by Toby Lester
First published 2009
In 1507, an unknown German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller sits in his workshop, piecing together fragments of knowledge from across the known world. He has accounts from Marco Polo's Asian travels, reports of Christopher Columbus's voyages, and detailed descriptions from Amerigo Vespucci's explorations of southern coastlines. Waldseemüller faces a monumental decision: how to represent these new lands that clearly form a separate continent, distinct from Asia as Columbus believed. He makes a bold choice, labeling this New World landmass "America" after Vespucci and creating a map that approximates our modern understanding of global geography. Toby Lester traces the stories of the mariners and scholars whose discoveries enabled this cartographic breakthrough. The narrative follows Renaissance explorers whose adventures provided the raw material for Waldseemüller's vision. Lester reveals how this single map changed Western understanding of the world. The book culminates with the map's rediscovery in 1901 and the Library of Congress's 10 million dollar acquisition in 2003, recognizing the six by nine and a half foot document as one of history's most significant cartographic achievements.
Genres: biography, history, adventure, cartography, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-drama
Setting: America, Asia
Period: 1507, 1901, 2003, Renaissance
690 pages · Kindle Edition · Free Press