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Posted by: Ed Redmond
As we learned in my previous blog, surveying is the art of measuring land. During the 18th century colonial surveying was relatively crude. A fixed “beginning point” such as a tree or a rock was established as the starting point for the survey. A 66 foot long chain, commonly known as a Gunters Chain, was …
Posted in: 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography
Posted by: Ed Redmond
This is the first of two posts outlining traditional 18th and 19th surveying methods. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, surveying is the art and science of measuring land. More precisely, it is “a means of making relatively large-scale, accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface.” The authoritative 18th century treatise on surveying, entitled “The Compleat Surveyor or …
Posted in: 18th century cartography
Posted by: Ed Redmond
The collections of the Library of Congress include thirteen early nautical or portolan charts published between 1320 and 1734. Cartographic historians and map librarians are familiar with these early charts. But what, exactly, is a “portolan” chart? This post will attempt to address a few of the basic ideas revolving around these early nautical charts. …
Posted in: Exploration
Posted by: Ed Redmond
President Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was elected to the Office of the Vice President of the United States in 1848 and, due to the untimely death of President Zachary Taylor in 1850, Fillmore became the 13th President of the United States. From the standpoint of the Geography and Map Division, however, Millard Fillmore’s most important contribution …
Posted in: Biography