MAPS AND THE ITALIAN GRAND TOUR, 1660-1824
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
Drawing on a wealth of largely unexplored cartographic materials in the British Library's King George III's Topographical Collection, the project will examine the role of maps in shaping travellers' shifting geographical imaginations of 'Italy' and their conception of the Classical past from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century, that is from the beginnings of the Grand Tour to its heydays. More specifically, the project will:
1. Situate maps within broader networks of production and patronage and within contemporary cartographic and artistic practices, in the light of recent debates on the production of scientific and cartographic knowledge and its circulation;
2. Consider the relationship between the maps and written texts (guides, travel accounts, geography texts etc.) in the light of current debates on the geographies of reading;
3. Explore the role of maps as visual artifacts as well as travelling material objects (as status symbols, as mementos and as collectibles), and their geographies of reception. This will be done by linking the maps in the K Top collection to other types of representations featuring the maps themselves (e.g. portraits of Grand Tourists holding maps, paintings and engravings of Grand Tourists' collections and domestic spaces embellished by maps, maps in travel accounts, etc.), as well as to geographies and practices of collecting;
4. Operate a thematic and topographic classification of the maps in the collection, in order to identify shifts in trends over time, while at the same time contributing to proper cataloguing and public access to these materials;
5. Contribute to the Library's public engagement activities showcasing highlights from the collection and the Grand Tour in general.
1. Situate maps within broader networks of production and patronage and within contemporary cartographic and artistic practices, in the light of recent debates on the production of scientific and cartographic knowledge and its circulation;
2. Consider the relationship between the maps and written texts (guides, travel accounts, geography texts etc.) in the light of current debates on the geographies of reading;
3. Explore the role of maps as visual artifacts as well as travelling material objects (as status symbols, as mementos and as collectibles), and their geographies of reception. This will be done by linking the maps in the K Top collection to other types of representations featuring the maps themselves (e.g. portraits of Grand Tourists holding maps, paintings and engravings of Grand Tourists' collections and domestic spaces embellished by maps, maps in travel accounts, etc.), as well as to geographies and practices of collecting;
4. Operate a thematic and topographic classification of the maps in the collection, in order to identify shifts in trends over time, while at the same time contributing to proper cataloguing and public access to these materials;
5. Contribute to the Library's public engagement activities showcasing highlights from the collection and the Grand Tour in general.
