant, enigmatic work of art, and from the heart of China, via the Southern Ocean, to the court of King James II. In the story of Selden's map, he reveals for us the surprising links between an English scholar and merchants half a world away, and offers novel insights into the power and meaning that a single map can hold. Brook delivers the same anecdote-rich narrative, intriguing characters, and unexpected historical connections that made Vermeer's Hat an instant classic.

About the author

Timothy Brook is a professor of history and principal of St. John's College at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of many books, including Vermeer's Hat, winner of the Mark Lynton Prize for outstanding achievement in world history, and Confusions of Pleasure, which received the Joseph Levenson Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.

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