The Atlas des Géographes d'OrbæThe spelling "Orbæ" is that used in the printed albums; although the ligature æ mostly notes the sound [e] or [ɛ] in French, the author pronounces the name [ɔʁbae] ("Orbaé"). (Atlas of the Geographers of Orbæ) is a series of illustrated books written and illustrated by François Place and published in three volumes between 1996 and 2000.
Presented as a geographic atlas written by the geographers of the lost island of Orbæ, the work comprises twenty-six chapters corresponding to the twenty-six letters of the Latin alphabet, each giving its shape and the first letter of its name to an imaginary country. The reader thus explores twenty-six territories, each introduced with a map, followed by a narrative accompanied by illustrations, and a final double-page spread of labeled sketches.
A true condensed universe that reinterprets the history and geography of the world as a coherent and intertwined whole, the Atlas combines a celebration of travel, discovery, and cultural exchange with an exaltation of the power of imagination and a reflection on its mechanisms, illuminated by numerous literary influences and abundant cartographic, geographic, historical, and cultural references.
Well-received by both French-speaking and international critics, the work helped establish Place as a talented writer and received numerous literary awards, including the Amerigo Vespucci Youth Prize in 1997, the Bologna Children's Book Fair Award in 1998, and a special Sorcières Award in 2001. It inspired several derivative works, including a sequel published in 2011, Le Secret d'Orbæ.
Presentation
General structure The Atlas of the Geographers of Orbæ was originally published as three bound,The Atlas was originally published in three volumes: Du Pays des Amazones aux Îles Indigo, 1996 (ISBN 2-203-14244-8), Du Pays de Jade à l'Île Quinookta, 1998 (ISBN 2-203-14264-2), and Du Pays des Amazones au Pays des Zizotls, 2000 (ISBN 2-203-14279-0). In 2015, it was reissued as a two-volume set (ISBN 978-2-203-03004-6). landscape-format volumes:Format 26 × 22 Du Pays des Amazones aux Îles Indigo (1996), Du Pays de Jade à l'Île Quinookta (1998), and De la Rivière Rouge au Pays des Zizotls (2000). The work is presented as an atlas compiled by the geographers of the lost island of Orbæ:The geographers of the great island of Orbæ claimed that the art of cartography alone could encompass all the natural sciences. They devoted themselves to describing phenomena both vast and minute. One spent his entire life creating the five hundred and eight maps of the underground world of ants in his garden, while another died before completing the grand atlas of clouds, which included not only their shapes and colors but also their various ways of appearing and traveling. Still others dedicated themselves to mapping tales and stories; they journeyed to the four corners of the world to gather them. Today, Orbæ has disappeared; all that remains of the work undertaken by its geographers is this Atlas.The work is divided into twenty-six sections, each dedicated to an imaginary country associated by its name and shape with a letter of the Latin alphabet: the first section is devoted to the "Land of the Amazons" (letter A), the next to the "Land of Bailabaïkal" (letter B), the third to the "Gulf of Candaâ" (letter C), and so on up to the "Land of the Zizotls" (letter Z). Each section is structured similarly: a title page, featuring an illuminated map letter, the name of the country covered, and a brief introduction, which is followed by a story set in that country, accompanied by illustrations—including a large panoramic illustration at the incipit. At the end of each chapter, a double-page spread of labeled sketches complements the story and provides additional information about the territory and the people mentioned. At the start of each volume, the general contents page displays the illuminated map letters of all the countries with their names and highlights the main narrative elements of their associated story (notable aspects of the country visited, names of characters).
Detailed summaries
Volume 1 The first volume covers the letters A to I. In The Land of the Amazons, Euphonos, a highly talented but mute lutenist, stays in a town bordering the arid outskirts of the lush land of the Amazons—a fierce, all-female people whose singing has the power to rejuvenate nature and bring about spring. At the annual fair where they come to town to trade their furs, Euphonos plays his lute, and they join their voices with his music, healing the lutenist from the deep-seated sorrow caused by his muteness.
In The Land of Bailabaïkal, structured around a clear water lake and a brackish lake, the old shaman Three-Hearts-of-Stone—destined for his role from birth due to his heterochromatic eyes—faces the arrival of a missionary seeking to convert his people. As the missionary also has heterochromatic eyes, Three-Hearts-of-Stone invites him, if he wishes to preach, to take over his role by wearing the shaman's cloak, which is inhabited by misaligned spirits that inflict terrible suffering on its wearer.
In The Gulf of Candaâ, young Ziyara accompanies her father to the wealthy port city of Candaâ to deliver flour and honey for making the Elders' Bread, a massive gingerbread prepared from local produce and spices brought by the city's prestigious merchant fleet, distributed each year to the population. During the tasting, Ziyara finds a small ivory dolphin in her piece of bread, which comes to life upon contact with water. The City Elders explain that, according to an ancient scroll, the person who possesses this dolphin is destined to become the greatest admiral of the city of Candaâ.
