IMPRESSION A
single copy of a map. For example, if 1,000 copies
of a map are printed, there will be, at that time,
1,000 impressions. By this definition, expressions
like "second impression" are meaningless, since at
this late date, one cannot know the order in which
copies were printed. Occasionally, however, it is
possible to distinguish between early and late impressions
of copper engravings. Copper is soft, and tends to
wear. Therefore early impressions tend to be darker,
and sometimes-faint lettering guidelines used by the
engraver are visible on impressions made early in
the plate's life.
IMPRINT Information
printed on a map giving some combination of the publisher,
place of publication, or date of publication.
INCUNABULA,
INCUNABLE Terms used
to describe books printed prior to 1500 AD, and also
to maps printed before that time.
INSET
MAP A
smaller map within the border of a larger map.
ISSUE All
impressions printed at one time without alteration
of the plate belong to the same issue. Thus, if two
impressions are different states, the plate has been
altered and they cannot belong to the same issue.
However, an unaltered plate might have been used several
times over a period years. In that case, the several
issues would all be of the same state. Issues can
sometimes be distinguished by the watermark, since
different paper might have been used for each issue.
For maps from atlases, different issues can often
be distinguished by the text on the verso.
LAFRERI
ATLAS A term used
to describe 16th-century Italian composite atlases
of printed maps. These were apparently often made
to order, and contents vary from atlas to atlas.
LAFRERI
MAP, MAP OF THE LAFRERI SCHOOL Terms
often applied to Italian maps of the 16th-century,
particularly those issued separately or in composite
atlases.
LAID
DOWN See
backed.
LAID
LINES Part
of the visible impression left by the wire grid used
in the fabrication of laid paper. The laid lines are
the finely spaced lines running parallel to the long
dimension of the original sheet. There are typically
25 lines per inch (10 lines per cm.). See also chain
marks and laid paper.
LAID
PAPER Handmade
paper made by depositing cloth fibers suspended in
water onto a wire grid. The grid leaves an impression
on the paper, which may be seen when looking though
the paper at a bright light. Most maps before
about 1800 are printed on laid paper. See also chain
marks, laid lines, and wove paper.
LEO
BELGICUS A
species of map depicting the low countries in the
form of a lion.
LINED See
backed.
LITHOGRAPHY
A form of printing first used
for maps early in the 19th-century. The image is printed
from a stone or other material on which ink adheres
only to specially treated areas.
LOSS
OF (PRINTED) SURFACE A
cataloger's term to describe a map in which a portion
of the paper is missing. Sometimes maps lacking printed
surface are restored by pasting paper at the missing
area on which the design is reproduced in facsimile.
LOXODROMIC
LINES
See rhumb lines.
MANUSCRIPT Handwriting.
A manuscript map is one drawn by hand. Manuscript
notations are handwritten notes on a map.
MARGIN The
blank area outside the border of a map. Do not confuse
margin with border.
MEDALLION A
circular or oval region, usually containing a portrait,
sometimes used to embellish maps.
MOUNTED See
backed.
NEAT
LINES The straight,
printed lines bounding the map.
OCTAVO An
octavo book is bound from sheets of paper folded in
half three times. A map from such a book is sometimes
said to be octavo-sized. Typically the vertical paper
dimension of such a map is about 8 to 9 inches (20
to 23 cm.). Abbreviated 8vo.
OFFSETTING When
the surface of a map contacts another surface for
many years, as in an atlas, there may be a transfer
of printer's ink or color, or a chemical reaction,
which faintly reproduces a mirror image of the other
surface. Offsetting can even occur from one part of
a map to another if the map is folded on itself.
ORIGINAL An
original is a map or view printed from the original
plate, block, or stone before it has been retired
from commercial use. Sometimes the last user does
not destroy the plate or block, and it is later used
to make restrikes.
OUTLINE
COLOR Coloring
of only the boundaries, borders, or coastlines.
PANELS Usually
rectangular frames around the outside of a map enclosing
views, scenes, or figures.
PERIPLUS A
text of sailing directions used in classical times.
PLATE Strictly
speaking, the plate is the object from which impressions
are made. Sometimes the plate becomes worn or damaged,
and is replaced with a second plate. Impressions from
the second plate are sometimes referred to
as something like "2nd Plate."
