By Geoff Armitage and Ashley Baynton-Williams.
British Library, 2012.
262 pages, 155 color plates. $65.00, cloth.
ISBN 978-0-7123-5877-4
Review by: Ian Muehlenhaus, James Madison University
The World at Their Fingertips is a book with a two-pronged mission: first, to definitively establish British two-sheet, double-hemisphere world maps as a distinct cartographic genre, and second, to create as complete a catalog of such maps as possible, while concurrently exploring their history. Using the extensive collection of these maps housed at the British Library, the authors looked at “virtually all examples” of these maps that still exist in Britain in an attempt to establish a double-hemisphere world map genealogy of sorts. The book is very focused on achieving its goals, and it certainly achieves what the authors set out to accomplish.
Overall, the book is best summarized by its title; it is what it portends to be. Early on, the authors argue that double-hemisphere world maps are important within the history of cartography. Such maps rose to prominence due to two interesting developments. First, the British were experiencing a prolonged period of prosperity following the reestablishment of the monarchy in 1660. Second, the public not only had more money to spend, but they were beginning to clamor for more geographical knowledge about the larger world around them. Before this time, maps were largely only affordable for the wealthy. Essentially, an increase in wealth throughout Britain broadly, coupled with a new interest in the world, helped create a market for mass-produced global maps and atlases. Businesses sprouted up to place the world at Britons’ fingertips.
The structure of the book’s content is unique. There are nine chapters, including the introduction, with three additional appendices. The introduction chapter succinctly contextualizes double-hemisphere maps within the history of cartography as a whole, before segueing into the first two chapters, which review the origins of the double-hemisphere world map in seventeenth-century France and the nuances of the British map trade in the following century. The second chapter in particular is very robust, and provides a thorough summary of the history of British map production and sales between 1650 and 1820. Chapter 3 comes off as a bit of a non sequitur. It presents the “high points” of mapping during the eighteenth century, beginning with an overview of James Cook’s discoveries and concluding with a two-paragraph entry on Sir Isaac Newton. This is followed by a chapter on the “low points” of cartography during the same time period, concluding with an enjoyable discussion of a painting with a small double-hemispheric map in the background. Chapter 5 discusses topics related to double-hemisphere maps such as print runs, projections, prime meridians, and more relevant asides. The sixth chapter presents a map taxonomy of sorts, breaking down double-hemisphere world maps into different types based on a variety of factors, the primary of which is who drafted the earliest version. It is a fascinating look at how shamelessly people stole other people’s maps during this era. Chapter 7 provides an incredibly detailed catalog of double-hemisphere world maps broken down by 24 mapmakers. This results in well over 24 maps being shown, it must be noted, as the authors include numerous map versions from the same cartographers. The history of each mapmaker is briefly reviewed here as well. This 113-page chapter acts as a map catalog. It is then followed with a two-page concluding chapter.
This book delivers what it says it will: an incredibly detailed, as holistic as possible, index and analysis of British double-hemispheric maps. There can be no critique of how well it fulfills its goals. If this is what you are looking for in a book, look no further! The map reproductions are large, full-color, and semi-gloss. The book feels as though it has more map illustrations than text, which is a good thing. To facilitate the subject matter, the book was published with the binding on the pages’ short-end, allowing the double-hemispheric maps to fill the page layout. The production quality is very good. All of the maps are clearly reproduced. The writing is excellent.
On the other hand, like any book, this one suffers from several shortcomings. By attempting to achieve two goals—review the history of and catalog these maps—some strange things happen to the structure of the book. For example, the chapters vary drastically in style, composition, and length, making the book difficult to read through from start to finish. Some of the chapters, particularly the first ones, read like journal articles on the history of cartography. Others are structured more like concise, academic encyclopedia entries. For example, Chapter 4 (“Low points in world mapping…”) does not have an introductory paragraph. It just begins with the heading “California” and dives into a description about how cartographers really missed the boat on the fact that California was not an island. One concern about both Chapter 3 and 4 is that at times there is little connection made to double-hemispheric maps. The average chapter length is approximately ten pages. Chapter 2, on the other hand, is 113 pages long. The inconsistencies in chapter length make for an awkward reading experience. After a brief introduction, Chapter 7 essentially starts listing the creators of double-hemispheric maps and providing image after image of them. This is the catalog part of the book. It does not feel like a chapter; it feels like a file catalog. This “chapter” might have worked better as a separate section of the book following the other chapters. In sum, this book is probably best enjoyed piece-by-piece, chapter-by-chapter.
Though it is not the most readable book, this book stands as a substantial contribution when it comes to cataloging the history of cartography. It is the ultimate data source on double-hemispheric maps! It could also act as an excellent visual resource for those studying or teaching about the history of cartography during the magnificent and important periods of Dutch and British world hegemonies. Beyond academia, I can see this volume working as a coffee-table book, as well. The authors need to be commended on their thoroughness, beautiful attention to detail, and the passion they display toward the subject matter.
On the other hand, this book is certain to have a limited market. For armchair map lovers, this book’s focus on double-hemispheric maps is overkill. The images all begin to look the same. In fact, some of the images do show the same maps, just as different print versions with slightly varied coloration. From an academic standpoint, aside from the first several chapters’ historical reviews, there is a dearth of new knowledge to be gleaned. The book is absolutely packed full of excellent data and information about double-hemispheric maps, but it never quite packages this data into takeaway nuggets of knowledge. And to be fair, the book never says it will do this. However, acting primarily as a detailed repository does, unfortunately, limit its marketability both to the public and academics.