Four Centuries of Special Geography: An Annotated Guide to Books that Purport to Describe All the Countries in the World Published…

Special geography was the main stream of geography during the four centuries that elapsed between the start of printing and the time when departments of geography were first established in the English-speaking world. This book identifies not only every book that purports to describe all the countries of the world, with the provisos stated in the subtitle, but also all the editions of those books. Included in the guide are books intended for recreational reading by adults; geographical dictionaries (distinguished from the first category by their intended use for reference purposes); books for youth (predominantly schoolbooks); and books closely related to the genre but differing in some respect. Minor categories include atlases, other geographies, books with titles that suggest that they might be special geography but are not, and ghosts. They are cross-classified by country of publication. An introduction to the 993 entries describes special geography as a genre, sets it in its historical context, and provides a guide for readers.