The use of illustrations on or with a map to commemorate an important event has long been common. One such example is this combined map and image by the Danckertses. The map was first published by Justus Danckerts in 1680; Justus's son, Cornelis Danc...
Towards the end of the 16th century, travel literature began to appear for readers who wished to "travel" without leaving home. Publishers were challenged to give their readers pictorial representations of cities that were both pleasing to the eye an...
The steady growth of map making through the Renaissance stimulated the collection of more detailed geographical information about areas already mapped. When Abraham Ortelius published the first modern atlas, in 1570, he devoted just one map to Spain;...
Although the Spanish Empire declined somewhat in political importance during the seventeenth century, it remained a powerful entity whose territories continued to provide important trading destinations. Many people throughout Europe, especially merch...
During the 18th and 19th centuries, European governments increasingly consolidated their control over their territories. Necessary components of this process were both detailed mapping and the development of coherent, organized networks of communicat...
Navigators have long communicated information about the seas and coasts by a variety of means: word of mouth; the written word; graphic images and profiles of the coast; and, charts. Today, most sailors use a combination of charts and written guides....
The Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish mercantilism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was also the golden age of Dutch and Flemish cartography. Unrestricted by feudal regulations, the Netherlands became the central warehouse of European trade, ...
One aspect of the cultural ferment of the Renaissance was the expansion of Western Europe's world view to encompass Africa, Asia, and ultimately the New World. With the breaking of the medieval cartographic framework, geographers returned to a Classi...
My interest in maps began when I was eight years old. My grandfather sent me his bound volumes of the National Geographic magazine, dating from 1903 to 1935, and their maps became a constant source of learning and pleasure as I grew up. After graduat...
CommentsPlease send any comments about this web site, its content or its design, to Matthew H. Edney. All comments are very welcome!About the Logo The exhibition logo is taken from a vignette on item 37: Thomas Sedgewick Steele and W. R. Curtis, Map ...
