Cartobibliography

/ˌkɑːr.toʊ.bɪ.bliˈɑː.ɡrə.fi/ noun

Definition

The scholarly study and cataloging of maps and map-related literature and historical documents.

Etymology

From carto- (Greek kartos, map) + bibliography (Greek biblion, book + graphia, writing/description). This is a modern academic term combining two fields: cartography and bibliographic study, emerging in the 20th century.

Kelly Says

Cartobibliography is essentially detective work for historians—cartobibliographers track down old maps, figure out who made them, when they were made, and what they tell us about how people understood geography, revealing how our knowledge of the world has completely transformed over centuries.

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