Inventing Exoticism

"In its originality as a thesis, in its elegance of phrasing and conception, and in the erudition it embodies, Schmidt's work serves as a profound investigation of its subject matter. . . . Anyone who wants to understand how our early modern forebears saw the world may expect to find pleasure and instruction herein."—Times Higher Education Supplement

"[E]legantly written and beautifully produced . . . Inventing Exoticism is an inventive and perceptive book. It lucidly combines detailed analysis of specific texts and objects with discussion of larger themes invaluable for any reader interested in early modern European identities and perceptions. Crucially too, with his thorough accounts of particular objects and their wider intellectual implications, Schmidt provides an important historiographical service in showing how concepts and materiality can intersect."—Journal of Global History

"Much like the books it studies, Inventing Exoticism is beautifully produced . . . it is also extremely well-written . . . Schmidt takes his readers on an impressive tour de force through seven decades of (mostly Dutch-made) exotic iconography as it appeared in books, atlases, paintings, porcelain, tapestries, cabinets, and other media. Schmidt's effortless interweaving of book history, art history, and the history of global encounters will enhance the book's wide appeal."—Itinerario

"Benjamin Schmidt has written a remarkable and remarkably innovative account of a remarkable phenomenon. Inventing Exoticism is a very substantial contribution to the study of the cultural history of early modern perceptions of the non-European world, to the history of the book, and to the history of the economics and the sociology of the flow of information. It shows for the first time just how instrumental the concern with the exotic was in the creation of the modern image of Europe and of Europe's place in an increasingly global world."—Anthony Pagden, University of California, Los Angeles

"A fascinating and brilliantly resourceful study of early modern Dutch geography. In energetic and readable prose, Inventing Exoticism marshals a wealth of carefully indexed details around big picture questions about how we see other regions and peoples."—Mary C. Fuller, Massachusetts Institute of Technology