Chet Van Duzer: “Behold the Mapmaker: Cartographic Self-Portraits"

Arranged with the assistance of the Philip Lee Phillips Society. Sponsored in partnership with California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies.

Location: Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Room LJ-119, 85 First Street SE, Washington DC; and Zoom

Time:  7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT/5:00 pm MT/4:00 pm PT

Title: Behold the Mapmaker: Cartographic Self-Portraits

Speaker:  Chet Van Duzer, Current Recipient of Philip Lee Phillips Society Fellowship, and Board Member, The Lazarus Project at the University of Rochester

The lives of early modern cartographers are poorly documented compared with those of contemporary writers and painters, yet a source for insights into the lives of cartographers—the self-portraits that they sometimes include in their maps—is largely unexplored. These self-portraits are an important part of the social history of cartography, of how cartographers chose to present themselves; they also function as visual signatures, guarantees of quality, and expressions of pride. In this talk, Chet will examine some of the more striking and evocative cartographic self-portraits from the earliest surviving case in the fourteenth century to examples from pictorial maps of the twentieth century.

Planning to attend?   

RSVP to John Docktor at washmap@gmail.com to receive the Zoom or in-person meeting ID and passcode.