Join us on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. for the 2023 James Ford Bell Lecture. Ricardo Padrón, Professor of Spanish at the University of Virginia presents, “Early Modern Vernacular Cartography: The Lessons of Sketch Maps.” Please register to attend the event at Elmer L. Andersen Library.
The book by Ricardo Padrón, “The Indies of the Setting Sun: How Early Modern Spain Mapped the Far East as the Transpacific West” is available for purchase online from the University of Minnesota Bookstores.
Much of the history of cartography has been devoted to maps constructed by learned people who knew what a “real map” was supposed to look like, and had the training to produce one themselves. Nevertheless, the archives are full of sketch maps drawn by cartographic amateurs, who may or may not have been familiar with more formal or elaborate types of mapmaking. This lecture explores some of the things that these “vernacular maps” have to tell us about the spatial imagination of early modern Europeans.
Ricardo Padrón is a Professor of Spanish who studies the literature and culture of the early modern Hispanic world, particularly questions of empire, space, and cartography. His recently published monograph, “The Indies of the Setting Sun: How Early Modern Spain Mapped the Far East as the Transpacific West” (Chicago 2020) examines the place of Pacific and Asia in the Spanish concept of “the Indies.” His research for this book has taken him to China, Japan, and the Philippines, and has been sponsored by UVA’s Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, Arts & Sciences at UVA, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has also published on early modern poetry and historiography, and on the mapping of imaginary worlds in modern times. Professor Padrón is an active member of the Renaissance Society of America, and is currently serving as a member of its Board of Directors. He is also serving as Director of Graduate Studies in Spanish.
What: 2023 James Ford Bell Lecture, “Early Modern Vernacular Cartography: The Lessons of Sketch Maps,” presented by Ricardo Padrón, Professor of Spanish at the University of Virginia
When: Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023 | Program begins at 7 p.m.
Where: Elmer L. Andersen Library | Parking and directions
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