A Mapmaker's Dream: The Meditations of Fra Mauro, Cartographer to the Court of Venice

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James Cowan

A Mapmaker's Dream

The Meditations of Fra Mauro, Cartographer to the Court of Venice

James Cowan

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Paperback

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English

Shambhala Publications Inc
01 May 2008

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Part historical fiction, part philosophical mystery, A Mapmaker's Dreamtells the story of Fra Mauro and his struggle to realize his life's work- to make a perfect map-one that represents the full breadth of Creation.

In sixteenth-century Venice, in an island monastery, a cloistered monk experiences the adventure of a lifetime-all within the confines of his cell. Part historical fiction, part philosophical mystery,

A Mapmaker's Dream

tells the story of Fra Mauro and his struggle to realize his life's work- to make a perfect map-one that represents the full breadth of Creation. News of Mauro's projects attracts explorers, pilgrims, travelers, and merchants, all eager to contribute their accounts of faraway people and places. As he listens to the tales of the strange and fantastic things they've seen, Mauro comes to regard the world as much more than continents and kingdoms- that it is also made up of a vast and equally real interior landscape of beliefs, aspirations, and dreams. Mauro's map grows and takes shape, becoming both more complete and incomprehensible. In the process, the boundaries of Mauro's world are pushed to the extreme, raising questions about the relationship between representation, imagination, and the nature of reality itself.

By: James Cowan
Imprint: Shambhala Publications Inc
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 184mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 167g
ISBN: 9781590305201
ISBN 10: 1590305205
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 01 May 2008
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

James Cowan is the author of more than twenty books, including Francis- A Saint's Way and the best-selling A Mapmaker's Dream, for which he was awarded the Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal. He lives in Queensland, Australia.

Reviews for A Mapmaker's Dream: The Meditations of Fra Mauro, Cartographer to the Court of Venice

Beautifully written. -- New York Times We are enchanted--we are wrapped in that magic and strangeness that comes of a journey far from our own time and place, yet told in a vernacular we know. -- Los Angeles Times Book Review Full of startling leaps of imagination and thought, this small gem of a book proves that the mind's desire can be as seaworthy a vessel as a schooner for exploring new worlds. -- Publishers Weekly Marvelous not only at capturing time and place but also at recapturing the mentality of its milieu. -- Booklist This lovely meditation will enchant many readers. -- Library Journal Cowan's short novel is a thoughtful work, gently prodding the reader's mind to think in new directions. -- The Examiner A genuinely entertaining book. Cowan successfully conveys the spirit of a time when the physical world was still infused with the ethereal. -- The Observer I must say A Mapmaker's Dream threw me into a speechl