3-044-237 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Livre des merveilles du monde (Book of the Marvels of the World), about 1460-1465. Additional Info: Produced in the mid-15th century, 'The Book of the Marvels of the World' weaves tales of locales both near and far from its place of creation in France that are based on ancient sources, medieval folklore, and the supposed travels of eyewitnesses. Organized alphabetically, the book serves as a compendium of medieval views of civilizations around the known world (although the manuscript is missing about half its original illuminations and text). The extensive images in the manuscript imagine "exotic" peoples and customs in a way that captures medieval European notions about difference and the perception of outsiders.