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