Paul Binding

This is a beautifully produced book and a first edition, but these are the best things about it. There is a lot of information about obscure people living in an obscure place which is all very interesting but Binding fails to really inspire me. There's something a little bit 'off' about his tone. It's like he's lecturing to himself. He also rambles and strays into subjects that have no connection with the thread of the book. And at the end he commits the cardinal sin of becoming emotional. show more You can actually hear his voice shaking. Embarrassingly he goes on about Erasmus' Praise of Folly for a few pages and then says that if the kinship between it and Ortelius isn't immediately apparent 'this book will have been written to no purpose'. Oh dear! show less

This is a great overview of Andersen that opened my eyes to his brilliance not just as a writer of Fairy Tales, but of deep meaning novels and stories. It's amazing how well travelled he was and how many people he knew. The book is by no means an easy read. Many of the direct quotes were in both Danish and English, which I found to be very cumbersome to read. I can't wait to read his novels and reread all of his tales. Well worth th read!

An interesting study on and reconstruction of the life of Abraham Ortelius, an important mapmaker in the 16th century. He lived in Antwerp and became famous for making the most beautiful maps of his time. He was a contemporary of Mercator and a humanist who struggled to survive in a time of inquisition.
The book is not as well written as the Nioolas Crane book about Marcator. However the author writes with passion on his subject and that compensates a lot.

The story of Alexander Ortelius and the creation of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the world's first published Atlas.