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Matthew Edney: The Long and Winding Road
Matthew Edney has come full circle. After leaving UW-Madison in 1990 with a Ph.D. in Geography, Edney has returned to Science Hall as the new Director of the History of Cartography Project, an effort on which he worked as a young graduate student. The Project produces the multi-volume History of Cartography series, an examination of maps in the context of the societies that made and used them.
A road leading back From his office on the 4th floor of Science Hall, Edney spoke of his deep connections to UW Geography and the History of Cartography Project, the threads of which go back more than 20 years. He received his MS in Cartography and his Ph.D. at the UW-Madison under the late Dr. David Woodward. As one of David's students, he worked on the initial efforts of the History of Cartography Project. "I've maintained close connections to the Project ever since I graduated," says Edney. "In particular, in 1998, David asked me to be one of the co-editors of the History of Cartography in the European Enlightenment, Volume 4." But with four of the six Volumes in progress, the Project Director post became vacant after Woodward's death in 2004 and needed an experienced and steady hand for the work ahead. Jude Leimer, managing editor of the Project, says: "We were extremely fortunate to hire Matthew Edney as Project Director. Matthew brings to the Project a deep dedication to the history of cartography, exemplified by his scholarly contributions over the last fifteen years. His research on theory, methodology, and recent historiography of map studies has influenced the structure of the later encyclopedic volumes of the History. His publication record, research efforts, and activities in the field make him eminently qualified for the directorship." It's the new scholarship emerging from just the first 3 volumes that makes directing the Project so exciting, said Edney. "Even though Volume 1 came out in 1987 it is already desperately in need of revision," stressed Edney, "because so many academic opportunities have grown from the revelatory ideas of that work." From London to Science Hall And such revelations often come from unlikely places. As a 21-year-old undergraduate, Edney thought he might become a land surveyor. But while taking courses at University College London, which had a large land surveying component, Edney discovered historical geography. "In my last year at London," related Edney, "I was in Hugh Prince's seminar 'Research Methods in Historical Geography', a truly amazing course. It was the first time I read Yi-Fu Tuan, Clarence Glacken, Lucien Febvre—people who are really crucial to the history of geography. We also read a new book, Period and Process, edited by Alan Barker and Mark Billinge, which included a chapter by J. B. Harley on how historical geographers should model their evidence. [Harley was a founder of the History of Cartography Project.] Harley argued that maps can be evidence" on an equal with landscape and archival sources. "That was the moment I went, Aha! There's a way to take my interest in historical geography and land surveying and join them in the history of cartography." So in 1983, as a new graduate student in Cartography at UW, Edney
found himself working in the newly-funded History of Cartography
Project with David Woodward. Edney says it was the perfect place
at the perfect time. After leaving Science Hall as a new Ph.D. in 1990, Edney spent 5 years teaching cartography and GIS at SUNY Binghamton, then secured a teaching position at University of Southern Maine in Portland as a map historian from which he's currently on leave. "I have the longest title at the university," laughed Edney, "as Associate Professor of Geography and Anthropology and American & England Studies, and Faculty Scholar in the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education." At USM, Edney used the Osher Map Library collection to teach "not just about what is presented on the maps but about the process of producing the information for the map." As for his current workload, Edney leaned back in his chair and surveyed the growing piles of markups, books, files, and correspondence that defines a project of this massive scope and intensity. "Volume 3 is well underway, at press being copyedited," said Edney. "Volume 4, which is being edited by myself and Mary Pedley of the University of Michigan, is on the verge of soliciting invitations to contribute." Then a change and a challenge In an important change of direction, in 1999 the format of Volumes 4, 5, and 6 shifted from a chronological format to an encyclopedic format. It will still have the indexes, says Edney, a thorough bibliography, and all the same degree of critical apparatus that one would expect. But the last three volumes will be structured with smaller entries that are a bit more synthetic. Why the change? "After 1650, which begins Volume 4, the amount of cartographic activity increases exponentially," explains Edney. "In the 19th century, and on to the 20th century, the amount of cartography figuratively bursts the banks." Yet, at the same time, says Edney, the amount of academic work written on each cartographic period steadily falls off. With so many topics to cover but with comparatively less literature, the encyclopedic format was a better organizational choice. The switch was far from simple. Says Edney, "Most of the work I've been doing for the Project with Mary Pedley on Volume 4 has been to get the same interpretation without becoming bogged down in details or becoming too generalized to be useful. It's a fine balance. It's a mid-point between the macro and micro, the demands of the detail and the empirical evidence with meaningful synthesis." From stable base to ephemeral place
