Renaissance Ethnography and the Invention of the Human

Surekha Davies is a cultural historian and historian of science at Western Connecticut State University. Her interests include exploration, observational sciences, cultural encounters, monstrosity and the history of mentalities c.1400–1800. Formerly a British Library Curator and a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, she is a Founding Editor of the series 'Maps, Spaces, Cultures' (Brill). She has held fellowships at the John Carter Brown Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Library of Congress and the Newberry Library, and been funded by the American Historical Association and the American Philosophical Society. Her publications include articles in The Historical Journal, History and Anthropology, Renaissance Studies and The Journal of Early Modern History.

Introduction: Renaissance maps and the concept of the human; 1. Climate, culture or kinship? Explaining human diversity c.1500; 2. Atlantic empires, map workshops and Renaissance geographical culture; 3. Spit-roasts, barbecues and the invention of the Brazilian cannibal; 4. Trade, empires and propaganda: Brazilians on French maps in the age of François I and Henri II; 5. Monstrous ontology and environmental thinking: Patagonia's giants; 6. The epistemology of wonder: Amazons, headless men and mapping Guiana; 7. Civility, idolatry and cities in Mexico and Peru; 8. New sources, new genres and America's place in the world, 1590–1645; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.