The self-made map

by Tom Conley

"The Self-Made Map argues that during the Renaissance in France a ‘new cartographic impulse’ affected both the ‘graphic and imaginary forms of literature.’ In this wide-ranging and fascinating work, Tom Conley demonstrates that as new maps were plotted during this period, a new sense of self emerged, one defined in part by the relationship of the self to space. Conley traces the explosion of interest in mapmaking that occurred with the discovery of the New World, and discusses the commensurate rise of what he defines as cartographic writing—writing that ‘holds, penetrates, delineates, and explores space.’ Considering the works of such writers as Rabelais, Montaigne, and Descartes, Conley provides a ‘navigation’ through the printed page, revealing the emerging values of Renaissance France. In his examination of the placing of words, letters, and graphic elements in books, he exposes the playful and sometimes enigmatic relation between spatial organization and text. Conley also exposes t