Our readers may remember the publications on Monaco by Rod Lyon, an active member of the Malta Map Society and formerly engaged as expert in ancient maps and engravings by a leading antiquarian dealer in Monte Carlo; after articles in our Newsletter No 37 (May 2010), he had produced a little book presenting the sum of his research over thirty-five years on maps of Monaco (see Newsletter No 48, January 2014).
A new edition of 'Monaco autrefois [Monaco in the past] – old maps, charts and plans of the Principality of Monaco (1640 – 1879)' has just been issued: hardback, 88 pp. fully illustrated in colour, with more maps and expanded texts.
Its larger format (A4) makes it an attractive book to view reproductions of all the maps in the book.
The book can be ordered (at EUR 50.00) from the author: Rod Lyon, 28 Triq is Sikka, Bahar-ic-Caghaq, Naxxar, Malta GC (28triqsikka@gmail.com).
It is a tradition in Brussels: the Royal Palace opens its doors to the public, every summer. Visitors have access to certain rooms of the palace, and to exhibitions taking place there for the occasion.
This year one of them is about cartography and displays a number of old maps (none are very ancient) and related objects and instruments, illustrating the place and use of cartography in our world (see http://www.cartographiae.be which gives the contents, with commentaries, of the cartographic exhibits).
Wulf Bodenstein, who is not only the founder of our Circle but also (benevolent) curator of the historical map collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, provided the three items from the Museum plus texts. He was duly rewarded by the privilege of a toast in royal company at the vernissage of the exhibition on National Day (21 July)!
Our friend Francis Herbert turned 75 this past 25 July. He participated in the inaugural meeting of the then BIMCC (31 March 1998) when he was still Curator of Maps at the Royal Geographical Society and he has been a regular Speaker and participant in our many events since then, including the recent excursion to Rome last April.
He has engaged himself 100% as a member of the editorial committee of this magazine since last year and is a solid supporter of our Circle. As you know, he is a living carto-bibliographical encyclopedia, a unique species in the map world. And he is relentlessly helping everybody around the world who comes up with an interesting question to fill their knowledge gaps, large and small.
He received the IMCoS Helen Wallis Award in 1995, quoted as 'probably the most helpful map librarian in the world'. By that time he had compiled the Imago Mundi bibliography for 20 years – an immense piece of work, if you have ever gone into it.
Emilio Moreschi, President of the Associazione 'Roberto Almagià' is glad to inform that the exhibition is extended to 25 September 2016, confirming the maps loans.
The new issue of e-Perimetron, the international web journal on sciences and technologies affined to history of cartography and maps, is now on-line: e-Perimetron, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2016). URI: http://www.e-perimetron.org/Vol11_2.htm
e-Perimetron, Vol. 11, No. 1 on-line
The new issue of e-Perimetron, the international web journal on sciences and technologies affined to history of cartography and maps, is now on-line: e-Perimetron, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2016).
URI: http://www.e-perimetron.org/Vol11_1.htm
Claire passed away on Sunday 20 March 2016.
Born near Mons in 1931, she read history of Arts at the ULB (Free University of Brussels). Her first employments were in this domain, among them at the City Museum of Brussels, and so were her first publications. Getting to know Antoine De Smet, then Head of the Map Room of the Royal Library, she fell under the spell of old maps and their history. This became her field of research and she grew to be the most important author for the history of cartography in Belgium. She got her PhD, summa cum laudae, in 1984 with a voluminous thesis on military cartography in the South Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in the 17th and 18th centuries. As Claire was an expert draughtswoman, she drawn several explanatory maps to the text. This work, somewhat simplified, became the first book of her trilogy on the history of military cartography, all published between 1984 and 1997 by the Royal Army Museum.
They cover: the service and the cartography in the South Netherlands, the cartography of the Belgian territory between 1780 and 1830, the map of Belgium and the Military Cartographic Institute. These much consulted works were not her only publications.
In collaboration, she wrote among others about Comines-Warneton, the fortifications of Mons, Belgian cartography in Spanish collections and several articles. Her contribution to the 2007 exhibition and book devoted to 'Images de Mons en Hainaut' were reviewed in BIMCC Newsletter No 27. Claire participated in a number of events of this Circle, in particular in the excursions to Bitburg (2005) and Middelburg (2010).
Claire’s keen intelligence, her capacity for pinpointing documents in archives gave birth to books that are a great help for the history of cartography. We are in debt to her for her pains-taking research and publications.
She will be sorely missed by her numerous friends.
By Lisette Danckaert
