“An extraordinary story that reads more like a thriller than a book about history. A dazzling tale, brilliantly told.” —Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads and The Earth Transformed
“Fascinating. . . . di Robilant unveils the diplomatic complications and intrigues of the ‘Serene Republic’ with care. . . . He also beautifully describes the worlds of literature, translation and publishing that Ramusio inhabited. . . . With attention to detail worthy of his subject, di Robilant shows the world map coming together—piece by piece.” —The Wall Street Journal
“A wonderful book, told in an easy and propulsive style and carried by its fascinating central character. . . . Andrea di Robilant marries the intrigue of Europe’s most powerful royal courts with the globe-trotting thrill of adventure and discovery. . . . [He] ties together a massive array of fascinating threads through one man’s struggle to democratise this rapidly emerging knowledge of the world. . . . di Robilant has reopened a treasury of stories for anyone interested in early European exploration and geography.” —Daily Telegraph
“Di Robilant unfolds centuries of history, a dizzying array of characters, and a wide world of geography and culture in an easy storytelling style without falling into a dry recitation of facts and dates. This Earthly Globe offers a broad, accessible narrative about a publication that changed the world as it helped define it.” —Shelf Awareness
“We all know the names of the famed explorers from 500 years ago: Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Cortés, Balboa, Magellan, Pizarro. What you may not have known is that the journals of these and other mariners were closely held, thus denying Europeans as full a picture as possible of what the “New World” and Asia were like. Along came a Venetian geographer named Giovambattista Ramusio, a learned and circumspect man who through all manner of guile collected as many journals and accounts as he could and published them anonymously in the 1550s. . . . Andrea di Robilant does his own clever sleuthing to shed light on both Ramusio and his achievement, and the result is the tale of a geographer as thrilling as those of the explorers themselves.” —Air Mail
“A deeply researched look at the editor and author of one of the ‘great publishing feats’ of the 16th century. In this elegant history, di Robilant engagingly traces Ramusio’s vast scholarship, which began with his position as an editing assistant to Aldus Manutius, the legendary Venetian publisher of the classics. Working as a clerk in the chancery, then as the secretary to the senate, Ramusio moonlighted as a geographer, helping to publish Strabo’s Geography. . . . and [revisited] Marco Polo’s journal. An erudite work that shows how one devoted scholar opened up an entire realm of knowledge.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Di Robilant combines Ramusio’s story of scholarly curiosity and intrigue with vivid retellings of Navigationi’s astounding accounts of the people and places in distant lands. . . . Navigationi was an ‘unparalleled’ release of contemporary, rigorously vetted primary sources—a priceless commodity in an era of fierce geopolitical competition for trade and empire. It was, di Robilant tells us, ‘the biggest WikiLeak of the Renaissance.’” —Booklist
“What happens when the whole world-picture changes rapidly and decisively? Who assembles the critical information needed to construct a radically new understanding of the way things are? Thanks to the digital revolution, we have been living through such a disorienting transformation, but it is not the first time that received wisdom has been shattered and in urgent need of reassembling. The epochal voyages of the late 15th and early 16th century tore up the traditional European map of the globe and its inhabitants. Andrea di Robilant’s wonderful book explores a succession of thrilling, often terrifying encounters with the other and reconstructs the career of the visionary collector who gave the public access to knowledge of how profoundly their world had changed.” —Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
“A treasure trove of exciting tales and adventures, populated by a fascinating cast, that gives a thorough understanding of how Europeans discovered and mapped the other continents.” —Paul Strathern, author of The Medici
“Andrea di Robilant takes us on a remarkable voyage of discovery, sharing the story of Giovambattista Ramusio, whose monumental work revolutionised our understanding of the world. The story brims with secrecy and skulduggery, drawing in popes and pirates, and beautifully captures the excitement and tumult of the years when Europeans were filling in the blank spaces on their maps. A great read for history buffs and adventure-seekers alike.” —Ross King, author of The Shortest History of Italy
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