March 30, 2025

A Response to Denil's Accusations

March 30, 2025/ Matthew Edney

Readers of the open-access journal Cartographic Perspectives will be aware of a spat I have been having with Mark Denil, who seems to have been mightily insulted by my ideas. Anyway, the latest round in the debate has appeared as a preprint for CP 106, which will appear later this year:

https://cartographicperspectives.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1981

This latest essay—“A Response to Denil (2024)”—responds to several mischaracterizations of my work, and myself, that Denil made in CP 104. In my response, I focus on Denil’s improprieties and I try not to belabor the points. I will continue to address the actual subject of dispute (being clear about our assumptions about the natures of the things we call maps) in my several outstanding writing projects. These are far more enjoyable (even the work of cutting 40% from the current book manuscript) than responding specifically to Denil’s accusations.

Mapping as Process

Mapping as Process is a space for me to explore a new approach to understanding mapping and its history. The exploration will eventually contribute to a book of the same name.

Search Mapping as Process:

The books …

Cartography in the European Enlightenment, Volume Four of The History of Cartography, edited by myself and Mary Pedley. Available from the University of Chicago Press, in print and ebook ($500).

Available from the University of Chicago Press in paperback ($30), e-book ($10–30), or cloth ($90).

Some paperback ($38) copies are still available, as well as the ebook, from the University of Chicago Press.