Blogging about maps since 2003
“The Limits to Mapping,” a talk Matthew Edney gave at Yale University last week as part of the Franke Program series of lectures, is now available on YouTube. Edney, who’s Osher Professor in the History of Cartography at the University of Southern Maine and the director of the History of Cartography Project (his name’s come up … Continue reading “The Limits to Mapping”
Registration is now open for the 2018 Symposium of the International Society for the History of the Map. It takes place from 21 to 23 June 2018 at the Osher Map Library in Portland, Maine, and it’s free to attend. (Like many academic events, registration is so that they have a number to plan for.) … Continue reading “ISHMap Symposium in Portland, Maine”
A power struggle involving two factions of the International Society for the History of the Map has drawn the attention of, of all places, Deadspin’s The Concourse. The factions are, on the one hand, Dr. Zsolt G. Török, the former president who maintains control of the original ISHMap website; and, on the other, a new executive, chaired by … Continue reading “What the Hell Is Going On with the International Society for the History of the Map? “
Education news website The 74 has its own coverage of the Boston schools/Peters map controversy (is it safe to call it a controversy?), with extensive quotes from Matthew Edney, who does not mince words. (Comparing both projections to Comic Sans? Ouch.) [Caitlin Dempsey] Previously: More on Boston Schools and the Peters Map; The Peters Map Is Fighting the Last War; The … Continue reading “The 74 on Boston Schools and the Peters Map”
Atlas Obscura’s Cara Giaimo has an in-depth look at the reaction to the decision by Boston public schools to adopt the Peters projection in teaching materials. It’s well worth taking the time to read; the general gist from several cartographers and commentators is that swapping the Mercator for the Peters isn’t that much of an … Continue reading “More on Boston Schools and the Peters Map”
Slate’s Jacob Brogan looks at the Osher Map Library and its decade-long project to digitize its collection of maps, atlases and globes, and ruminates on the advantages and disadvantages of digitization. Digitization also presents scholars with a new way of looking at maps, since, according to Fowler, “you can get a lot more detail than you … Continue reading “The Osher Map Library’s Digital Project”
Map Blogs Adventures in Mapping (John Nelson) Andy Woodruff All Over the Map (National Geographic; Betsy Mason and Greg Miller) Atlas of Ice and Fire (Adam Whitehead) Bostonography (Andy Woodruff and Tim Wallace) Cartastrophe (Daniel Huffman) Cartonerd (Kenneth Field) Cartophilia A Cartographer’s Toolkit (Gretchen Peterson) La Cartoteca (Alejandro Polanco Masa) Collecting Antique and Vintage Globes Comic Cartography … Continue reading “Blogroll”
Edgar Allen Beem’s essay in the May/June issue of Humanities serves as a good introduction to the Osher Map Library, a major map collection housed at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The Osher Map Library turns up a lot in my online cartographic perambulations; it’s good to know the history and origins of the place and … Continue reading “A Look at the Osher Map Library”
4 February, London. Maps and Society lecture. Dr. Kevin Sheehan on “Construction and Reconstruction: Investigating How Portolan Maps Were Produced by Reproducing a Fifteenth-Century Chart of the Mediterranean.” Warburg Institute, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Woburn Sq, London WC1H OAB. 5:00 PM. Free admission. 4 February, Kennebunk, ME. Dinner and lecture; Matthew Edney and Steve Spofford on … Continue reading “Upcoming Talks”
19 January, Washington, DC. The authors of Mapping the West with Lewis and Clark (Levenger, 2015) will discuss their book. “Ralph E. Ehrenberg, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division, and his co-author, Smithsonian Institution curator emeritus Herman J. Viola, retrace the expedition with more than 100 images reproduced in exquisite detail.” Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building … Continue reading “Upcoming Talks”