Jordana Dym: The Mapping Traveler: A Woman´s Perspective?

As map makers, circulators, and consumers, travelers have increasingly become subjects of interest to map
historians. This is not surprising because maps have been important to travelers for centuries, as forms of
inspiration, support, and documentation. Perhaps as importantly, digitization of many travelers’ manuscript
diaries, maps, and correspondence as well as published narratives has opened new lines of inquiry as well as
expanded access to materials beyond physical collections through online portals. This presentation considers
the map making and use of a select group of footloose eighteenth- to early twentieth-century women travelers,
primarily from Europe and North America, as well as the maps published to accompany their travel narratives. It
explores patterns of experience and representations in their work and in dialogue with that of male peers and
travel companions.