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Glossary

GLOSSARY of terms commonly used with antique maps and prints and their display.

Cartographer, artist, designer, draughtsman, composer of the work: Indicated by delineavit, del., delin., descripsit, descript., invenit, auctore, composuit.

Engraver: Indicated by engrav., engr., sculpsit, sculp., sc., sec., fecit., fec., incidente, incidit,

Printer or publisher: Indicated by excudit., excud., exc., ex officina, formis, lith., sumptibus.

Proof: a print taken from a plate before an engraving is approved for publication.
State: the various stages of alterations to a plate.
Impression: a single print produced from a plate.
Edition: the actual published impression from a plate.
Re-issue: a later publication from a previously published plate.
Restrike: a modern impression taken from the original plate, usually also coloured in the style of the original publication date.
Reproduction: a copy of an original print that is usually photomechanically produced.

Backed: the image has been pasted or glued onto another material, such as cloth or a paper-based material, to make the map stronger and more durable. Many large maps or working maps were backed with cloth when issued. (Maps are now sometimes backed for conservation purposes, usually with a thin archival paper product. When this is done, archival quality paste and backing material should be used to prevent chemical deterioration of the image base paper. Backing should only be used if absolutely necessary.)
Bird's-Eye View: a realistic view from an aerial vantage point.
Border: the printed area surrounding the edge of an image, usually a line or series of lines, sometimes incorporating scrollwork, geometric design or decorative panel with figures or views
Centrefold: Many large images have been folded to fit into the size of the book or atlas for which they were published. Frequently, this centrefold was glued to a strip of paper to prevent further damage to the fold within the publication.
Colouring: Earliest illustrations were published in black and white. Watercolour was added by hand to embellish many important works - perhaps for the cartouche of a map to be presentated to the person who had funded the voyage of discovery depicted. Later, a more economical method of printing in colour was devised.
Contemporary Colour: indicating the colour has been added at the time of publication. This is always preferable to modern colour. The earliest colouring, composed of natural ochres, can sometimes by detected on the reserve of an image by colour oxidation through the paper. Colour of natural history subjects was usually contemporary. Views on the other hand were usually published in black and white. The decorative quality of maps and prints is greatly enhanced, even when colour is added later, as long as the "later" colouring is sympathetic to the style of the image.
Conservation framing: a readily reversible framing method that protects and preserves valuable art from the natural ageing process.
Deckle-edge: a desirable characteristic of hand-made paper, this rough edge has often been trimmed off during binding or publication.
Dissected: cutting of a large image into rectangle sections (often for a working map), and gluing it onto cloth, to assist folding for ease of transportation and storage.
Foxing: spots, usually brown, caused by mould, resulting from damp conditions. Exposure to dust, and soiling from poor handling, also contribute to foxing.
Imprint: information printed on a map or print to give an indication of the work's artist, engraver or lithographer, publisher, place of publication or date of publication.
Inset: a small image within the border of a larger image, and usually surrounded by a separating line.
Intaglio: a plate mark or "intaglio" impression, created by the edges of an engraved plate under pressure for printing.
Laid down, or Lined: (see backed) sometimes done to provide stability when a work is damaged, or for framing, in which case only conservation materials should be used.
Loss of printed surface: a portion of a map or print is missing, usually through damage. Lost image is sometimes restored by pasting paper and drawing the missing design.
Manuscript: hand-written notations or whole maps or other illustrations drawn by hand.
Margin: a wide margin is the desirable blank area outside the border of a map or print.
Medallion: a circular or oval bordered illustration usually containing a portrait or symbol of importance to the subject depicted.
Medium: the substance (e.g. oil or watercolour paint) used to create the work of art.
Offsetting: when an image is pressed against another surface over a period of years, as in a book which is stored tightly in a bookcase, the printer's ink is sometimes transferred onto the adjacent surface, producing a mirror image.
Original map or original print: a map or print published from the original engraved plate or block.
Panorama: a realistic, usually wide-angled view from a point at ground level.
Plate Mark: (see intaglio impression) produced on printing surface from pressure of the external edge of an engraved plate.
Printer's Crease: a permanent flat wrinkle caused by compression of the printing surface during publication.
Rag Paper: conservation-standard paper made from cloth fibres, as opposed to wood pulp.
Remargined: the addition of paper to extend the edges, usually beyond the borders, to protect the border edge of an image - or to facilitate being held behind mount or passepartout for framing.
Separately published or separately issued: a map or print published separate from a book, atlas or journal, usually intended for separate sale or circulation. Without protection, these were more vulnerable to deterioration.
Showthrough: text or image on the reverse of printed paper that is visible from the front (particularly occurs with thin hand-made paper or heavy ink printing).
Verso: the rear or reverse side of the paper from the image, frequently containing text.
Watermark: a design created in paper when manufactured, as a brand for identity. Created in hand-made paper by wires bent into the desired maker's pattern being placed on the rack prior to the deposit of the fibres for the construction of the paper, it is helpful in identifying the date of paper, but is not infallible as some paper survived in publishing houses long after the date of manufacture.
Worming, wormholes, worm tracks: eating of holes or lines in paper by insect larvae.

