Enlightenment Geography: The Political Languages of British Geography, 1650-1850 (Studies in Modern History)

All illustrations are reproduced by permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library. vii My study begins with Peter Heylyn, a lecturer in geography at Hertford College, Oxford from the 1610s. My thanks are owed to the same institution, which fostered my humanist approach to geography and eventually appointed me to a college lectureship some 375 years after Heylyn. As Heylyn sought patronage from William Laud at St John's, so I am also delighted to acknowledge my debt to that college, which supported my doctoral research through its generous award of a North Senior Scholarship. The award of a British Academy post-doctoral fellowship has allowed this project to reach fruition in Cambridge, where Corpus Christi College has given me a third congenial home, of which I can say with Richard Gough: 'while I erect this monument to the votaries of antiquity, can I forget to acknowledge that my passion for these pursuits was fostered within those venerable walls?' Finally, as John Ogilby's first route-map passes through Oxford on its way to Aberystwyth, so I have traversed that trajectory and would like to express my thanks to the geographers at Aberystwyth for appointing me to a lectureship. Philip Howell and Charles Withers read and commented on an earlier and shorter version of this book with characteristic rigour and generosity. David Livingstone made important points which have much improved the continuity and focus of the final draft; this is but one of many scholarly debts I owe him. Paul Langford and Howard Erskine-Hill have encouraged me to develop my approach to Samuel Johnson. Boyd Hilton made useful comments on Chapter 11. Quentin Skinner's encouraging comments on my project proved a fillip. I owe a great debt to Jack Langton, who has always exemplified in his work and his criticism the interweaving of geography and humanism which I aspire to achieve. My thanks must also go to Jonathan Clark, whose writings have greatly influenced my own, and who has consistently supported my attempts to recover geography's humanist history. My final thanks must go to Yvonne: if Enlightenment and humanism are the key terms in this study, they take on a living meaning in and through her. viii Enlightenment Geography Is The First Detailed Study Of The Politics Of British Geography Books And Of Related Forms Of Geographical Knowledge In The Period From 1650 To 1850. It Is A Contribution To The Intellectual History Of Geographical Knowledge In Particular And Of Britain More Generally. The Definition And Role Of Geography In A Humanist Structure Of Knowledge Are Examined, As Is The Print Culture Geography Before Its Formalization As A Discipline In The Late Nineteenth Century. In All These Respects, Geography Is Shown To Have Been Tied To Political Discourse. Enlightenment Geography Questions Broad Assumptions About British Intellectual History Through A Revisionist History Of Geography.--jacket. Effacing And Recovering The History Of Geography -- The Sphere Of Geography And The Realm Of Politics In Britain, C.1650-1850 -- 'geography Is Twinned With Divinity': The Laudian Geography Of Peter Heylyn, 1621-57 -- John Ogilby And The Iconographic Roads To A Restored Royalist Geography, C.1660-75 -- The Political And Geographical Appropriations Of Edmund Bohun, 1684-1710 -- Edmund Gibson's Editions Of Britannia: Loyalist Chorography And The Particularist Politics Of Precedent, 1695-1722 -- Varieties Of Orthodox Geography, 1700-50: Three Vignettes: Echard, Wells And Salmon -- The Denominational Politics Of Travel-writing: The Case Of Tory Anglicans In The 1770s -- The Scottish Enlightenment And British Geography (i): Guthrie And Pinkerton, C.1770-1802 -- On The Cusp Of Modern Geography: Fieldwork And Textuality In The Career Of James Rennell, 1764-1830 -- The Scottish Enlightenment And British Geography (ii): James Bell And J.r. Mcculloch, 1830-50 -- Coda: Halford Mackinder And The Empire Of 'new' Political Geography, C.1887-1919 -- Enlightenments And Geography: Continuity And Change In The Politics Of Early-modern British Geography, C.1550-c.1850. Robert J. Mayhew. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 295-316) And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Effacing and Recovering the History of Geography....Pages 1-22 The Sphere of Geography and the Realm of Politics in Britain, c.1650–1850....Pages 23-48 ‘Geography is twinned with divinity’: the Laudian Geography of Peter Heylyn, 1621–57....Pages 49-65 John Ogilby and the Iconographic Roads to a Restored Royalist Geography, c.1660–75....Pages 66-85 The Political and Geographical Appropriations of Edmund Bohun, 1684–1710....Pages 86-99 Edmund Gibson’s Editions of Britannia: Loyalist Chorography and the Particularist Politics of Precedent, 1695–1722....Pages 100-121 Varieties of Orthodox Geography, 1700–50: Three Vignettes: Echard, Wells and Salmon....Pages 122-140 The Denominational Politics of Travel-Writing: the Case of Tory Anglicans in the 1770s....Pages 141-167 The Scottish Enlightenment and British Geography (I): Guthrie and Pinkerton, c.1770–1802....Pages 168-192 On the Cusp of Modern Geography: Fieldwork and Textuality in the Career of James Rennell, 1764–1830....Pages 193-206 The Scottish Enlightenment and British Geography (II): James Bell and J.R. McCulloch, 1830–50....Pages 207-228 Coda: Halford Mackinder and the Empire of ‘New’ Political Geography, c.1887–1919....Pages 229-245 Enlightenments and Geography: Continuity and Change in the Politics of Early-Modern British Geography, c.1550–c.1850....Pages 246-257 Back Matter....Pages 258-324 Enlightenment Geography is the first detailed study of the politics of British geography books and of related forms of geographical knowledge in the period from 1650 to 1850. The definition and role of geography in a humanist structure of knowledge are examined and shown to tie it to political discourse. Geographical works are shown to have developed Whig and Tory defences of the English church and state, consonant with the conservatism of the English Enlightenment. These politicizations were questioned by those indebted to the Scottish Enlightenment. Enlightenment Geography questions broad assumptions about British intellectual history through a revisionist history of geography. The author examines the definition and role of geography in a humanist structure of knowledge from 1650 to 1850. He shows them to be tied to political discourse, consonant with the conservatism of the English enlightenment