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The Theatrum orbis terrarum was a
watershed publication; it changed lives and altered perceptions
for ever. Published in Antwerp in 1570, it did something
no previous book had done: here was the world in all its
component parts, the chance to see our planet as a place
of staggering variety and ultimate unity. It was the world's
first-ever atlas.
Brainchild of Abraham Ortelius, the Theatrum
reflected the great vitality of the era, the prevailing
zest for exploration and discovery, and the linked activities
of international commerce and map-making. In his native
city of Antwerp, then the world's liveliest port, Ortelius
was member of a circle of extraordinary men including the
age's most eminent printer, Christophe Plantin, and greatest
geographer, Gerard Mercator. His warm, compelling personality
meant that his momentous work was born of friendship and
collaboration, at a time when the Low Countries were struggling
under the brutal yoke of Hapsburg-Spain.
Paul Binding has immersed himself in the
Antwerp that produced Ortelius and his atlas, and has drawn
on a mass of letters, personal documents, maps and pictures
in order to bring it vividly to life. He views Ortelius's
life-work against the stormy backdrop and often violent
events of the period, and relates his achievement to contemporaneous
thinkers and artists. Imagined Corners stands as
a tribute to the human need to impose order and reason on
an all-too-turbulent world.
Paul Binding is a novelist, critic, poet
and cultural historian who spent his early childhood in
war-shattered Germany, the subject of his prize-winning
memoir, St. Martin's Ride, and an experience which
has made him a dedicated internationalist. He studied English
Literature at Oxford University and is Senior Associate
Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford. He has travelled
widely and has particular interests in the Low Countries
and Scandinavia, but for some years now has made his home
in Shropshire, where he enjoys the company of animals and
exploring the countryside. His most recent book is a novel,
My Cousin the Writer, and he reviews regularly, especially
for the Independent on Sunday and Times Literary
Supplement.
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