The sovereign map
Subtitle: theoretical approaches in cartography throughout history
By: Christian Jacob ; translated by Tom Conley ; edited by Edward H. Dahl.
Contributors: Dahl, Edward H.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 417
Subjects: Cartography -- History
Description: "A novel work in the history of cartography, The Sovereign Map argues that maps are as much about thinking as seeing, as much about the art of persuasion as the science of geography. As a classicist, Christian Jacob brings a fresh eye to his subject—which includes maps from Greek Antiquity to the twentieth century—and provides a theoretical approach to investigating the power of maps to inform, persuade, and inspire the imagination. eginning with a historical overview of maps and their creation—from those traced in the dirt by primitive hands to the monumental Dutch atlases and ornate maps on Italian palace walls—Jacob goes on to consider the visual components of cartography: the decorative periphery, geometric grid, topographical lines, dots, details of iconographic figures, and many other aspects. Considering text on maps—titles, toponyms, legends, and keys—Jacob proposes that writing can both clarify and interfere with a map's visual presentation. Finally Jacob examines the role of the viewer in decoding a map's meaning and the role of society in defining the power of maps as authoritative depictions of space."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
"Originally published as L'empire des cartes: Approche théorique de la cartographie à travers histoire, Éditions Albin Michel, 1992"--T.p. verso.
Table of contents: title: What is a map?; title: There are maps, and there are maps; title: The map as mediation; title: The raw materials of the map; title: The printed map; title: The atlas: a book of maps; title: Pragmatics of the consultation of the map; title: Tentative definitions; title: Graphics, geometry, and figuration; title: The border and graphic representation; title: The framework and the Marteloio; title: Forms and contours of the Earth; title: Order/disorder: the minimal units of graphics; title: "Hic sunt leones"; title: The visible and reason; title: Maps and writing; title: The title of the map; title: Names on the map: toponymy; title: The map and its legends; title: The cartographic image: the eye and memory; title: Imaginary maps: a poetics of the drawing and the gaze; title: Cartographic reading as construction; title: Imaginary drifts; title: From the map to geography: stages of an apprenticeship.