Summary

The central issue of my research is: how common and widespread were maps in early modern society? The aim of this project is to answer this question in the context of the Low Countries, the European centre for maps in the early modern period. While scholars have closely studied the production of maps during this period, much less attention has been paid to the circulation of maps after they were made. In my PhD project, I offer a new approach by using the concept of map encounters. By tracing, collecting and analysing visual and textual historical sources, including prints, paintings, letters, advertisements, and other sources on map encounters, I explore how maps and their users were represented. By analysing representations of map encounters, the project will show (1) how historical sources shed light on maps and their users, and (2) what ideas and concepts about map encounters circulated in the early modern period.

Supervisor(s): prof. dr. Bram Vannieuwenhuyze, dr. Djoeke van Netten
Affiliated with the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM), Explokart research group and Allard Pierson, Amsterdam
Duration of appointment: 2022-2027