Handpainted leather journal, "Universi Orbis Descriptio", Double Heart Shaped Map Projection, One of a Kind

This blank book is bound in natural leather painted by hand in great detail. The decoration is a reproduction of the cartography representation from 1531 by Oronce Finé, the most prominent 16th century French cartographer. This rendering is a double cordiform map of the world, one of the most striking and influential maps published in the 16th century. Originally is was created as a detailed woodcut. The southern cordum represents the new Terra Australis, noted as being 'recently discovered but not yet explored.' The Mare Magellanicum is mentioned as one of the first uses of the navigator's name in such a context. Central America contains numerous place names reflecting the conquests and explorations of Cortez in the early 1520s, but further north, North America continent was unambiguously made part of the eastern extremity of Asia. A detailed floral decoration surrounds the map, two mermaids, two muscular cherubs, the French royal coat of arms and, at the head of the map, the title in a flowing banner. It measures 7.3x10.2 inches (18.5x26 cm). It has a total of 126 pages (252 sides) of Favini Laguna artist paper with parchment finish. This paper is acid free, hand-torn, has 180 gsm and will work for writing and sketching in any media, even watercolor. The entire book was designed to resemble a medieval tome, using a very limited chromatic palette, as leather dye and colored patina to give it a worn look. The end pages are made of hand marbled paper with white, black and orange veins. The headbands are hand sewn from orange, black and beige colored threads. This journal is a one of a kind art object. Fine’s cordiform depiction of the world became a model for the next several decades, before the more popular oval formats, double-hemispheric maps, and ultimately Mercator’s projection would become the primary means of mapping the world. You can expose it as a unique piece of book art in your collection or use it as a traveling journal, either way, you will love it once you’ll meet it.