Symposium on Atlases, Toponymy and the History of Cartography: Proceedings of the ICC 2015 Pre-Conference

Summary

This volume presents the proceedings of the Joint Commission Symposium on Historical Maps, Atlases and Toponymy, held at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in Rio de Janeiro on 19–21 August 2015 as a pre-conference event of the 27th International Cartographic Conference. Organized by the International Cartographic Association’s commissions on the History of Cartography and Atlases and the joint ICA–IGU working group on Toponymy, the symposium brought together studies of atlas production, historical cartography, geographical names, ethnocartography, and cartographic heritage. Although Brazil constitutes the principal geographical focus, comparative material from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Romania, Switzerland, and Central Europe broadens the collection’s international scope. Several papers examine the conception and development of national, regional, electoral, and statistical atlases. They address the long-term management of the Atlas of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the representation and consolidation of Brazilian territory in the National Brazilian Atlas and the 1940 Atlas, electoral change in post-1990 Romania, and the centenary reinterpretation of Switzerland’s graphical-statistical atlas. Together, these contributions emphasize atlases as research infrastructures, historical records, instruments of territorial governance, and accessible guides to social transformation. A second thematic cluster concerns ethnicity and Indigenous mapping. Studies reconstruct the distribution of Indigenous peoples in Central Brazil between 1700 and 1900, analyze István Györffy’s ethnic maps of Central Europe, and assess participatory mapmaking in Amazonian communities. These works demonstrate how ethnocartography can recover historical spatial patterns, preserve cultural memory, strengthen territorial management, and empower Indigenous peoples, while also requiring critical attention to sources and representational practices. Further contributions investigate the field collection, certification, and GIS-based analysis of geographical names, presenting toponymy as both spatial information and intangible cultural heritage. Historical studies reassess IBGE’s institutional role in modernizing Brazilian civil cartography, propose a revised configuration of the hereditary captaincies based on newly examined boundary evidence, and reveal the importance of interinstitutional and international cooperation. The concluding study surveys the rare cartographic holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil, including editions of Ptolemy, Ortelius, Mercator, Blaeu, Portuguese manuscript atlases, maps of Brazil and overseas possessions, and French, Dutch, German, British, and American works. These materials trace the encounter with and representation of new territories, advances in printing, surveying, astronomy, geodesy, and state-sponsored mapping, as well as Brazil’s territorial formation. Overall, the proceedings show that maps, atlases, and place names are not neutral repositories of location. They are historically situated forms of knowledge that shape collective identity, political authority, cultural preservation, and understandings of social and territorial change. The volume therefore connects technical cartographic practice with historical inquiry and heritage stewardship, while highlighting libraries, statistical agencies, scholars, and local communities as key participants in producing, interpreting, and preserving geographical knowledge.