ONE of the most extraordinary books on the planet will be on view in Cape Town.
The Cape Town Book Fair runs from 13 to 16 June at the Cape Town Convention Centre in association with the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Publishers’ Association of South Africa.
EARTH, a 580-page atlas weighing 35kg in its leather-bound preservation case, will be on show and for sale at the Cape Town Book Fair.
It is a limited edition work of art – a true collector’s item taking publishing and cartography into the stratosphere. More than 100 cartographers, oceanographers and geographers from around the globe have contributed 355 maps.
Some maps take the form of gatefold spreads, including one of over two metres long depicting earth from the night sky. A team of 50 editors collated fascinating geographical facts and painstakingly selected the best images from the National Geographic archives.
Just 3 000 copies consisting of two editions will be printed, whereafter the plates will be destroyed. This means just one in 2,2 million people will be able to own EARTH.
This legacy for the future is hand-bound with pages gilded in silver and has been a professional dream of its Australian creator, Gordon Cheers, for 20 years.
