This thesis provides a detailed analysis of an Isolario, or a printed book of maps of the Aegean Islands, created in 1485 by an anonymous author called Bartolommeo da li Sonetti. Through a thorough analysis of the material properties and content of the book, this thesis seeks to revise previous scholarly interpretations of this long under-studied work of cartography. Examination of five extant copies of the 1485 Isolario and the alterations made to the pages by their owners reveals much about how the volume was consumed, read and utilized in fifteenth and sixteenth century. In opposition to previous conceptions of this work as a functional travel guide used by mariners to navigate the Aegean, this thesis argues that instead, the information contained in the book only provides superficial resemblances to functionally useful content and was instead consumed by an elite audience of ‘arm chair travellers.’

Durant les dernières années d’une vie consacrée aux voyages et à la géographie, André Thevet (1516-1592) entreprit la réalisation d’un ouvrage de grande ampleur, le Grand Insulaire et Pilotage, véritable tableau cartographique et descriptif du monde, notamment du Nouveau Monde, riche d’indications pour la navigation, qui resta incomplet. Les troubles politiques et religieux qui avaient lieu alors en France et leurs conséquences dans le domaine éditorial ont souvent été avancés pour expliquer l’échec de ce projet. Mais l’inachèvement du Grand Insulaire est également tributaire de la méthode même de travail de Thevet, comme des procédés de composition retenus. L’étude critique des témoins manuscrits conservés du point de vue codicologique et linguistique, ainsi que l’analyse de ses sources permet de vérifier cette hypothèse et de saisir toute la singularité d’une œuvre si importante pour la connaissance des Indiens Tupi du Brésil au xvie siècle. / During the last years of his life dedicated to traveling and Geography, André Thevet (1516-1592) engaged himself into the making of an extensive work named Le Grand Insulaire et Pilotage, which is a genuine cartographic description of the world, specially the New World. This document, which is considerably rich in useful indications for the navigation, would remain unfinished. The reason for this is often laid upon the political and religious disturbances which then took place in France and their consequences on the publishing field. However, the fact that Thevet has not finished Grand Insulaire is also due to his work method, as we can verify in his composition procedures; The critical study of the preserved manuscripts as well as the analysis of his sources, based on a codicological and linguistic point of view, allow us to verifiy this hypothesis and to understand all the singularity of such an important work for the knowledge of the Tupi Indians of Brazil in the sixteenth century.