Glossary of terms in Map History

Introduction

My work has required me to ponder many terms in map history. Many prove to be ambiguous and need to be disambiguated or even completely rethought. Many others are stable yet often misused, especially by incomers, because they are not sufficiently well known. I therefore offer the following as a guide to usage. The selection of terms to be glossed is admittedly idiosyncratic. The glossary is also necessarily concerned with Anglophone terminology, although I refer to other languages when I think it appropriate to do so.

¶ flags usages that are inappropriate and should be avoided.

The terms are organized mostly alphabetically, as indicated in the following list. Each entry is also flagged by a broad category of terminology:

form – physical elements of maps
historiography — the practice of the study of early maps
idealization — concepts stemming from the ideal of cartography
map type — categories, genres, etc., of maps
mode — broad categories of mapping
process — concepts that support a processual approach to mapping

Contents

analytical cartography

analytical mapping

card

cartobibliography

cartograph

cartography

cerography (a.k.a., wax engraving)

cognitive map

engraving

etching

geodesy

History + Cartography

historical cartography

history of cartography

impression

intaglio (printing)

map

map history

mappamundi (pl. mappaemundi)

mapping

matrix (pl. matrices)

mental map

mezzotint

modern

modern, early

planisphere

relief (printing)

representation

sketch [map]

stereotype

support

typographic map

wood block

woodcut

wood engraving