April 17, 2026

Essay on Maps and Color Now Online!

April 17, 2026/ Matthew Edney

The other year I curated a fun show (fun for me, at least) on chromolithography and maps for the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education. The web version is now online at

https://exhibits.oshermaps.org/pageant-of-spectacles/

The exhibition and associated lectures prompted me to write up a long-ish essay on “Mapping, Printing, Color,” which is both part of the exhibition website and available in a separate PDF publication available from

digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/oml_exhibits/13/

You may cite the work as;

Edney, Matthew H. 2026. “Mapping, Printing, Color.” In A Pageant of Spectacles: Chromolithography in America, 1–57. Portland: Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine. PDF available online at digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/oml_exhibits/13/.

The digital implementations were prepared by Paul Fuller, but any errors, etc., are all mine!

Enjoy!

Mapping as Process

Mapping as Process is a space for me to explore a new approach to understanding mapping and its history. The exploration will eventually contribute to a book of the same name.

Search Mapping as Process:

The books …

Comparative Map History and “the History of Cartography”: Methodologies, Institutions, and Idealizations in Brill Research Perspectives on Map History. Available from Brill in print and as an ebook ($87).

Cartography in the European Enlightenment, Volume Four of The History of Cartography, edited by myself and Mary Pedley. Available from the University of Chicago Press, in print and ebook ($500).

Available from the University of Chicago Press in paperback ($30), e-book ($10–30), or cloth ($90).

Some paperback ($38) copies are still available, as well as the ebook, from the University of Chicago Press.

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