This is an excellent study of the development of the cartography of the Pacific from Ptolemy to the end of the 18th century. It was published as Volume 38 of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. Its author, Lawrence C. Wroth, was the Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library and an expert in colonial printing and history. The book emerged in the context of World War II; as Wroth states in the introduction, "The great extent of the Pacific and Indian Oceans was a fact of world geography which had to be learned by most of us, or learned anew, after the outbreak of the war with the Japanese." Full of useful annotations and cross-references. 8vo., hardbound, pp. 87-268 plus 22 black & white fold-out map reproductions.

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Condition: B+

Contents are very good with minor toning and a bit of extraneous creasing along the edges of a few of the fold-out maps. There is minor shelf wear and light dampstaining on the covers that is only visible within the book on the pastedowns and endpapers