This book from the Peter Whitfield cartographic series traces the history of humankind's relation to the sea as revealed in ten centuries of maritime maps. Presenting sixty maps reproduced in color over double-page spreads, and commentary describing their special features and their significance in the history of navigation, the book explores ancient navigation; the Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery; the printed sea chart, 1600-1800; and the modern sea chart.

Peter Whitfield traces the history of maritime charts and presents the reader with a range of artistic maps that owe more to man's achievements as a discoverer than technical drawing and draughtsmanship.

Offers a comprehensive overview of the findings of modern oceanography and includes more than two hundred maps and charts which help describe the landscape of the ocean floor.

After covering the Dutch VOC manuscript charts on vellum in Sailing for the East (ESHC 10, 2010), the printed charts on vellum by commercial Amsterdam chart-publishers cried out for scrutiny as well. Sailing Across the World's Oceans discusses these rare remaining charts, of which some 150 copies could be traced, mostly kept in international institutions. Their titles run from Europe to Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, the latter commonly called West-Indische Paskaerten. The charts are described and analysed in an illustrated cartobibliography. The extensive introduction investigates the development of Amsterdam as a recognized centre for map production and distribution in Europe. It also discusses navigation techniques used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The developing world image is considered, as it may be derived from Dutch contributions. This book delivers insight into chart-making history that has not been available before.