The Social Life of Maps in America, 1750-1860 (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press)

In The Age Of Mapquest And Gps, We Take Cartographic Literacy For Granted. We Should Not; The Ability To Find Meaning In Maps Is The Fruit Of A Long Process Of Exposure And Instruction. A Carto-coded America - A Nation In Which Maps Are Pervasive And Meaningful - Had To Be Created. The Social Life Of Maps Tracks American Cartography's Spectacular Rise To Its Unprecedented Cultural Influence. Between 1750 And 1860, Maps Did More Than Communicate Geographic Information And Political Pretensions. They Became Affordable And Intelligible To Ordinary American Men And Women Looking For Their Place In The World. School Maps Quickly Entered Classrooms, Where They Shaped Reading And Other Cognitive Exercises; Giant Maps Drew Attention In Public Spaces; Miniature Maps Helped Americans Chart Personal Experiences. In Short, Maps Were Uniquely Social Objects Whose Visual And Material Expressions Affected Commercial Practices And Graphic Arts, Theatrical Performances And The Communication Of Emotions. This Lavishly Illustrated Study Follows Popular Maps From Their Points Of Creation To Shops And Galleries, Schoolrooms And Coat Pockets, Parlors And Bookbindings. Between The Decades Leading Up To The Revolutionary War And The Civil War, Early Americans Bonded With Maps; Martin Bruckner's Comprehensive History Of Quotidian Cartographic Encounters Is The First To Show Us How.--publisher Description. Introducing The Social Life Of American Maps -- American Mapworks -- The Artisanal Map, 1750-1815: Workshops And Shopkeepers From Lewis Evans To Samuel Lewis -- The Manufactured Map, 1790-1830: Centralization And Integration From Mathew Carey To John Melish -- The Industrial Map, 1820-1860: Innovation And Diversification From Henry S. Tanner To S. Augustus Mitchell -- The Spectacle Of Maps -- Public Giants: Re-staging Power And The Theatricality Of Maps -- Private Properties: Ornamental Maps And The Decorum Of Interiority -- Self-made Spectacles: The Look Of Maps And Cartographic Visualcy -- The Mobilization Of Maps -- Looking Small And Made To Go: The Atlas And The Rise Of The Cartographic Vade Mecum -- Cartographic Transfers: Education And The Art Of Mappery -- Cartoral Arts And Material Metaphors -- Price Table-maps And Their Sales Prices, 1755-1860 -- Inventory Of 'john Melish Geographer And Map Publisher'. Martin Brückner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book examines the rise of maps as a best-selling media platform wielding unprecedented cultural influence in America between 1750 and 1860. During this period, maps became affordable for first time to ordinary men and women looking to understand their place in the world; maps quickly entered American schools where they shaped reading and other cognitive exercises; giant wall maps became public spectacles; and miniature maps became expressive of personal journeys. The book argues that by the same token maps were tools of geographic information or imperial political power, their very materiality rendered them into uniquely sociable objects whose visual and material expressions affected commercial practices and graphic arts, ritual performances and the communication of emotions, even facilitating postwar reconciliation. Richly illustrated and the first comprehensive history to document everyday map encounters in early America, this book provides new perspectives on American print culture and commodity circulation. Exploring the relationship between geography and the decorative arts, literacy and visual education, spatial cognition and social organization, the book reveals how a map-oriented ontology became injected into a broad range of cultural compositions that shaped the lives of the American people. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments List of Illustrations PREFACE. Introducing the Social Life of American Maps PART ONE: AMERICAN MAPWORKS 1 THE ARTISANAL MAP, 1750–1815: Workshops and Shopkeepers from Lewis Evans to Samuel Lewis 2 THE MANUFACTURED MAP, 1790–1830: Centralization and Integration from Mathew Carey to John Melish 3 THE INDUSTRIAL MAP, 1820–1860: Innovation and Diversification from Henry S. Tanner to S. Augustus Mitchell PART TWO: THE SPECTACLE OF MAPS 4 PUBLIC GIANTS: Re-Staging Power and the Theatricality of Maps 5 PRIVATE PROPERTIES: Ornamental Maps and the Decorum of Interiority 6 SELF-MADE SPECTACLES: The Look of Maps and Cartographic Visualcy PART THREE: THE MOBILIZATION OF MAPS 7 LOOKING SMALL AND MADE TO GO: The Atlas and the Rise of the Cartographic Vade Mecum 8 CARTOGRAPHIC TRANSFERS: Education and the Art of Mappery EPILOGUE. Cartoral Arts and Material Metaphors Appendix 1: Price Table—Maps and Their Sales Prices, 1755–1860 Appendix 2: Inventory of “John Melish Geographer and Map Publisher” Graphs Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z In the age of GPS, we take cartographic literacy for granted. We should not; the ability to find meaning in maps is the fruit of a long process of exposure and instruction. A "carto-coded" America - a nation in which maps are pervasive and meaningful - had to be created. The 'Social Life of Maps in America, 1750-1860' tracks American cartography's spectacular rise to its unprecedented cultural influence.