The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy is the sole work of ancient geography that presents an easily recognizable and rather realistic depiction of the Mediterranean Sea. The article ultimately aims to ...explain how Ptolemy achieved such results, given the available sources and methods of his time. It explores how Ptolemy structured the space of the Mediterranean Sea, examining how he positioned the major islands (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes) and two peninsulas (the Southern Balkans and the Crimea). It is argued that Ptolemy's outlines of the Mediterranean Sea can be accounted for as a result of using three theoretical tools available in his time for map construction: the so-called klimata or reference parallels, the wind rose for determining directions, and the so-called ‘opposite places’ or coastal points presumably situated on the same meridians. The overall outlines of Ptolemy's Mediterranean, and the position of Sicily in particular, are shaped by several latitudes established by earlier geographers. Two regions of Ptolemy's map, in the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, are clearly structured based on the 12-point Timosthenes' wind rose, centered at Ostia and Rhodes, respectively. The position of Crete is found to be linked to the African coast by means of the ‘opposite places’ concept. In several cases, the outlines of Ptolemy's map distinctly correspond and can even serve as illustrations to the relevant descriptions found in Strabo's Geography.
•Ptolemy's map gives the sole realistic depiction of the Mediterranean in antiquity.•Ptolemy's Mediterranean is constructed from reference parallels and wind directions.•Ptolemy's depictions and Strabo's descriptions correlate and explain each other.
The Nebenzahl Lectures, held triennially at the Newberry Library, Chicago, since 1966, have been crucially important in the development of sociocultural map studies. This essay explores their ...creation within the context of the challenges facing the Newberry in the 1960s, with special attention to the role of Ken and Jossy Nebenzahl; it then examines the significance of R. A. Skelton's inaugural lectures and the subsequent history and influence of the lectures, before revisiting Skelton's vision for the field and its continuing paucity of institutional support. Skelton's lectures had two major consequences: they led to the formation in 1972 of the Newberry's Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography; and his conception of the history of cartography as an intellectually relevant and autonomous discipline was soon proselytized by J. B. Harley and David Woodward as the necessary foundation for a new approach to maps as cultural documents and social instruments.
The article reinstates an understanding of cartography far beyond that of a strictly geographical discipline, primarily concerned with the depiction of space in various aspects of societies. Using ...the example of several manuscript maps preserved in Polish documents left over from the Paris Conference, depicting the area of the Finnish state that was being established, the author illustrates the role of the map as a tool helping to shape the political entities of European societies and bringing to light various premises related to their threats or security, but also indicating development opportunities for these new state organisms. The author’s subject is Finland, aspiring to be a state at the beginning of the twentieth century, seeking alliances and the support of closer and further neighbours. By discussing surviving (and lost) maps, the author adds to the knowledge of the involvement of Polish diplomats in Paris in Finnish affairs.
This paper will examine four snapshots over the course of the long eighteenth century to highlight the changeable relationship between the Royal Navy, Pacific exploration, and publication. It will ...examine the publication process and the material texts, maps, and charts in an attempt to explain the changing forms and formats of geographic knowledge as they were presented to a literate audience. While the Royal Navy entered into the publication of voyage accounts to manage their public image and authenticate imperial claims, precisely how to fashion an optimum voyage account was an ongoing process of experimentation. These case studies will include the publications which stemmed from the Narbrough expedition (1669-1671), William Dampier’s voyage in the Roebuck (1699-1701), the third voyage of James Cook (1776-1780), and the Vancouver expedition (1791-1795).
This study analyzed selected cartographic symbols on old maps depicting the territory of Slovenia from the sixteenth to nineteenth century. A semiotic approach was applied to establish connections ...between cartographic symbols on old maps and the characteristics of society at the time the maps were created. This semiotic approach was used to discuss the impact of the interpretation of four symbolic cartographic elements, their iconic basis, and the reading of the five maps analyzed. Cartographic symbols changed in line with the development of cartography at the time, as well as society. The depictions of settlements were first stylistic and then geometric. Relief depictions were first stylized and then shown through plastic or spatial methods. Cartographic symbols gradually changed into symbolic signs (in the semiotic sense), including the quality of the map display, as a result of developments and the demands of changing society.
