Globe on Paper: Writing Histories of the World in Renaissance Europe and the Americas

The age of exploration challenged universal histories, leading Renaissance historians to question how to narrate the history of hitherto unknown peoples. The Globe on Paper reconstructs imaginative accounts from Mexico to the Moluccas and Peru, featuring humanists, librarians, missionaries, imperial officials, and indigenous chroniclers. These narratives testify to an unprecedented broadening of horizons that briefly flourished before succumbing to imperial and religious reaction.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 23 September 2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The age of exploration brought to light a multiplicity of pasts, challenging an emerging sense of unity in the world. Renaissance historians addressed the questions posed by this challenge, such as how to narrate the history of hitherto unknown peoples, why the Bible and classical works said nothing about ancient cultures, and how far it was possible to write histories of the world at a time of growing religious division and imperial rivalry.

The Globe on Paper reconstructs a set of imaginative accounts from Mexico to the Moluccas and Peru, and from the shops of Venetian printers to the rival courts of Spain and England. The book features humanists, librarians, missionaries, imperial officials, forgers, and indigenous chroniclers, drawing on information gathered from eyewitness reports, interviews with local inhabitants, ancient codices, and material evidence. Their global narratives testify to an unprecedented broadening of horizons that briefly flourished before succumbing to the forces of imperial and religious reaction.

The age of exploration exposed the limits of available universal histories, leading to a multiplicity of pasts that challenged an emerging sense of unity in the world. Renaissance historians addressed this challenge by narrating the history of hitherto unknown peoples, exploring the basis for the lack of information in the Bible and classical works, and navigating the complexities of writing histories in a time of growing religious division and imperial rivalry. The Globe on Paper reconstructs a set of imaginative accounts from Mexico to the Moluccas and Peru, and from the shops of Venetian printers to the rival courts of Spain and England. The book features humanists, librarians, missionaries, imperial officials, forgers, and indigenous chroniclers, drawing on information gathered from eyewitness reports, interviews with local inhabitants, ancient codices, and material evidence. Their global narratives testify to an unprecedented broadening of horizons that briefly flourished before succumbing to the forces of imperial and religious reaction.

Weight: 500g
Dimension: 165 x 241 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198849681