Cartographies of Travel and Navigation (The Kenneth Nebenzahl Jr. Lectures in the History of Cartography)

About this book

Finding ones way with a map is a relatively recent phenomenon. In premodern times maps were used if at all mainly for planning journeys in advance not for guiding travelers on the road. With the exception of navigational sea charts the use of maps by travelers only became common in the modern era; indeed in the last two hundred years maps have become the most ubiquitous and familiar genre of modern cartography. Examining the historical relationship between travelers navigation and maps Cartographies of Travel and Navigation considers the cartographic response to the new modalities of modern travel brought about by technological and institutional developments in the twentieth century. Highlighting the ways in which the travelers operators and planners of modern transportation systems value maps as both navigation tools and as representatives of a radical new mobility this collection brings the cartography of travelby road sea rail and airto the forefront placing maps at the center of the history of travel and movement. Richly and colorfully illustrated Cartographies of Travel and Navigation ably fills the void in historical literature on transportation mapping.