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 ...
The paper companies of northern Maine were formed in the 1890s by combining both private and public lands so as to effect economies of scale. Most important, the new companies replaced the small log dams with very much larger concrete and steel dams,...
European knowledge of the interior of northern New England was sparse before the French and Indian War (1756-63). This can be seen in the representation of Moosehead Lake. The map was nonetheless the most comprehensive image available in the 1780s an...
