This description of ancient Greece by the 2nd century C.E. geographer Pausanias was transmitted to the modern world through manuscript and the printing of this edition in 1551. Once called the "oldest guidebook in the world," Pausanias describes the natural and built environments as well as the customs of ancient Greece.
Maps by Ortelius
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One of the most important geographers and map makers of the time, Abraham Ortelius produced what may be considered the first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in 1564. Ortelius was the first to notice the geometric similarities between the coasts of the Americas and Europe/Africa, suggesting continental drift. Map of the Americas from 1579.
The principall navigations, voiages and discoveries of the English nation, made by sea or ouer land, to the most remote and farthest distant quarters of the earth at any time within the compasse of these 1500. yeeres
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Richard Hakluyt promoted the settlement of America with this 1589 publication which contains first-hand accounts of the New World. Included is a rare map of the world, the first of English origins to contain the Mercator projection.
A relation of a iourney begun an. Dom. 1610
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In 1610 George Sandys traveled from England to France, Italy, Constantinople, Egypt, Mt. Sinai, Palestine, Cyprus, Sicily, Naples and Rome. His narrative of this trip is dedicated to the future Charles I and is an important source on georgaphy and ethnography of the Near East.
Instructions and directions for forren travell: shewing by what cours, and in what compas of time, one may take an exact survey of the kingdomes, and states of Christendome, and arrive to the practicall knowledg of the languages, to good purpose
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James Howell, an author of political and historical works, early in his career dedicated this text on foreign travel to Prince Charles in 1642. For this version published in 1650 Howell added a new section on Turkey and the Levant.