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In this vibrantly told, meticulously researched book, Miles Harvey reveals one of the most fascinating and overlooked lives in American history. Like The Island of Lost Maps, his bestselling book about a legendary map thief, Painter in a Savage Land is a compelling search into the mysteries of the past. This is the thrilling story of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, the first European artist to journey to what is now the continental United States with the express purpose of recording its wonders in pencil and paint. Le Moyne's images, which survive today in a series of spectacular engravings, provide a rare glimpse of Native American life at the pivotal time of first contact with the Europeans--most of whom arrived with the preconceived notion that the New World was an almost mythical place in which anything was possible.In 1564 Le Moyne and three hundred other French Protestants landed off the coast of Florida, hoping to establish the first permanent European settlement in the sprawling territory that would become the United States. Their quest ended in gruesome violence, but Le Moyne was one of the few colonists to escape, returning across the Atlantic to create dozens of illustrations of the local Native Americans--works of lasting importance to scholars. Today, he is also recognized as an influential early painter of flowers and plants.A Zelig-like persona, Le Moyne worked for some of the most prominent figures of his time, including Sir Walter Raleigh. Harvey's research, moreover, suggests a fascinating link to the notorious Mary Queen of Scots. Largely forgotten until the twentieth century, Le Moyne's pieces have become increasingly sought after in the art world--at a 2005 auction, a previously unknown book of his botanical drawings sold for a million dollars.In re-creating the life and legacy of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, Miles Harvey weaves a tale of both intellectual intrigue and swashbuckling drama. Replete with shipwrecks, mutinies, religious wars, pirate raids, and Indian attacks, Painter in a Savage Land is truly a tour de force of narrative nonfiction.Praise for Painter in a Savage Land "Inspired, beautiful, and wholly original. Miles Harvey is an archeologist of forgotten stories, a master of finding astounding characters folded into the crevices of withered documents. In Painter in a Savage Land, he has breathed life into a thrilling and unlikely tale that, in the end, connects us all." --Robert Kurson, author of Shadow Divers and Crashing Through"Like some lovable sleuth of the esoteric--a sort of scholarly Columbo--Miles Harvey has a way of stumbling onto intriguing historical tales entirely missed by others. With equal parts rigor and wonder, he has transported us to a surprising dawn-world when a bewildered Europe was making its first contacts with a bizarre and vulnerable continent." --Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers"A fantastic brew of art, exploration and exploitation. Miles Harvey's story bristles with surprises on every page." --Laurence Bergreen, author of Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu and Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe"Miles Harvey has outdone himself with this absorbing account of the life and work of...
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Previews available in: English
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1
Painter in a savage land: the strange saga of the first European artist in North America
2008, Random House
in English
- 1st ed.
1400061202 9781400061204
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Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America
June 24, 2008, Random House
Hardcover
in English
1400061202 9781400061204
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3
Painter in a Savage Land
2008, Random House Publishing Group
Electronic resource
in English
1588367096 9781588367099
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4
Pain ter in a savage land: the strange saga of the first European artist in North America
2008, Random House
in English
- 1st ed.
1400061202 9781400061204
|
zzzz
|
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- Created June 17, 2010
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July 29, 2012 | Edited by VacuumBot | Updated format 'electronic resource' to 'Electronic resource' |
April 27, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
June 19, 2010 | Edited by ImportBot | Added new cover |
June 17, 2010 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from marc_overdrive MARC record |