Here Begins the Dark Sea: Venice, a Medieval Monk, and the Creation of the Most Accurate Map of the World
(Pegasus Books, 2023)

Saturday, September 30
3:30 p.m.
Rollins Community Center and Lewes History Museum

About the book
In 1459, after nine years of work, a Venetian monk named Fra Mauro completed an astonishing map of the world. This seven-feet-in-diameter, round cartographic masterpiece was the first map in history to show that a ship could circumnavigate Africa, thus joining the West and the East by an easily navigable water route. It was also the first to show that the Indian “Sea” was an ocean, and that traders would no longer have to haul goods from the East to the West by land. Fra Mauro’s mappamundi was the visual push that expanded international trade across the globe.

This event is presented in partnership with the Lewes Historical Society.

About the author
Meredith F. Small is a writer, professor emerita at Cornell University, and visiting scholar in the Dept. of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her articles have appeared in several academic journals and publications such as Discover, Natural History, Scientific American, and New Scientist, and she is a former contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

Small will be in conversation with Sam Shelton at the event.

Sam Shelton co-founded the KINETIK design studio in Washington, D.C., where he also teaches at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of Art + Design. He has been fascinated by maps since childhood, calling them “a perfect design solution that touches everyone.”

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partners — Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices I PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2023 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Our Keynote Address is presented by Sally Mott Freeman and John K. Freeman, and our Closing Address is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our program partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library for event promotion and venue; Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival; Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.

Additional thanks to our community partners: ACLU Delaware, Beebe Healthcare, CAMP Rehoboth, Historic Lewes Farmers Market, Lewes Historical Society, Rehoboth Art League, Rehoboth Beach Historical Society & Museum, Seaside Jewish Community, and Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).