The History of Cartography: Cartography in prehistoric, ancient, and medieval Europe and the Mediterranean

The History of Cartography: Cartography in prehistoric, ancient, and medieval Europe and the Mediterranean
Author: John Brian Harley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 664
Release: 1987
Genre: Cartography
ISBN:

By developing the broadest and most inclusive definition of the term "map" ever adopted in the history of cartography, this inaugural volume of the History of Cartography series has helped redefine the way maps are studied and understood by scholars in a number of disciplines. Volume One addresses the prehistorical and historical mapping traditions of premodern Europe and the Mediterranean world. A substantial introductory essay surveys the historiography and theoretical development of the history of cartography and situates the work of the multi-volume series within this scholarly tradition. Cartographic themes include an emphasis on the spatial-cognitive abilities of Europe's prehistoric peoples and their transmission of cartographic concepts through media such as rock art; the emphasis on mensuration, land surveys, and architectural plans in the cartography of Ancient Egypt and the Near East; the emergence of both theoretical and practical cartographic knowledge in the Greco-Roman world; and the parallel existence of diverse mapping traditions (mappaemundi, portolan charts, local and regional cartography) in the Medieval period. Throughout the volume, a commitment to include cosmographical and celestial maps underscores the inclusive definition of "map" and sets the tone for the breadth of scholarship found in later volumes of the series.

History of Cartography

History of Cartography
Author: Elri Liebenberg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2012-01-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3642190871

This volume comprises the proceedings of the 2010 International Symposium of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography. The nineteen papers reflect the research interests of the Commission which span the period from the Enlightenment to the evolution of Geographical Information Science. Apart from studies on general cartography, the volume, which reflects some co-operation with the ICA Commission on Maps and Society and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), contains regional studies on cartographic endeavours in Northern America, Brazil, and Southern Africa. The ICA Commission on Maps and Society participated as its field of study often overlaps with that of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography. The USGS which is the official USA mapping organisation, was invited to emphasise that the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography is not only interested in historical maps, but also has as mandate the research and document the history of Geographical Information Science. The ICA Commission on Maps and Society participated as its field of study often overlaps with that of the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography. The USGS which is the official USA mapping organisation, was invited to emphasise that the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography is not only interested in historical maps, but also has as mandate the research and document the history of Geographical Information Science.

The History of Cartography, Volume 4

The History of Cartography, Volume 4
Author: Matthew H. Edney
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 1803
Release: 2020-05-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 022633922X

Since its launch in 1987, the History of Cartography series has garnered critical acclaim and sparked a new generation of interdisciplinary scholarship. Cartography in the European Enlightenment, the highly anticipated fourth volume, offers a comprehensive overview of the cartographic practices of Europeans, Russians, and the Ottomans, both at home and in overseas territories, from 1650 to 1800. The social and intellectual changes that swept Enlightenment Europe also transformed many of its mapmaking practices. A new emphasis on geometric principles gave rise to improved tools for measuring and mapping the world, even as large-scale cartographic projects became possible under the aegis of powerful states. Yet older mapping practices persisted: Enlightenment cartography encompassed a wide variety of processes for making, circulating, and using maps of different types. The volume’s more than four hundred encyclopedic articles explore the era’s mapping, covering topics both detailed—such as geodetic surveying, thematic mapping, and map collecting—and broad, such as women and cartography, cartography and the economy, and the art and design of maps. Copious bibliographical references and nearly one thousand full-color illustrations complement the detailed entries.

The History of Cartography, Volume 6

The History of Cartography, Volume 6
Author: Mark Monmonier
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 1941
Release: 2015-05-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 022615212X

For more than thirty years, the History of Cartography Project has charted the course for scholarship on cartography, bringing together research from a variety of disciplines on the creation, dissemination, and use of maps. Volume 6, Cartography in the Twentieth Century, continues this tradition with a groundbreaking survey of the century just ended and a new full-color, encyclopedic format. The twentieth century is a pivotal period in map history. The transition from paper to digital formats led to previously unimaginable dynamic and interactive maps. Geographic information systems radically altered cartographic institutions and reduced the skill required to create maps. Satellite positioning and mobile communications revolutionized wayfinding. Mapping evolved as an important tool for coping with complexity, organizing knowledge, and influencing public opinion in all parts of the globe and at all levels of society. Volume 6 covers these changes comprehensively, while thoroughly demonstrating the far-reaching effects of maps on science, technology, and society—and vice versa. The lavishly produced volume includes more than five hundred articles accompanied by more than a thousand images. Hundreds of expert contributors provide both original research, often based on their own participation in the developments they describe, and interpretations of larger trends in cartography. Designed for use by both scholars and the general public, this definitive volume is a reference work of first resort for all who study and love maps.

