MAPS, MAN, MAPS!

d and i are watching map man, presented by nicholas crane. it's a pretty fun programme so far. the first episode is set in scotland, following the maps of william roy, and the second is a journey across the pennines using one of john ogilby's 'britannia' road maps. nicholas crane himself is delightfully nerdy, and gleefully enthusiastic about finding old roads, looking at stunning views, and stomping in as many puddles as he possible can. if he wasn't so appallingly FIT and HEALTHY-seeming, with an unnatural love of being COLD and WET, and a propensity to camp in inhospitable climes i would make him elope with me.



i am really interested in the evolution of maps from glorified itineraries (all the towns and rivers in order, but not to any real scale, as in the maps of matthew paris) to strip maps (like ogilby's), the different kinds of paths that made that evolution possible, and the different kinds of travel they encouraged.