Framing Display of artwork may involve the following additional terminology:

Acid Free Paper: paper or paperboard product in which the acidic content of the fibres, used to form the paper, has been neutralised. Paper made with cotton fibres is acid-free; paper made with wood pulp is not. (rag mat & rag board are cotton-based.)
Centre line: horizontal line halfway between the top and bottom of a work of art, or of a group arrangement - usually considered the focal point. An off-centre focal point can be created by re-adjusting the centre line in a horizontal direction, by the use of stronger images at the new level.
Glazing: a protective layer of transparent glass (these days available with ultra-violet screening) or plastic/acrylic sheets, in front of an image, usually held in place by a frame.
Moulding the material of the frame, usually used with wood description for surrounding support.
Mount (sometimes Matt or Mat, or in Europe Passepartout): a protective housing for a flat work of art, usually a plate of cardboard, comprising a support base (backboard) to which the artwork is fixed and a window mat through which the work can be seen.
Ultraviolet light / UV light: certain rays of extremely short wavelength lying beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum. UV rays from direct sunlight and also produced by fluorescent light tubes, can be extremely damaging to artwork. (U/V glazing products are now available to prevent this.)
Shadowbox: a frame deep enough for 3-dimensional materials: moulding of wood or metal, attached to backboard, with mount supporting material and glazing for atmospheric protection.
Eye level: The horizontal line directly in front of a person, where the person's view focuses easily. Actually about 6 inches lower than an average person's eye level.

In addition to the terms covered in the Reference Library of art-emporium.com Glossary of frequently used terms with maps and charts:

Carta Marina: Usually rhumb lines feature across oceans, on sixteenth century world maps.
Cartouche: The title of the map and description of the subject matter, the cartographer and his rank, the patron or royal personage for whom the chart was prepared, and the date of either the voyage described or the publication of the map were all enclosed within a border. By tradition, the more important or elegant the map, the more elaborate the information and the scrollwork or decorative border around the information.
Compass Rose or Wind Rose: A star-shape from which rhumb lines often radiate. North is traditionally indicated by the longer pointer on the star.
Composite Atlas: An atlas compiled by a publisher from a collection of miscellaneous maps by different mapmakers.
Gore: A section of a globe printed on paper, intended to be cut out and pasted together to form a spherical shape, - usually elongated.
Loxodromic Lines or Rhumb Lines: Lines criss-crossing old charts at various angles, usually along the compass directions, to assist in plotting navigational courses.
Outline Colour: Colouring of the coastlines, and sometimes borders and boundaries as well.
Panels: Rectangular frames enclosing views or figures around the edge of the map or chart they illustrate.
Periplus: A text of sailing directions used in classical times.
Portolan or Portolan Chart: Sea chart prepared for mariners from around the fourteenth century through to the sixteenth century. A manuscript, drawn by hand, they were usually of animal skin to increase durability.