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"The first thing I did was sit down and draw a map. I saw and named Earthsea and all its islands. I knew almost nothing about them, but I knew their names. In the name is the magic"
A Wizard of Earthsea.
- Author: LE GUIN, Ursula K.
- Publication place: Berkeley, California,
- Publisher: Parnassus Press,
- Publication date: 1968.
- Physical description: First Edition. Octavo (214 by 150mm), 206pp, typed post card signed by Ursula Le Guin and the author Jack Chalker laid into the book, original dust jacket, price clipped.
- Inventory reference: 22174
Notes
'A Wizard of Earthsea', published in 1968, is one of fantasy's most famous works, and, along with 'The Hobbit', one of several examples in fiction where the map preceded the text.
The Book
The story of a young man who looses a shadow upon the world, and must figure out how to contain it, is set on an archipelago.
'A Wizard of Earthsea' was followed by 'The Tombs of Atuan', (1970), and 'The Farthest Shore' (1972), to make up the original trilogy. The series was then continued with 'Tehanu' in 1990, and 'Tales from Earthsea' and 'The Other Wind', both 2001.
The Map
Earthsea is a world of mostly water, with most of the land being composed of many small islands in an archipelago with the largest island, 'Havnor', being approximately the size of Great Britain. All of the islands around 'Havnor' and 'Roke' belong to the 'Inmost Sea', where many of the events in the books take place. The climate of Earthsea is described as temperate, and so comparable to the mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the Earth, with defined seasons and cold and snowy winters, especially on northern islands like Gont and Osskil. In the southern regions of Earthsea, it is warmer.
It is worthy of note that Le Guin describes most of the inhabitants of Earthsea as having "brown skin", ranging from "red-brown" in the Archipelago, to darker "black-brown" complexions in the East Reach. The author has, on several occasions, challenged what she described as the general assumption in fantasy that characters should be white.
Beyond the extent of the map lies 'The Dry Land'; a realm of shadow and dust, of eternal night where the stars are fixed in the sky, and nothing changes and all but the Kargs go to die. The souls who reside there have an empty, dreary existence, and even "lovers pass each other in silence". Le Guin has stated that the idea of the Dry Land came from the "Greco- Roman idea of Hades' realm, from certain images in Dante Alighieri's work".
The map of Earthsea was the author's own creation:
"The first thing I did was sit down and draw a map. I saw and named Earthsea and all its islands. I knew almost nothing about them, but I knew their names. In the name is the magic" (Le Guin).
The Book
The story of a young man who looses a shadow upon the world, and must figure out how to contain it, is set on an archipelago.
'A Wizard of Earthsea' was followed by 'The Tombs of Atuan', (1970), and 'The Farthest Shore' (1972), to make up the original trilogy. The series was then continued with 'Tehanu' in 1990, and 'Tales from Earthsea' and 'The Other Wind', both 2001.
The Map
Earthsea is a world of mostly water, with most of the land being composed of many small islands in an archipelago with the largest island, 'Havnor', being approximately the size of Great Britain. All of the islands around 'Havnor' and 'Roke' belong to the 'Inmost Sea', where many of the events in the books take place. The climate of Earthsea is described as temperate, and so comparable to the mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the Earth, with defined seasons and cold and snowy winters, especially on northern islands like Gont and Osskil. In the southern regions of Earthsea, it is warmer.
It is worthy of note that Le Guin describes most of the inhabitants of Earthsea as having "brown skin", ranging from "red-brown" in the Archipelago, to darker "black-brown" complexions in the East Reach. The author has, on several occasions, challenged what she described as the general assumption in fantasy that characters should be white.
Beyond the extent of the map lies 'The Dry Land'; a realm of shadow and dust, of eternal night where the stars are fixed in the sky, and nothing changes and all but the Kargs go to die. The souls who reside there have an empty, dreary existence, and even "lovers pass each other in silence". Le Guin has stated that the idea of the Dry Land came from the "Greco- Roman idea of Hades' realm, from certain images in Dante Alighieri's work".
The map of Earthsea was the author's own creation:
"The first thing I did was sit down and draw a map. I saw and named Earthsea and all its islands. I knew almost nothing about them, but I knew their names. In the name is the magic" (Le Guin).
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Find Us
New York
PO Box 329, Larchmont, NY, USA
Opening hours, London Gallery
Monday to Friday: 10:00 – 18:00
Saturday: by appointment
Closed: all bank holidays and 1-31 August
Opening hours, New York
By appointment only