Cartography I Dodge, Martin
Progress in human geography,
02/2017, Volume:
41, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This report examines current developments in geohumanities and work on so-called ‘deep maps’, as well as considering work building on artistic practice and literary mapping traditions. I discuss ...developments in the history of cartography and consider the value of old maps in relation to the interests of human geographers and wider notions of popular geography. More engagement with these areas of mapping practice could help bridge the long-standing disconnect between much of contemporary human geography and more mainstream cartographic research.
Published in 1814, William Clark’s master map of the West remained the most authoritative representation of western American geography until the 1840s. A groundbreaking piece of cartography, the ...accuracy and detail of Clark’s master map are still lauded by modern scholars today. Known primarily for his role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Clark drew on his own and other contemporary explorations in producing his map. However, the Indigenous knowledge embedded in Clark’s master map is what set it apart from earlier published maps of the West. Clark widely incorporated and appropriated the knowledge that Indigenous geographic informants shared with him during the Lewis and Clark Expedition into his master map. By consulting expeditionary records, including Indigenous maps and journal entries, the author illuminates the previously concealed Indigenous contributions to Clark’s master map.
The aim of this article is to expand the understanding of the history of cartography of the lands of southern Poland under Austrian rule in the nineteenth century. The Austrian Second Military ...Survey, at the scale 1:28,800, was produced for the province of Galicia between 1861 and 1864 and for Austrian Silesia between 1838 and 1841. In Galicia, work on 413 sheets was led by thirteen cartographers, and the content and descriptions were prepared by 106 cartographic technicians. On the 42 sheets of the Silesia maps, two directors and 11 technicians were recorded. The military cartographers who prepared the survey of the two provinces belonged to 71 multinational units of the army of the Austrian Empire. Work with nineteenth-century maps is fraught with uncertainty about the consistency of the series, which may be reflected in the content of the maps. The consistency of map content was tested on sheets covering the Polish Carpathians for two types of features: linear (roads) and area (forests). Expanding the understanding of these maps may contribute to reducing uncertainty in their use for various environmental and socio-economic analyses.
From the foundation of the republic, the government of the United States promoted western expansion through the surveying and sales of the public domain. The agency responsible over most of this ...period, the General Land Office (GLO), produced maps of the progress of surveying and sales on an annual basis. This article reviews a notable series, from the first “connected” map (i.e., one showing all the public lands in a single view) in 1864 until the last in 1953. In each period, the national map produced by the agency reflects the concerns of the time, as it records the preparations for the sale of the public domain for settlement. In the first decades of the connected maps, the primary thematic elements documented the work of GLO in surveying what is now called the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). These maps evolved to include a treatment of “territorial acquisitions,” which eventually became the most prominent thematic element, while still including a representation of the PLSS grid. The series’ first depictions of territorial acquisitions included an exceptional error, one of several, indicating that the Oregon Country was part of the Louisiana Purchase. Commissioner Binger Hermann expounded his understanding of the United States’ territorial history in an eighty-seven page monograph, an unusual recognition of a cartographic error, which led to corrections. The long history of this map series provides material to understand the role of maps in the history of the country.
Using a uniform methodology, we explored cartographic elements on almost sixty medium-scale maps showing Slovenian territory from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. One of the elements examined ...was also borders, which are very fragmented due to the great landscape diversity of Slovenia. We were interested in how borders in different periods follow the natural boundaries of the landscape and how they are cartographically represented. Lines and shapes were mostly used to display the borders. Shaded areas are more common. They are usually colored or patterned. Lines are more effective. Typically, there are different types, varying in shape, thickness, and color. Only a dozen of the maps examined lack borders. Two-thirds of the maps highlight the borders with a color.
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