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State, Territorial Expansion, and the Meaning of Maps: Some Perspectives on the Eighteenth-Century Mapping of the Baltic Sea

1998; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 35; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3138/a268-7868-1q21-0245

1911-9925

Pellervo Kokkonen,

Historical Influence and Diplomacy

The development of hydrographical cartography in the Baltic Sea in the eighteenth century provides a challenging case for contextualizing cartographic history. A framework is set up here for the interpretation of complex interrelationships between maps and society. This framework emphasizes spatial material practices and territoriality from a geopolitical perspective. Seen from the point of view of material practices, specifically, that is, expanding international maritime trade and changes in military strategy and navigational practice, major advances in cartographic production came to the Baltic Sea—in response not to new cartographical innovations but to an increased need for more detailed charts. Throughout the period under investigation, the development of maritime cartography in the region remained in the hands of officers of the navy and their superiors, not professional cartographers. Nevertheless, this period produced the first detailed printed hydrographic charts suitable for coastal navigation.