arthistoricum.net

Elector August of Saxony (1553–1586), one of the early modern prince-practitioners, was extremely interested in cartography. Not only did he further the development of sophisticated geodetic instruments, several of which he held in his courtly collections, he also conducted land surveys himself. Among the results of August’s mapping projects are six "route scrolls" – oblong maps of routes from one destination to another – which he produced in the context of his travels. While August generated the geodetic data for these maps by using his instruments, the fabrication and materiality of the scrolls were based on techniques of gluing: The maps are composed of prefabricated paper images representing landscape elements which were combined as needed and pasted onto the basic material of the scrolls. The article argues that this method of gluing should be understood as a central part of August’s efforts to technically improve mapmaking processes. Thus it is connected to his representative as well as his practical exertion of power.