Not another one!
January 30th, 2023
It seems so obvious now. I like history. I like geography. When you combine them — you get historical geography. So why the subject of historical geography have escaped my notice and interest and why do I have so little knowledge of it? I like old maps, I mean — I like maps full stop. The old ones, usually difficult to read and place within modern lines of borders and roadways and changed the extent of forests and cities were until recently only an aesthetic experience and of a curiosity interest. For me, maps are of utilitarian value mostly. They are supposed to tell me where are the places I want to go and the way to get them (not necessarily the shortest one of course). I remember times before the internet when maps were printed out and folded or published in atlases. I always had a huge collection of those physical maps and spend countless hours spreading them on the floor and exploring them with my finger moving along the roads and rivers, reading the names of the place out loud and fantasizing about once having the opportunity to travel and visits those places in person. Now with all the amazing online maps, there is a virtual abundance of choice and there are (I checked this right now) seven different online map providers I use regularly for my different needs for planning and entertainment, and learning.
Old maps are a different matter, although I can tell that after a realization that I have virtually no knowledge of historical geography now, I will have yet another hobby (possibly an expensive one at that) and matter of deep interest to add to my already full plate of things I read and learn about and want to be an expert on. There are books and journals and websites and beautiful albums on this subject and I already planned how I will start going and acquiring knowledge of it. And that all came from me reading original source books from the XV—XVII centuries, and not only modern compilations and historical books. Modern books already have place names of cities and towns and regions as they appear today and are easy to place with just basic knowledge of geography. Place names in many cases had changed over the centuries and what was a common name for an author writing in the XV—XVII century is now obsolete and no longer used. To understand and place in the geographical sense what I was reading about, I was holding the book in one hand and was googling the names on my phone with the other and reading footnotes or turning to back pages for annotations. And even that has not always worked — there are places where the name was changed several times or the modern placing of it is disputed. Now I feel like a new and engaging subject is opening for me and I grumpily but in truth — excitingly, welcome that.