All in all, says Edney, these volumes are amazing. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 had a sense of comprehensiveness because the archival record is so small. "Do you know," he asked, "how many Greek maps actually survived? One. It was discovered about 3 years ago on a papyrus. It was a map of Spain and a text from the 1st century AD. Now that's a small corpus of material! But when we get into the recent centuries, we're working with a record that is so massive that all you can talk about is patterns, genres, exemplars." Furthermore, said Edney, the twentieth century raises issues of digital data, electronic imagery, databases, and animation-all cartographic works that combine historical data with transient presentation. "Take Mark Monmonier's Volume 6," says Edney. "He's trying to pin down sources for the history of weather maps, one of the most ephemeral map types with almost no metadata." "In a sense," mused Edney, "there's tons of issues about loss of data, loss of imagery, the ephemeral nature of our mapping age. Some cartographic collectors want to preserve what they think is disappearing, like different versions and digital images. As an historian, I know that that's a futile effort. Computers are a great tool," Edney argued, "but do we need to have everything? We have this ideal, this notion, of universal knowledge with no loss. It's just not possible." Forward directions And the future of the History of Cartography Project? Edney offered several potential directions. Starting with Volume 1, all the new scholarship could be incorporated into revised editions, which conceivably might continue for decades. However, Edney says, "for me, the future of the project is in interpretation-to have a forum for new research based on this masterwork." Whatever the direction, Jude Leimer, the Project's managing editor, feels that Matthew Edney's "thoughtful and insightful view of the role of the series makes him the best candidate to lead the History of Cartography Project forward."
Printable version of this article ______________________________
About Dr. Matthew EdneyDr. Matthew Edney has recently published "The
Origins and Development of J. B. Harley's Cartographic Theories," Monograph
54 in Cartographica Vol. 40, Nos. 1-2 (Spring/Summer 2005). He
authored a feature article in Cartographic Perspectives "Putting
'Cartography' into the History of Cartography: Arthur H. Robinson,
David Woodward, and the Creation of a Discipline," 51 (Spring
2005). Edney is also the author of Mapping an Empire: The Geographical
Construction of British India, 1765-1843 (1997, Chicago) and is
co-editor of Cartography in the European Enlightenment, Volume
4 in the History of Cartography series. Matthew Edney can contacted
at edney@wisc.edu. About the History of Cartography Project:The History of Cartography Project produces the multi-volume History
of Cartography series. The volumes are organized by region and
time period and examine maps in the context of the societies that
made and used them. This award-winning series, published by the
University of Chicago Press, was founded by J. B. Harley (1932-1991)
and David Woodward (1942-2004). Its main office is in 470 Science
Hall and is on the web at http://www.geography.wisc.edu/histcart
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Karl Zimmerer, chair of the Department of Geography at UW-Madison,
said: "The Geography Department is excited to welcome Dr.
Matthew Edney to campus as the new Director of the History of Cartography
project. Matthew is a leading international scholar of the history
of cartography, with a sustained and lengthy track record of involvement
in cartography that makes him extremely well suited as a leader
for its next major phase."
"I took lots of interesting classes in
cartography, math and computing, geography, history of science...In
the process, I was able to work with Jim Burt and learn some assembly
[language] and to work under David Woodward in cartography." From
1983 to 1985, Edney worked as a project assistant on Volume 1 as
the illustrations editor, a position now held by Dana Freiburger.
The recent historical lens brings other unusual issues for the
Project. Volume 6, covering the 20th century and edited by Mark
Monmonier of Syracuse University, raises fundamental issues such
as those surrounding biographical entries. The volumes are a history
first and foremost, argues Edney, but how do editors decide who
is truly significant and worth including without the benefit of
historical perspective? 