History of Cartography Project


The History of Cartography Project is a publishing project in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It was founded by David Woodward in 1981. Woodward directed the project until his death in August 2004; Matthew H. Edney became director in July 2005.

''The History of Cartography''

The Project works to prepare The History of Cartography, a multivolume series established by Woodward and Brian Harley. This effort is funded by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, various private foundations, and numerous individuals.
The six volumes of the History, all published by the University of Chicago Press, are:
Harley and Woodward's initial scheme was for a four-volume series, each volume to contain several full-length chapters by different authors, all to be published by 1992. This plan was followed for Volumes 1 through 3, but as the scope of the project grew Volume 2 was divided into three physical parts, and Volume 3 into two parts. The growth of Volume 3 to have been larger than the entire series as originally conceived demonstrated how unfeasible the established format would be for what was now planned as the final three volumes, dealing with the modern period. Woodward therefore decided, after much consultation, to turn the volumes into interpretive encyclopedias.
In July 2011 it began to be made available online as PDF files.