PLATE
MARK Impressions
made from metal plates often show an indentation of
the paper extending to just outside the printed area,
made when the paper was crushed by the plate during
printing.
POCKET
MAP A
map that is intended to be folded so that it can be
easily carried in a pocket or purse and referred to
in the field. These maps are often issued with covers,
a slipcase, and supplementary information such as
an index.
PORTOLANO,
PORTOLAN CHART A
manuscript sea chart prepared for the use of mariners
from about the 14th through the 16th-centuries.
PRINTERS
CREASE When
a map is printed, a small wrinkle in the paper may
become pressed to form a permanent crease.
QUARTO A
quarto book is bound from sheets of paper folded in
half twice. A map from such a book is sometimes said
to be quarto-sized. Typically the vertical paper dimension
of such a map is about 9 to 11 inches (23 to 28 cm.).
Abbreviated 4to.
RAG
PAPER Paper
made from cloth fibers.
RECTO The
side of the paper on which the image of interest appears.
Also, the right-hand page of an open book.
REMARGINED A
remargined print has had paper added to the edges
to extend them, protecting the original edges, and
improving the appearance.
REPRODUCTION A
copy, usually photographically produced, of an original
print. The reproduction may in some cases be difficult
to distinguish from the original.
RESTRIKE A
map or view printed from the original plate, block,
or stone, after the plate, block, or stone had fallen
into disuse. The collector of maps will seldom, if
ever, encounter restrikes since few plates or blocks
have survived.
RHUMB
LINES Lines
crisscrossing old charts at various angles, usually
along the directions of the compass points, to help
plot courses.
ROCOCO A
style of ornamentation evolving from the baroque in
early 18th-century France distinguished by refined
use of scrollwork, seashells, foliage and so on. Rococo-style
cartouches are often found on maps of the 18th- century.
SEPARATELY
PUBLISHED, SEPARATELY ISSUED A
separately published map is one not issued as part
of a book or atlas. Sometimes maps usually found in
atlases were also separately sold to customers who
did not need an entire atlas. Separately issued maps
tend to be in poor condition since they were not protected
inside a book.
STATE All
impressions printed from a given plate, without deliberate
alteration of that plate, belong to the same state.
If the plate is altered, for example, by adding a
new place name or changing the date, impressions from
that plate constitute a new state. Some maps have
a dozen or more states. States are usually numbered
serially. However, "intermediate" states often turn
up later. When giving a state number, one should specify
who numbered the states, since different authorities
often have different numbering. If a new plate was
cut, the state numbering may start anew, as in "first
state of the second plate."
VERSO The
reverse or opposite side of the sheet from the image
of interest. Many maps from atlases have text on the
verso. Also the left-hand page of an open book.
VOLVELLE A
contrivance with moving parts for making certain astronomical
calculations, sometimes made of paper and found in
old geographical works.
WALL
MAP A large
map, typically four or five feet (1.5 m.) on a side,
with a top rail and a roller, designed to be displayed
on a wall. Many are very decorative. Because wall
maps are easily soiled and damaged, many were discarded,
and examples of early wall maps are quite scarce and
often in bad condition.
WATERMARK A
design in the paper visible by transmitted light.
For handmade paper, the watermark is made with bent
wires placed on the rack on which the fibers are deposited
to make the paper. Designs vary from simple initials
to intricate coats of arms. Watermarks are often helpful
in identifying the age of the paper. See chain
marks.
WOODCUT An
image made by printing from a wooden block on which
a mirror image of the design has been carved. Woodcut
maps are most often associated with the earliest days
of map-making, up to about 1600, but many examples
are found well into the 18th-century and later, often
as text illustrations.
WOOD
ENGRAVING Similar
to a woodcut, but the design is engraved on the end
grain, resulting in better detail and a somewhat more
uniform appearance. Since the size of exposed end
grain is limited by the diameter of the tree trunk,
it was usually more economical to cut the design on
small squares, which can be glued together for final
printing. The joint lines are often visible.
WORMING,
WORMHOLES, WORM TRACKS Damage
to paper by hungry insect larvae that eat the paper,
leaving small holes or tracks.
WOVE
PAPER Machine-made
paper deposited during manufacture on a fine
wire screen having about the same mesh size as gauze.
The impression left by the screen can often be seen
by holding the paper to the light. Wove paper came
into use around 1800, and is often watermarked with
the maker's name.
