The World For A King - Pierre Desceliers' Map of 1550 (Chet Van Duzer) Maps of the Dieppe school, commissioned for wealthy households rather than for use in navigation, often presented explorers' latest discoveries alongside fantastical creatures and allusions to myth. In 1550 cartographer Pierre Desceliers presented to France's King Henry II one such map, a work of extraordinary beauty and value showing the world as it was known at the time. This map, one of the most important of the Dieppe school, includes descriptions of French attempts to colonize Canada and the conquest of Peru by the Spanish in addition to descriptions of the legendary king Prester John in Ethiopia and a race of Amazons in Russia. This lavishly produced new study features a full-scale colour reproduction and commentary on one of the British Library's greatest treasures, the manuscript world map of 1550 produced by Pierre Desceliers. The map is one of the most important of the "Dieppe School" of cartography tha