Mapping and Charting in Early Modern England and France

Power, Patronage, and Production

Christine Petto

Mapping and Charting for the Lion and the Lily: Map and Atlas Production in Early Modern England and France is a comparative study of the production and role of maps, charts, and atlases in early modern England and France, with a particular focus on Paris, the cartographic center of production from the late seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century, and London, which began to emerge (in the late eighteenth century) to eclipse the once favored Bourbon center. The themes that carry through the work address the role of government in map and chart making. In France, in particular, it is the importance of the centralized government and its support for geographic works and their makers through a broad and deep institutional infrastructure. Prior to the late eighteenth century in England, there was no central controlling agency or institution for map, chart, or atlas production, and any official power was imposed through the market rather than through the establishment of institutions. There was no centralized support for the cartographic enterprise and any effort by the crown was often challenged by the power of Parliament which saw little value in fostering or supporting scholar-geographers or a national survey.

This book begins with an investigation of the imagery of power on map and atlas frontispieces from the late sixteenth century to the seventeenth century. In the succeeding chapters the focus moves from county and regional mapping efforts in England and France to the “paper wars” over encroachment in their respective colonial interests. The final study looks at charting efforts and highlights the role of government support and the commercial trade in the development of maritime charts not only for the home waters of the English Channel, but the distant and dangerous seas of the East Indies.

Lexington Books

Pages: 282 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-0-7391-7536-1 • Hardback • March 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4985-1440-8 • Paperback • September 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

Series: Toposophia: Thinking Place/Making Space

Subjects: Philosophy / Aesthetics, History / Europe / France, History / Europe / Great Britain / General, History / Historical Geography, Philosophy / General

Mapping and Charting in Early Modern England and France

Power, Patronage, and Production

Hardback

Paperback

Summary

Mapping and Charting for the Lion and the Lily: Map and Atlas Production in Early Modern England and France is a comparative study of the production and role of maps, charts, and atlases in early modern England and France, with a particular focus on Paris, the cartographic center of production from the late seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century, and London, which began to emerge (in the late eighteenth century) to eclipse the once favored Bourbon center. The themes that carry through the work address the role of government in map and chart making. In France, in particular, it is the importance of the centralized government and its support for geographic works and their makers through a broad and deep institutional infrastructure. Prior to the late eighteenth century in England, there was no central controlling agency or institution for map, chart, or atlas production, and any official power was imposed through the market rather than through the establishment of institutions. There was no centralized support for the cartographic enterprise and any effort by the crown was often challenged by the power of Parliament which saw little value in fostering or supporting scholar-geographers or a national survey.

This book begins with an investigation of the imagery of power on map and atlas frontispieces from the late sixteenth century to the seventeenth century. In the succeeding chapters the focus moves from county and regional mapping efforts in England and France to the “paper wars” over encroachment in their respective colonial interests. The final study looks at charting efforts and highlights the role of government support and the commercial trade in the development of maritime charts not only for the home waters of the English Channel, but the distant and dangerous seas of the East Indies.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 282 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-0-7391-7536-1 • Hardback • March 2015 • $129.00 • (£99.00)

978-1-4985-1440-8 • Paperback • September 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

Series: Toposophia: Thinking Place/Making Space

Subjects: Philosophy / Aesthetics, History / Europe / France, History / Europe / Great Britain / General, History / Historical Geography, Philosophy / General

Author

Christine Marie Petto is professor of early modern European history at Southern Connecticut State University.

Table of Contents

1Cartographic Imagery and Representations of Power
2Mapping the Land: County & Regional Mapping in England and France
2Chart Making in England and France & Charting the English Channel
4Paper Encroachments: Colonial Mapping Disputes in the Americas
5Charting the Seas of the East Indies: Commercial Opportunism vs. Royal Approbation

Reviews

This volume is a fascinating history of the two countries’ mapping and will be essential on any course on the history of cartography for students and for those who wish to know how mapping is interwoven into the societies’ and governments’ requirements and interests of the time.
— European History Quarterly

Mapping and Charting in Early Modern England and France provides a wealth of information on French and English mapmakers and is particularly strong on marine charts and hydrography. For historians of cartography, as well as those interested in visual rhetoric and state power, Petto’s book is a solid contribution.
— Isis

Following on her book titled When France was King of Cartography, Christine Petto now brings us Mapping and Charting in Early Modern England and France. This little-studied comparative theme allows the author to make striking comparisons between different developments on different sides of the English Channel, in both general history and in the history of cartography.

— David Buisseret, The University of Texas at Arlington