Post date: Sep 24, 2015 2:42:31 AM
One of our objectives for this project is to create an interactive visualization tool, which we are calling an Isolario. But what is an Isolario? As it turns out, the term Isolario is not at all new. The first Isolario was created in 1420 by Cristoforo Buondelmonti. It started as a collection of drawings, which he would send to others attached with comments and description. From there it evolved into a genre, defined as a "Cartographic Encyclopedia of Islands."
In 1485 Bartolomeo dalli Sonetti released an Isolario depicting the islands of Venice and major islands in the Aegean Sea. Sonetti's Isolario included descriptive sonnets for each island, and was structured more as a map, making it useful for navigational purposes as well. It was also the first publication of its kind to be printed using wood carvings. Following was the famous Isolario of Benedetto Bordone. Bordone also depiced major islands of Venice and the Aegean, but also included chapters on the New World. It also differed in that each map was more detailed and provided useful information in the form of text for each map.
Our modern Isolario will be a re-imagined version of this genre. Just like these past Isolarii, we will be displaying a collection of islands along with relevant information for each one. As this is the age of information technology, however, we hope that ours will be much more in-depth and interactive, and provide an experience that past Isolarii never could.
Cristoforo Buondelmonti Bartolomeo dalli Sonetti