Kenneth Nebenzahl

Mapping Asia presents an authoritative selection of the most important antique maps of Asia and the Middle East produced from the time of Alexander the Great to the early nineteenth century, by cartographers from England, France, Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Italy, and China. A fascinating visual chronicle of the maps and their makers, this book explores the history of Europe's discovery of lands to the east, from Constantinople to present-day Alaska. It tells the stories of the thriving trade that linked east and west beginning with the ancient Silk Road, the explorers - such as Magellan and Sir Francis Drake - who continually searched for new lands and routes to reach the east beginning in the fifteenth century, and the indigenous peoples who struggled to retain their autonomy in the face of European missionary activity and influence. Mapping Asia reproduces in full color 80 beautifully rendered and rare maps, more than 40 of which have never been published for the general public. Each map is accompanied by an accessible essay that provides extensive background on the mapmaker and how the map was originally produced, and describes the geography, sites, and details on the map. Most

Today the world is focusing unprecedented attention on Asia and the Middle East - rediscovering a cultural, political, and geographical landscape that has fascinated and frustrated Westerners since the time of Alexander the Great. Mapping the Silk Ro ad and Beyond traces the history of the European age of exploration and its lasting effects on these regions through an extensive series of beautifully rendered and imaginative maps drawn by explorers, merchants, and colonial administrators of the ti me. The book focuses on both maritime exploration and overland discovery via the ancient Silk Road: a network of trading posts that encompassed China, Tibet, Pakistan, India, Kurdistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and dozens of other places known in anc ient times by fabled names, including Abyssinia, Malacca, Macassar, Siam, and Cathay. The maps provide detailed visual keys to the fascinating history of Asia and the Middle East: altogether they illuminate a cast of historical figures ranging from g reat leaders (the Queen of Sheba, Mohammed the prophet, King Charles V) to legendary explorers (Marco Polo, Columbus, Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, Capt. James Cook) and influential cartographers. Mapping the Silk Road and Beyond depicts over eighty m aps organized in clear chronology - from Alexander the Great's map of the world, first created in 323 BC and reproduced in a sixteenth-century atlas, to maps from the nineteenth century by French and Dutch explorers that detail the growing interactio n between Europeans and Eastern cultures. These maps represent the finest examples in existence in museums, libraries, and archives around the world, chosen because they depict the most important milestones in the mapping of Asia.