The Origin of the Word 'Cartography'

Abstract

Although maps are made since antiquity, 'cartography' the word for the art of manufacturing maps and for the study of maps is only two centuries old. In 1939 the Portuguese map-historian Cortesão wrote that it was the Vicomte de Santarém who invented the word in 1839 - he based himself on a letter written by Santarém. Among map-historians this attribution ot Santarém was commonly accepted. Recent research in geographical publications of the time has shown that the word 'cartography' was commonly in use among French and German geographers since c. 1830. There are strong indications that the Danish-French geographer Conrad Malte-Brun is the inventor - he used it in 1808 (without follow-up) and again in 1825, when it found followers. In German it was picked up by Heinrich Berghaus in 1829. This article traces when the words ‘cartography’, ‘cartographer’ and the like came into being, whether their meaning was subject to change over time and how these words were dispersed. Firstly, a short overview of the words used for 'map' and 'chart' is given.