There is little doubt that 2020 has been one of the darkest years in living memory. The advent of COVID-19 in the closing weeks of 2019 led to a pandemic of global scope that has claimed over one million lives and driven whole societies into a world of lockdown, causing disruption and distress to many millions more. The pandemic has also driven the implementation of technologies that enable online participation in meetings and events that, at least for those with the privilege of access to the Internet, provide a means with which to continue to engage with and to converse about maps.
Getting people talking is an essential requirement for the development of any discipline. Without conversation, ideas cannot fully grow and develop. This Special Issue celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Oxford Seminars in Cartography (TOSCA) and their important contribution to the diffusion and discussion of ideas associated with cartography. Its convenors, Liz Baigent and Nick Millea, are to be heartily congratulated for their commitment to TOSCA and for proposing this Special Issue, which brings to fruition an excellent selection of papers from its 25th anniversary conference on the theme of ‘Enlightening maps’ that was held in Oxford on 22nd September 2019. Their editorial explores the role of conversation among professional practitioners and with interested members of the public in the development of the discipline of the history of cartography in Britain. As they note, benefitting from the activities and expertise of curatorial staff in libraries and archives, the growing discipline has relied heavily on seminar series, and on exhibitions and the activities surrounding them, as it has developed its practices. Conversation at these events helps to forge social bonds within the discipline as well as circulating specialist information, and helps to grow a positive and supportive community – certainly one that has nurtured my own academic development and especially when contributing talks to seminar series at the Warburg Institute, London (2010), and at the Universities of Oxford (2012) and Cambridge (2020). Liz and Nick's editorial moves from considering enlightening cartographic conversation in current fora to introducing papers from the anniversary conference. After a brief consideration of Enlightenment geography and cartography, their editorial then introduces the substantive papers which comprise this Special Issue, noting in passing the role of Enlightenment conversation.
Before handing over to Liz and Nick as editors of this Special Issue, I would like to extend my thanks to all those who have contributed to The Cartographic Journal during this exceptionally challenging year. Firstly, to our authors, who chose to submit their manuscripts to the Journal and have addressed any revisions with diligence; to our reviewers, for lending their expertise so generously towards maintaining our high standards (Robert Batchelor, Lauren Beck, Dirk Burghardt, Andrew Cook, Jeremy Crampton, Dennis Edler, Matthew Edney, David Fairbairn, Carolyn Fish, Eduardo Gomes, Lukasz Halik, Bernhard Jenny, Zhilin Li, Elri Liebenberg, Eric Losang, Gregory Mcintosh, Hongping Nie, Elise Olmedo, Katherine Parker, Chris Perkins, Dusan Petrovic, Anthony Robinson, Stig Svenningsen, and others who chose to remain anonymous); to our editorial team (Peter, Gwilym and Martin) for their enduring commitment; and to the production staff at Taylor & Francis, especially Philip Burford and Andrew Kelly, for their dedication and support. As usual, this final instalment of the Volume includes the annual report of the British Cartographic Society, and, sadly more concisely for 2020, a record of its award winners.
Notes on the contributor
Alexander J. Kent is Reader in Cartography and Geographic Information Science at Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK, where he lectures on map design, GIS, remote sensing and on European and political geography. His research explores the relationship between maps and society, particularly the intercultural aspects of topographic map design and the aesthetics of cartography. He is also Chair of the ICA Commission on Topographic Mapping and formerly President of the British Cartographic Society.