Italy in the Aftermath of the First World War

France and Italy at the Paris Peace Conference     

The World Map as an Emblem: Abraham Ortelius and the Stoic Contemplation

Although the close association of word and image in medieval cartography is widely acknowledged, the significance of the relationship after the rediscovery of Ptolemy's Geography and throughout the Renaissance has been overlooked, despite Abraham Ortelius's choice of the term ‘Reader’ for users of the Theatrum orbis terrarum (1570). In this paper, the map of the world, which (as in Ptolemy's Geography) opens Ortelius's Theatrum, is analysed to show how Ortelius's concept of space was very different from Ptolemy's. Attention is drawn to the content of the texts on the map, to Ortelius's notion of geography as the eye of history, and to the importance in the Renaissance of the emblem as a conceit, or device, in the system of acquisition and transmission of knowledge. As in emblems, the words on Ortelius's map are not there to explain or to comment on what is seen but to give the image meaning; the purpose of the map is to invite contemplation of God's world. The map is contradictory, however; for Ortelius's accurate and up‐to‐date presentation of the physical world is qualified by a verbal statement that the world is ‘nothing’, a mere pinpoint in the immensity of the universe. It is concluded that Ortelius was not a geographer in the same way Ptolemy was, and that Ortelius was using geography as a philosopher and his world map as an illustration of his moral and religious thinking.     

利玛窦世界地图传入韩国及其影响

利玛窦世界地图是东西文化交流的重大课题。自20世纪初到现在, 对此课题各国学者都做过不少深入的研究, 但总体看来, 对其传入朝鲜半岛的情况和影响研究不够深入全面。本文根据有关资料和成果, 探究其传入朝鲜半岛的史事, 考察目前地图在韩国的收藏情况, 并对它们带给朝鲜半岛的影响作一概述。     

Summary Executions in Italy During the First World War: Findings and Implications

This article has two related aims. First, it examines the most up-to-date studies relative to Italian military justice during the First World War, and seeks to set them in the context of the historical debate since the late 1960s. Secondly, and more specifically, it focuses on recently uncovered evidence regarding staggeringly high numbers of previously unknown summary executions in the Italian army. It explores the significance of these findings for understanding the character of the Italian military justice system as well as that of the war conducted by Italy's ruling élites between 1915 and 1918.     

The Anglo-Saxon Cotton Map in Context

Advanced doctoral students whose dissertations are substantially concerned with the history of cartography are invited to contact the editor of this section (Dr Elizabeth Baigent, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford OX2 6PW, UK; elizabeth.baigent@wycliffe.ox.ac.uk) to discuss the submission of a short article. For a list of doctoral theses in progress see http://www.maphistory.info/futurephd.html.     

1750年6月19日 第一幅北京内外城区实测地图完成

<正>题记:因为我们把首都北京遭帝国主义铁蹄践踏当成了今天与旅游有关的日子,所以,我们就应该把北京最早的全图绘制完成日也当成与旅游有关的日志。这不仅在于地图是我们出门旅游的工具,而且更在于我们的祖上,也重视掌握山河情况,这张图,在八国联军入侵北京前150年,就郑重出炉了。