Putting Maryland on the Map

1
Putting Marylandon the Map

• The Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical
  Maps of Maryland, 1608-1908
• http//mdlandrec.net
• Edward Papenfuse
• State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents

2
Historical Maps of Maryland-first edition

• Over 25 years ago, an aide to then governor Harry
  Hughes, Joe Coale, called with an idea
• He suggested we write a book about the history of
  the mapping of Maryland

3
Historical Maps of Maryland-first edition

• It was to be a simple project-
• Compile a list of the best maps
• Acquire good images
• Write good captions, with a brief historical
  introduction
• Find a benefactor willing to provide a
  publication subsidy
• Find a publisher willing to undertake the design,
  editing, printing and distribution

4
Historical Maps of Maryland-first edition

• Two years and hundreds of slides later we had an
  exhaustive visual inventory of Maryland maps and
  an outline
• Selected 144 maps
• Wrote 10 chapters of text and captions for the
  selected maps
• Found a patron and a publisher
• Produced the Hammond-Harwood house atlas of
  historical maps of Maryland, 1608-1908

5
Response to the first edition

• Kind reviews
• Huntingfield Collection (MSA SC 1399) given to
  the Maryland Archives
• Finest and largest collection of maps of Maryland
  then in private hands
• First edition sold out within a decade
• Considered a rare book, now selling for 200 a
  copy

6
Mapping Maryland-Revisited

• In the first year of the oughts decade, Joe
  Coale called again
• He had found a benefactor and wondered if I would
  be willing to undertake a revised edition
• I agreed, if the new edition could be
• In full color
• Contain plates of all county wall maps
• Have additional text relating to the impact of
  the charter on Marylands boundaries
• Be dedicated to the care and preservation of the
  Maryland State Archives map collection

7
Mapping Maryland- A New Edition

• Joe found us a most generous benefactor in Henry
  A. Rosenberg, Jr.
• Johns Hopkins University Press agreed to publish
  the book in an edition of 2500 copies
• On April 11, 2002 the text was completed
• Elizabeth Dahl copy edited from California over
  the summer
• the Archives and Library of Congress staff
  imaged the maps
• Glen Burris designed an exquisite book
• Ken Sabol over saw the delivery of the design and
  the hard drive containing text and images to and
  from China, and pushed hard for the delivery of
  the book on schedule

8
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• In full color
• 40 additional illustrations, with emphasis on
  rare county wall maps
• Strong map of Queen Annes County, 1866
• Several thousand more words
• Detailed reference images stored in an electronic
  archives that could also be used for full scale
  reproductions
• New design

9
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908
10
Maryland State ArchivesAtlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• Stories from the book exploring boundaries and
  the saga of who owns the Potomac River
• Lord Baltimores map, 1635
• Kitchins map of Maryland, 1757

11
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• Never assume that you have seen all there is to
  see in maps
• Always a chance you have missed a good map no
  matter how hard you try to be comprehensive
• There is always much to learn from maps
  especially if we study them carefully
• Poppleton and the vanishing public square
• 1906 Bromley Atlas of Baltimore City, Plate 6
• A court case and a private manuscript atlas solve
  the mystery

12
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• In the end the ultimate goal is to preserve maps
  for the enjoyment of future generations. With
  this book we were enabled to do more by
• Increasing the security of our map collections by
  maintaining a comprehensive visual inventory as a
  deterrent to the Gilbert Blands of this world
• Making maps accessible through fine reproductions
  while preserving them from excessive wear and tear

13
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• Why stop in 1908? The easy answer is that
  Maryland at last thought it knew its own bounds
  and the last of the border conflicts was before
  the Supreme Court.
• Little did anyone know that it would take another
  90 years to resolve the fight with Virginia over
  the waters of the Potomac.
• Another reason was that the volume of maps and
  mapping increased significantly with the
  establishment of the State Roads Commission
  (initially a responsibility of the Maryland
  Geological Survey.
• But probably most important of all it was to
  preserve the memory of those people and places
  captured on fragile oversized sheets of paper
  often with great charm and beauty, if not always
  with great accuracy.

14
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• Two especially fine examples of county wall
  maps
• Harford County
• Washington County

15
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, 1608-1908

• In the first mapping of Maryland, map and chart
  makers covered their ignorance of geographical
  information with decorations such as fanciful
  animals and navigational aids such as rhumb
  lines.
• Jonathan Swift made fun of such efforts in verse
  With savage pictures fill their gaps and oer
  unhabitable downs place Elephants for want of
  towns
• Today the problem is just the opposite There is
  too much information and the scale is often
  insufficient to display everything the map and
  chart maker would like to include.

16
Maryland State Archives Atlas of Historical Maps
of Maryland, and beyond

• When the map maker and the chart maker begin to
  strive for too much scale and accuracy, then
  charts become commonplace, at best utilitarian.
  Nearly a hundred years ago Lewis Carroll pointed
  to what Adam Nicholson calls the tragic
  absurdity of the cartographers art, when taken
  to its logical conclusion
• In Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, Carroll wrote
• What do you consider the largest map that would
  be really useful? About six inches to the mile.
  Only six inches! Exclaimed the map maker. We
  very soon got to six yards to the mile. And then
  came the grandest idea of all! We actually made
  a map of the country on the scale of a mile to
  the mile! Have you used it much! I enquired. It
  has never been spread out, yet, said the
  mapmaker. The farmers objected they said it
  would cover the whole country and shut out the
  light.
• If you scan it, can you keep it? SHA MSA
• Quo Vadis? John 165