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Title: Mapping the Past: Historical Atlases and the Mingling of History and Geography

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2001

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Abstract: Not long after the 1976 publication of The Atlas of Early American History, its cartographic editor made a candid admission.1 Barbara Bartz Petchenik, a eading cartographer and historian of map-making, felt certain that the era of scholarly historical atlases had come to an end. Important new computer technologies—most notably GIS (Geographic Information Systems)—would entirely change the ways in which maps were produced and used. Many questions formerly addressed by the traditional atlas could now be answered by querying a database directly, thus eliminating the need for the intermediate image—the map. She frankly wondered “whether it is wise to expend resources, skilled labor and money, in producing such documents that are relatively inflexible and user-limited.” Worst of all, she continued, “TheAtlas of Early American History may represent the ultimate stage . . .

Url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2001.23.1.75?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Hoelscher, Steven

Periodical (Full): The Public Historian

Issue: 1

Volume: 23

Pages: 75-85

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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