Mastering the Niger

Mastering the Niger
Author: David Lambert
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 022607823X

In Mastering the Niger, David Lambert recalls Scotsman James MacQueen (1778–1870) and his publication of A New Map of Africa in 1841 to show that Atlantic slavery—as a practice of subjugation, a source of wealth, and a focus of political struggle—was entangled with the production, circulation, and reception of geographical knowledge. The British empire banned the slave trade in 1807 and abolished slavery itself in 1833, creating a need for a new British imperial economy. Without ever setting foot on the continent, MacQueen took on the task of solving the “Niger problem,” that is, to successfully map the course of the river and its tributaries, and thus breathe life into his scheme for the exploration, colonization, and commercial exploitation of West Africa. Lambert illustrates how MacQueen’s geographical research began, four decades before the publication of the New Map, when he was managing a sugar estate on the West Indian colony of Grenada. There MacQueen encountered slaves with firsthand knowledge of West Africa, whose accounts would form the basis of his geographical claims. Lambert examines the inspirations and foundations for MacQueen’s geographical theory as well as its reception, arguing that Atlantic slavery and ideas for alternatives to it helped produce geographical knowledge, while geographical discourse informed the struggle over slavery.

A History of Borno

A History of Borno
Author: Vincent Hiribarren
Publisher: Hurst & Company
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 1849044740

Borno (in northeast Nigeria) is notorious today as the home of an Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, whose insurgency is a major security threat, but it was once the heartland of the Kanuri-speaking royal empire of Kanem-Borno, renowned throughout Africa and beyond, which in its later incarnation, the Bornu Empire, lasted from 1380 to 1893. This book offers the reader the first modern history of Borno, drawing upon sources in London, Berlin, Paris, Kaduna and Maiduguri and recently released 'migrated archives'. As its longevity suggests, what is particularly remarkable about Borno is the permanence of its boundaries-its territorial integrity-which dates back centuries, and the political and social identities that such borders framed in the minds of its inhabitants.

The Shaping of Africa

The Shaping of Africa
Author: Francesc Relaño
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351761390

This title was first published in 2002. When did Africa emerge as a continent in the European mind? This book aims to trace the origins of the idea of Africa and its evolution in Renaissance thought. Particular attention is given to the relationship between the process of acquiring knowledge through travel and exploration, and its representation within a discourse which also includes previously acquired cosmographical elements. Among the themes investigated are: How did the image of Africa evolve from the conception of a symbolic space to a Euclidean representation? How did the Renaissance rediscovery of Antiquity interact with the Portuguese discoveries along the African coast? And once Africa was circumnavigated, how was the inner landmass depicted in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Also, overall, in this whole process what was the interplay of myth and reality?

Decolonizing the Map

Decolonizing the Map
Author: James R. Akerman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2017-06-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 022642278X

Almost universally, newly independent states make the production of new maps and atlases affirming their independence and identity a top priority, but the processes and practices by which previously colonized peoples become more engaged or re-engaged in mapping their own territories are rarely straightforward. This collection explores the relationship between mapping and decolonization while engaging recent theoretical debates about the nature of decolonization itself. The essays, originally delivered as the 2010 Kenneth Nebenzahl Jr. Lectures in the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library, encompass more than two centuries (from the late eighteenth through the twentieth) and three continents (Latin America, Africa, and Asia). Topics range from mapping and national identity in late colonial Mexico to the enduring crisis created by the partition of British India and the persistence of racial prejudices and the racialized organization of space in apartheid and postapartheid South Africa.

Maps and Politics

Maps and Politics
Author: Jeremy Black
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2000-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1861898371

?We all rely on the apparent accuracy and objectivity of maps, but often do not see the very process of mapping as political. Are the power and purpose of maps inherently political? Maps and Politics addresses this important question and seeks to emphasize that the apparent ‘objectivity’ of the map-making and map-using process cannot be divorced from aspects of the politics of representation. Maps have played, and continue to play, a major role in both international and domestic politics. They show how visual geographical representations can be made to reflect and advance political agendas in powerful ways. The major developments in this field over the last century are responses both to cartographic progression and to a greater emphasis on graphic imagery in societies affected by politicization, democratization, and consumer and cultural shifts. Jeremy Black asks whether bias-free cartography is possible and demonstrates that maps are not straightforward visual texts, but contain political and politicizing subtexts that need to be read with care.