A Map of Early U.S. Politics

Following up on an earlier LT discussion about how maps can be used to describe complex, non-geographic topics: An interesting blog, Mapping the Nation has reproduced a very map-like timeline of American political history from 1776 through Reconstruction. The chart not only illustrates the political parties and presidents during the period, but also the chief justices of the Supreme Court, the leaders of Congress, and a general legislative history of the federal government.

The page on which it appears is maintained by Susan Schulten, who teaches at the University of Denver. In addition to this image, her blog includes a nice collection of rare documents relating to the westward expansion of the United States, and also to the geography and politics of American slavery.

A Subway Map of French Wines

c. Dr. David Gissen

A clever idea.  I think that the use of maps to depict the spatial relationships by which we organize complex, non-spatial concepts is still vastly under-explored.  This is especially true in light of the tedious nature of linear narratives that seek to explain complex relationships among multiple subjects.  A lot of legal concepts, for example, could probably be better explained with maps than by treatises, but the tyranny of the printing press goes on.

This map, showing French wine regions and their signature grape varietals as stops along a series of fictitious subway routes, bridges an attempt to map what are primarily nominal relationships with the more traditional subject matter of cartography.  Typically, the sample JPEG from the publisher is very reduced: You would have to purchase the full-sized print to enjoy most of its details.