European Perceptions of Terra Australis

Book excerpt: Terra Australis, the southern land, was one of the most widespread concepts in European geography from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, although the notion of a land mass in the Southern seas had been prevalent since classical antiquity. Through interdisciplinary contributions, ranging across history, the visual arts, literature and popular culture, this volume considers the continuities and discontinuities between the imagined space of Terra Australis and its subsequent manifestation. It will be of interest to, among others, intellectual and cultural historians, literary scholars, historians of cartography, the visual arts, women's and post-colonial studies.