Introduction

Introduction The four articles included in this issue of The Southeastern Geographer grew out of the Symposium on The Early Mapping of the Southeast which was presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on November 22, 1965. The unifying theme of the Symposium was the historical cartography of the Southeast of the United States from the period of earliest European exploration through the first one-holf of the nineteenth century. The study and analysis of early maps is the essence of historical cartography . It is a discipline which has long been ancillary to research in historical geography. As Professor Cumming points out in the first article, old maps "are among the most valuable historical and geographical documents." They show fact and fancy, both of which are vital to a clear understanding of the geography of the past. Facts, such as coastlines, stream patterns, vegetation cover, and settlements, are liable to change and alteration through time, so a contemporary view of them in the past is invaluable. Fancy, such as the locating of deserts, lakes, and oceans where they didn't exist in nature, provides an equally invaluable insight. In this case what we gain through the analysis of cartographic fancy such as Verrazano's identification of the Carolina Sounds with the Pacific Ocean is an insight into the motives and beliefs of those individuals who lent life and significance to the geography of the past. It should not be inferred, however, that the historical geographer of the Southeast alone profits from the study of old maps. To the contrary, all of us who are interested in this broad fascinating region of our country cannot fail to gain a deeper appreciation of it through a fuller understanding of its cartographic "portraits." Just as the study and appreciation of an individual's portrait is enhanced by knowledge concerning the painter and his genre, so our appreciation and understanding of the maps which depict the Southeast during its various stages of development is enhanced through knowledge of the colonial, state, and Federal cartographers and mapping efforts. We are introduced to an impressive array of important but often obscure maps and map makers in the articles covering these three phases in the mapping of the Southeast. Early maps represent sources of inestimable value to the observer and analyst of the current human and physical landscapes of a region. They can show zones of change as well as unchange in those landscapes. They can show which features and patterns of the present scene are relics of past periods and conditions. They can provide reasons for present patterns which have ceased to prevail. They can explain human actions not easily comprehensible in the light of present conditions. They can illustrate the process of human modification of the environment in a region. They can illustrate too the process of natural change in a region. They can sometimes indicate forgotten resources. Finally, they can help us all come a bit closer to the realization that the present is but the past flowing into the future. The symposiasts presented here are all actively engaged in serious study 2 The Southeastern Geographer and research in the field of historical cartography and three of the four are professional geographers. William P. Cumming, author of the first article, "Mapping of the Southeast: The First Two Centuries," is Professor of English at Davidson College and author of numerous articles and books on the historical cartography of the Southeast. His Southeast in Early Maps has won international recognition and praise. Louis De Vorsey, Jr., author of the second article, "The Colonial Southeast on 'An Accurate General Map'," is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Georgia and author of articles and a book dealing with the historical geography of the Southeast. Walter W. Ristow, author of the third article, "State Maps of the Southeast to 1833," is Associate Chief, Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress. Dr. Ristow has written and edited several articles and books on aspects of the historical cartography of the United States. Herman R. Friis, author of the fourth article, "Highlights of the Geographical and Cartographical...