内容简介
From the author of A Venetian Affair and Lucia comes acharming odyssey in the path of the mysterious Zen brothers, whoexplored parts of the New World a century before Columbus, andbecame both a source of scandal and a cause célèbre amonggeographers in the following centuries.
This delightful journey begins with Andrea di Robilant’sserendipitous discovery of a travel narrative published in Venicein 1558 by the Renaissance statesman Nicolò Zen: the text and itsfascinating nautical map re-created the travels of two of theauthor’s ancestors, brothers who explored the North Atlantic in the1380s and 1390s. Di Robilant set out to discover why later, in thenineteenth century, the Zens’ account came under attack as one ofthe greatest frauds in geographical history. Was their map—and eventheir journey—partially or perhaps entirely faked?
This delightful journey begins with Andrea di Robilant’sserendipitous discovery of a travel narrative published in Venicein 1558 by the Renaissance statesman Nicolò Zen: the text and itsfascinating nautical map re-created the travels of two of theauthor’s ancestors, brothers who explored the North Atlantic in the1380s and 1390s. Di Robilant set out to discover why later, in thenineteenth century, the Zens’ account came under attack as one ofthe greatest frauds in geographical history. Was their map—and eventheir journey—partially or perhaps entirely faked?