In The Desert of Drums, the nomadic khans ruling over this expanse of quicksand must, each year, journey to the mountains at the desert's center when drumrolls are heard, to sacrifice nine of their young warriors so that the gods may bring rain. To save his daughter, who was taken to be married to one of the young men before his sacrifice, the farmer and former soldier Tolkalk, visited in a dream by the gods, adds nine warriors sculpted from clay by his own hands to the vast terracotta army that lies dormant in a crypt under the mountains, thereby putting an end to the sacrificial tradition.
In The Mountain of Esmeralda, the warrior Itilalmatulac of the Five Cities Empire—an Andean-inspired pre-Columbian state—leads an expedition to find the strange "red-bearded warriors" seen in a vision by the Sages of the Five Cities. Encountering them as exhausted conquistadors entrenched in a fortress atop Esmeralda Mountain, he consumes "travel herb" to enter their dreams and gain insight into their world of origin. He then lulls them to sleep with sacred chants and sends them downstream on a raft.
In The Frosted Land, the Inuit Nangajiik recounts the story of his father, saved from death during a bear hunt by a dog that appeared out of nowhere. As the tribe prepares to endure the polar night in a cave within an iceberg, they welcome a young woman carrying a baby, who introduces herself as the wife of the dog. She brings an unfamiliar tenderness to her adopted community, before departing with her child and the dog at the sun's return; they leave behind the footprints of a young woman, a child, and a man.
In The Island of Giants, young John Macselkirk, laird of a modest rural estate in Scotland since the death of his parents and recently the sole caretaker following his grandfather's passing, discovers an underground passage on his land that leads to a strange island inhabited by statues of giants. Each giant's chest contains a pebble of golden amber with captivating reflections. After several explorations of the island, he returns home and finds a similar stone near his grandfather's grave.
In The Land of the Houngalïls, the territory of the bandit lords of the Houngür Mountains, the physician Albinius is tasked by one such lord, Sordoghaï, with winning the heart of the proud princess Tahuana of the land of the Troglodytes, whom Sordoghaï has kidnapped to marry. Over time, through discussions with both Sordoghaï and Tahuana, Albinius ultimately persuades Sordoghaï to release her. However, her experience changes her, and she returns years later to "abduct" Sordoghaï in turn and marry him.
Finally, The Indigo Islands tells the story of Cornelius van Hoog, a "merchant from the lowlands," who has recently acquired a mysterious "cloud cloth." On a rainy evening, he stops at an inn run by Anatole Brazadîm, formerly a cosmographer on the great island of Orbæ. Brazadîm recounts his past expedition to the distant Indigo Islands, lost in a sea of grass in the heart of Orbæ, where he attempted to reach the "Sacred Island"—an extinct blue volcano believed to be unreachable—using a flying machine he invented. Fascinated by the story, Cornelius later returns to find Brazadîm gone, having left behind a memoir on the Indigo Islands that mentions the famous cloud cloth, inspiring Cornelius to set out on his journey in search of them.
Volume 2
The second volume covers the letters J to Q. In The Land of Jade, Han Tao, an apprentice astrologer, is tasked by the Emperor to discover why his two masters failed to predict the rains that disrupted the imperial stay in the Jade Mountains. Investigating the "sun-birds" that astrologers use to identify the sunniest valleys, he concludes, after a brief inquiry, that the problem lies in the declining quality of the honey used to make the cakes employed in training the birds,"The sunbirds are fed honey cakes in a circular courtyard at midday, in full sunlight. The rest of the time, they are kept out of the sunlight. Released into the wild, they fly to wherever the sun will shine brightest." Place 1998, p. 24. causing them to wander and making them unfit for their task.
In The Land of Korakâr, a Sahel-like territory where horses are of great cultural importance, the blind child Kadelik, who is passionate about horses and drums, travels with his grandmother to the grand festival of the Ten Thousand White Mares. His grandmother's fatigue makes their journey arduous and lengthy, even with the help of a mute lutenist they meet along the way, but Kadelik eventually reaches the festival and makes the horses dance to the sound of his drum.
In The Land of Lotus, Zenon of Ambrosia, captain of a ship in the Candaâ fleet, is diverted by a storm and anchors at Lang Luane, the gateway to the vast Land of Lotus, governed by the King of Waters. Leaving his ship under the command of his first mate, a young woman named Ziyara, he sets out to explore the marvels of this land of lakes, marshes, and waterways, where he eventually decides to settle.
In The Mandragore Mountains, the cartographic engineer Nîrdan Pacha is tasked with leading a mapping expedition in this hostile, remote mountainous province at the edge of the "Empire," ruled by Sultan Khâdelim the Just. However, his encounter with a local sorcerer ultimately leads him to stay there permanently, becoming an apprentice to the sorcerer and eventually a sorcerer himself.
The tale The Two Kingdoms of Nilandâr recounts the fratricidal war between Nalibar and Nadjan, the two sons of the king of this Indian-like land. Jealous of his brother's happiness, Nalibar wages war against him, ravages his territory and causes his death, only to face revenge years later from Nadjan's son, Nandjadîn, who defeats Nalibar and brings about his demise.