Hey, all! The subject of 1800's mapmaking is kind of vital to my story as of now, and I'm afraid I can't write any further until I get the basic gist. Can anyone lend a hand?
Wikipedia can give you a good starting place for the general overviews of the topic at hand, and you can then look up more specific terms (or ask) based on the information you discover. You can usually get wikipedia articles with a google search.
The basic gist is that maps up until very recently were hand drawn. This means that in order to make a map, you had to explore the area with a bunch of scientific instruments to measure where, exactly, you were, then draw the topography based on how you had walked (if you were going uphill or down, if there were rivers near by, mountains in sight, etc), visuals, and also noting down any important markers for future travel (such as cities or recognizable geological formations).
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
@Rosendorn, thank you so much for all the instruction, and the helpful articles you posted. In addition, thank you so much for all the other stuff you not only helped me with, but everyone else on here! You're always so helpful, and just an all-around awesome person.
Also, if you're lucky, your local library may have books on how to survey land specifically for mapmaking.
If you're super lucky, they'll be ones written during the late 1800s to early 1900s.
College and university libraries are also a great place to check out if you have access to them as their practical reference sections are generally quite extensive.
