Marginalia in cARTography is a fitting tribute to David Woodward (1942–2004), Arthur
H. Robinson Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin. The exhibition curator,
Sandra Sáenz-López Pérez, was the David Woodward Memorial Fellow for 2012–2013.
Awarded annually since 2001, the fellowship has been hosted
diagnostic tools.) I am grateful to Russell Panczenko and the
by the Institute for Research in the Humanities and sustained by
Chazen staff for being so open to considering maps as art, and
generous gifts from Jan and Art Holzheimer; it has been named
for their work in realizing the exhibition.
in Woodward’s memory since 2005. Woodward was a remarkable
It was logical to seek a Woodward Fellow who could create
scholar and teacher who made several major contributions to the
such an exhibition. It was fortunate indeed that Dr. Sáenz-López
study of maps as human documents. In particular, he founded
applied. Trained as an art historian, she has extensively researched
The History of Cartography with Brian Harley (1932–1991). This
the iconography of medieval and renaissance maps. She conceived
multi-volume and award-winning series provides a definitive
of an exhibition focusing on an academically marginalized subject:
account of mapping in all societies, at all periods; it has already
the decorative marginalia found on Western maps. But approached
had a profound effect on our understanding of the nature of
from an art historical perspective, marginalia are revealed as being
maps and their history. (www.geography.wisc.edu/histcart gives
crucial for shaping each map’s meaning and defining its cultural
more information about the History and free online access to
significance. By bringing marginalia to the center of our attention,
the volumes published to date.) The Holzheimers created the
Dr. Sáenz-López demonstrates that there is much more to maps
fellowships specifically to give scholars access to the university’s
than spatial location and navigation. I am therefore most thankful
to Sandra for creating the exhibition, for writing this catalog, and
relevance to the History. Fellows have hailed from Europe, South
PROLOGUE
remarkable intellectual resources in order to study topics of
for perpetuating David Woodward’s legacy so effectively.
America, and Australasia, as well as the U.S.A.
Matthew H. Edney
Moreover, the subject of Marginalia in cARTography was
Director, History of Cartography Project
close to Woodward’s heart. An artist, he became interested in
the history of cartography as a way to understand why maps
look the way they do. He pioneered the historical study of
maps and/as/in art. His edited volume, Art and Cartography
(1987), was quickly recognized as the subject’s foundational
work. It was thus appropriate for Robert Graebner—a
Madison neurologist, clinical professor, and map aficionado—
to suggest that an exhibition of maps at the Chazen Museum
of Art would promote the History and the understanding of
maps as cultural works. (Many doctors are fascinated with
maps; in addition to their intellectual appeal, they seem to
resonate with the spatio-visual mindset fostered by many
3