"In Cosmographical Glasses Constance Relihan examines the ways in which sixteenth-century English texts - traveler's reports, ethnographic studies, and geographic guides - provide the foundation for how fictional prose of the period envisions the locations in which its tales are set. Relihan suggests that this nonfictional discourse becomes central to how the fictional prose of the period imagines cultural identity, fictional purpose, and gender identity."--BOOK JACKET.