{"id":1788807,"date":"2020-05-04T12:27:55","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T16:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1788807"},"modified":"2020-05-04T12:27:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T16:27:55","slug":"with-savage-pictures-fill-their-gaps-chet-van-duzer-on-horror-vacui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/05\/with-savage-pictures-fill-their-gaps-chet-van-duzer-on-horror-vacui\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;With Savage Pictures Fill Their Gaps&#8217;: Chet Van Duzer on Horror Vacui"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chet Van Duzer on Cartographers&#039; Fear of Blank Spaces: &quot;With Savage Pictures Fill Their Gaps&quot;\" width=\"760\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Dg5UUGzossI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Chet Van Duzer\u2019s presentation about the lack of empty spaces on old maps\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/horror-vacui-the-fear-of-blank-spaces\/\">horror vacui<\/a>\u2014at the November 2017 meeting of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorkmapsociety.org\">New York Map Society<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Dg5UUGzossI\">has now been uploaded to YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019ve said before, the subject of empty spaces on maps is of considerable interest to my own research on fantasy maps: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/publications\/here-be-blank-spaces-vaguely-medieval-fantasy-maps\/\">fantasy maps tend to be full of empty spaces<\/a> not germane to the story, whereas real-world maps were covered in cartouches, sea monsters, and ribbons of text. As a result I\u2019m very interested in what Van Duzer has to say about the subject, and have been looking for something exactly like this recorded talk for some time.<\/p>\n<p>I wasn\u2019t disappointed. Van Duzer lays out, with some particularly over the top examples, how empty spaces on maps were\u00a0<em>consumed<\/em> (his term) by text, ships, sea monsters and other embellishments that were designed for that very purpose. Some of those embellishments were absolutely enormous, others curiously redundant: a single map does not need four identical scales or a dozen or more compass roses, for example. \u201cEverything we\u2019re seeing here was a <em>choice<\/em>\u00a0on the part of the cartographer,\u201d he says at one point; \u201call this information could be disposed differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/horror-vacui-the-fear-of-blank-spaces\/\">Horror Vacui: The Fear of Blank Spaces<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chet Van Duzer\u2019s presentation about the lack of empty spaces on old maps\u2014horror vacui\u2014at the November 2017 meeting of the New York Map Society has now been uploaded to YouTube. As I\u2019ve said before, the&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/05\/with-savage-pictures-fill-their-gaps-chet-van-duzer-on-horror-vacui\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1015,312,1086,474,247,1085],"class_list":["post-1788807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-antique-maps","tag-cartouches","tag-history-of-cartography","tag-horror-vacui","tag-map-societies","tag-sea-monsters","tag-van-duzer","post_format-post-format-video"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6102,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/horror-vacui-the-fear-of-blank-spaces\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":0},"title":"Horror Vacui: The Fear of Blank Spaces","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 November 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"In an article I published in 2013, I argued that one key difference between fantasy maps and the real-world medieval and early modern maps they purport to imitate is blank spaces: fantasy maps are full of blank spaces (that which is not in the story is not on the map),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carta-marina-b-1024x733.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carta-marina-b-1024x733.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carta-marina-b-1024x733.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carta-marina-b-1024x733.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1816243,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/06\/new-books-on-early-modern-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":1},"title":"New Books on Early Modern Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 June 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"Three books that have come out or are coming out this year that deal with maps of early modern Europe: Navigations: The Portuguese Discoveries and the Renaissance by Malyn Newitt (Reaktion, 24 Apr). \u201cNavigations re-examines the Portuguese voyages of discovery by placing them in their medieval and Renaissance settings. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/navigations-newitt-100x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/navigations-newitt-100x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/navigations-newitt-100x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/navigations-newitt-100x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/navigations-newitt-100x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5586,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/06\/review-sea-monsters-on-medieval-and-renaissance-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":2},"title":"Review: Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 June 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Chet Van Duzer\u2019s Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps does what it says on the tin: you really will find out more than you ever wanted to about the sea monsters that appeared on medieval and renaissance maps. (Van Duzer defines them as anything that a contemporary reader would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/sea-monsters-maps-283x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1785135,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/van-duzer-assesses-urbano-montes-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":3},"title":"Van Duzer Assesses Urbano Monte&#8217;s Work","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"More on Urbano Monte's 1587 world map, a copy of which the Rumsey Collection acquired last year (see previous entry). Chet Van Duzer presented his findings on the map and the mapmaker at Stanford last month,\u00a0LiveScience reports. His conclusion? Monte was \"both a mastermind and a copycat\"\u2014and not a very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/urbano-monte-1024x1024.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4719,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/08\/barry-lawrence-ruderman-conference-on-cartography\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":4},"title":"Barry Lawrence Ruderman Conference on Cartography","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"29 August 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"The Barry Lawrence Ruderman Conference on Cartography takes place from 19 to 21 October 2017 at the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford University. Speakers\u00a0include a number of graduate students\u2014the conference's focus is on emerging scholars\u2014as well as\u00a0Connectography author Parag Khanna, who's giving the keynote, and Chet Van Duzer, who's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1837820,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/03\/multispectral-imaging-comes-to-a-15th-century-mappamundi\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788807,"position":5},"title":"Multispectral Imaging Comes to a 15th-Century Mappamundi","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"12 March 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"The University of Wisconsin\u2013Milwaukee is bringing in the Lazarus Project to carry out multispectral imaging on a 1452 mappamundi by Giovanni Leardo. This is the oldest map in the collection of the American Geographical Society Library, which is housed at UWM. The Lazarus Project is a portable laboratory that brings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/leardo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788807"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788809,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788807\/revisions\/1788809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}