CHARTING THE CARTOGRAPHY OF COMPANIES

3rd International Symposium on the History of Cartography
University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), USA
10-13 October 2010

GENERAL  

The ICA Commission on the History of Cartography held a successful Symposium at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) from 10-13 October 2010.  The commission meeting was held in conjunction with the 7th Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography on 8 October 2010, and the Fall Meeting of the Texas Map Society on 9 October 2010.  The general theme was “Charting the Cartography of Companies: Company Mapping, 1600-1900”.  The Commission aimed to highlight the influence of chartered companies (precursors to modern corporations) in cartography as they played an important role in overseas exploration, trade, expansion and colonial power. They relied upon maps and charts for planning, implementation and operation, and often employed their own map and chart makers, surveyors, cartographers and mapping departments.

To accommodate as many participants as possible, papers on other cartographic endeavours during the 19th century were also presented.  Members of the ICA Commission on Maps and Society participated, as did representatives of the USGS. Papers on the development of photogrammetrical techniques in American sector mapping, the digital transition in US cartography during the 1970s, and the diffusion of USGS geospatial data for science research, demonstrated the Commission’s mandate to not only investigate and record the history of cartography, but also of GI Science. The Symposium was attended by approximately 50 people.

The Symposium comprised 7 sessions during which 21 papers were presented. The majority of participants were from the US, but others came from as far afield as Croatia, Hungary, South Africa, Brazil and the UK. On the closing day a separate session gave Prof Matthew Edney of the University of Wisconsin and Prof Roger Kain of the University of London the opportunity to explain their views as regards the future development of Volume 5 of the History of Cartography Project of the Chicago University Press. Volume 5 of this prestigious publication will deal with the cartography of the 19th century.

To complement the Symposium, a special Map Exhibition on “Concessions to Chartered Companies as Mirrored in Maps, 1600-1900”, was staged by the Virginia Garrett Map Library of UTA.  The Garrett Library is one of the leading Map Libraries in the US and holds approximately 900 maps dating back from the 1950s to the 20th century.

 

 

 

“Visit to the Southern Methodist University, Dallas”

A technical visit was undertaken to the Foscue and DeGolyer Libraries of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas. As the principal repositories at SMU for special collections in the humanities and the history of science and technology, these libraries hold extensive cartographic treasures.

Monday-Tuesday, 11-12 October 2010

SESSION I

Brazilian Cartography

 

– de Menezes, Paulo (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil):

  Cartography and Triangulations of the Brazilian Empire – 1862-1889 of the Habsburg  Monarchy in the

 

– Seemann, Jörn (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA):

  Cartographic rumours, Brazilian nationalism, and the mapping of the Amazon valley 

 

– Novaes, André (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil): 

  Theoretical frameworks for the study of journalistic maps: South American bordersin Brazilian press 

 

SESSION II

United States Geological Survey

 

– McHaffie, Patrick (DePaul University, Chicago, USA):

  When the Photo became the Map: Early Photogrammetry in American Public Sector Mapmaking 

 

– Usery, Lynn (United States Geological Survey, Rolla, USA):

  The digital transition in cartography: USGS data innovations, 1970s 

 

– Varanka, Dalia (United States Geological Survey, Reston, USA):

  The diffusion of U.S. Geological Survey geospatial data for science research in the digital transition 

 

– Poore, Barbara (United States Geological Survey, Reston, USA):

  “What a long strange trip it’s been”: Mapping and virtual community from The Grateful Dead to OpenStreetMap 

 

SESSION III

United States in the 19th Century

 

– Schulten, Susan (University of Denver, USA):

  Thematic Cartography and Federal Science in Antebellum America 

 

– Rutschmann, Paul (University of Texas at Arlington, USA):

  Mapping Nationalism: Paul Langhans’ Deutscher Kolonial-Atlas 

 

SESSION IV

Explorative Cartography

 

– Altic, Mirela (Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia):

  Ferdinand Konscak – Cartographer of the Compania des Jesus and his maps of Baja California 

 

– Reinhartz, Dennis (University of Texas at Arlington, USA):

  The Caribbean Cartography of Samuel Fahlberg 

 

– Cook, Andrew (British Library, London, United Kingdom):

  Some Cartographic Consequences of the East India Company 

 

SESSION V

Southern Africa

 

– Liebenberg, Elri (University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa):

  Unveiling the geography of the Cape of Good Hope: selected VOC maps of the interior of South Africa 

 

– Bartos-Elekes, Zsombor (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) and Nemerkenyi, Zsombor (Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary):

  Laszlo Magyar’s Maps – drawn in South East Africa and ended up in East Central Europe 

 

– Braun, Lindsay (University of Oregon, Eugene, USA):

  Missionary Cartography and Colonialism in Late 19th – Century South Africa 

 

SESSION VI

New Mexico

 

– Byszewski, Berenika (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA):

  Mapping Chaco: a centerplace at the margins 

 

– Lane, Maria (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA):

  Mapping the Waters: The complications of hydrologic surveying in reclamation-era New Mexico 

 

– Allison, Peggy (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA)

  Bounding a sacred space: Mapping the Mount Taylor traditional cultural property 

 

SESSION VII

General Cartography

 

– Woodfin, Thomas (Texas A&M University, College Station, USA)

  An alternative atlas dataset for early modern European cartographic production 

 

– Crampton, Jeremy (Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA):

  James Gall: cartographer and pre-Adamite 

 

– Edney, Matthew (University of Southern Maine, Portland, USA):

  An Issue of Process: Topographical Mapping in the History of Cartography during the Twentieth Century 

 

SESSION VIII

Workshop on the History of Cartography Project, Volume 5 (19th century)

 

– Edney, Matthew (Director: History of Cartography Project, Madison, USA) and Kain, Roger (Editor History of Cartography Vol. 5, University of London, United Kingdom)

 

 

PROCEEDINGS
The Proceedings of the Commission’s 3rd International Symposium were published in 2011 by Springer-Verlag of Germany as the first volume in a series of books on the History of Cartography. The book is available as an e-book which can be printed on demand.

History of Cartography International Symposium of the ICA, 2010 Series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography Subseries: Publications of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) Elri Liebenberg; Imre Josef Demhardt (Eds.)