Malacovia and the Tartar Cyclists

[Laflin and Rand]

I recently found a copy of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. It's an amusing compilation of places drawn from literature. There's a lot of inspiring stuff for VSFers in here!

Like Malacovia (from Amedeo Tosetti's Pedali sul Mar Nero), a submersible fortress city built at the mouth of the Danube by a crazy Nogai Tartar prince in the 1870's. It's bicycle powered and bristles with cannons. The Tartars use it to stage bicycle raids on Russian coastal cities. For some reason, Russians were terrified of bicycles, hence the abandoning of their horses.

Thought somebody might get a kick out of that. Here's an illustration of Malacovia;

[Red Orc]

That's, quite literally, fantastical!

I've never heard of the 'Dictionary of Imginary Places' - I have to have a copy now!

[Laflin and Rand]

Is it Tatars or Tartars? I get mixed info.

[Red Orc]

They're Tatars.

Because of the Greek legends of Tartaros, the place of divine punishment, when Europeans first encountered the Tatars, they thought (because they were seen as wild and cruel) that they came from Tarteros, so called them 'Tartars'. The trope of cruel barbarians who come from the east and deliver punishment isn't a new one (see, Attila 'the Scourge of God', etc).

That's how I heard it anyway.

[Banderium]

As far as I know, Amedeo Tosetti didn't exist. Malacovia was such an imaginary place that was imaginated by the authors of the dictionary.

[The_Beast]

Are you sure the book isn't imaginary?

Sorry, I think I've seen it, so if so, a shared imagination.

I don't recall seeing this part, though. I'm really quite uncertain of how I feel about it. A bit stunned, I guess.

Ah, the Taters! And their horrifying war cry: 'Git 'er dun!'.

Sorry, 'merican joke that.

Doug

[Plynkes]

Tatars seems to be the dominant spelling these days, but you'll mostly see it written as Tartars in older books.

For tennis fans, Russian tennis player Marat Safin, and his little sister Dinara Safina are Tartars/Tatars.

[Hammers]

I believe my two sons to be right little Tartars to.

[Laflin and Rand]

Are you sure the book isn't imaginary?

I can't be sure but the dictionary is full of "real" fictional places such as Prydain, Strackenz or Leng.

[Steve F]

As far as I know, Amedeo Tosetti didn't exist.

Out of curiosity, I did an "AddAll" search (AddAll http://used.addall.com/ is a meta-search engine that accesses alibris, abebooks and a couple of dozen other book-serach engines) for books by Amadeo Tosetti.  Nothing turned up, so it looks like you're right; naughty old Alberto Manguel and his collaborator did indeed make this one up.

Ta ta for now ...

[Laflin and Rand]

Apparently there's a jigsaw puzzle about Malacovia.