In most Indian languages the word for map derives from the Arabic naqshah, but other meanings attached to it include “picture”, “general description”, and even “official report”. In most of the other European languages, the words used for map - French carte, Italian carta, Russian karta - derive from the Late Latin carta, which meant any sort of formal document and was itself derived from the Greek word meaning chartes, papyrus. In European languages such as English, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese, for example, the word map derives from the Latin word mappa, meaning cloth. The fundamental problem is that in many ancient languages there was no exclusive word for what we now refer to as a map. Harley, the subject has become a prisoner of its own etymology. A conceptual obstacle in the history of cartography has been the confusion over the meaning associated with the word “map” in different time periods and cultural settings.
Dead frontier map of nez series#
But they will have served their purpose if you are encouraged by reading this book to look at maps critically, to comprehend their strengths and limitations, to appreciate them aesthetically, and to use them more intelligently.īeing the first in the series of monographs, it may be worthwhile to define some terms. In this case, many of the illustrations are in black and white, many are reduced in scale, and some are merely fragments, (re-)interpretations, or reconstructions.
It may also be likened to a book of reproductions of works of art, in the sense that the illustrations, even with the accompanying commentary, cannot really do justice to the originals. Some of these monographs may be thought of as an anthology of maps, which, like all anthologies, reflects the taste and predilection of the collector.
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