 |
| Earth and Environmental Science |
| Faculty |
| Faculty | ||
|
Robert S. Harrison Professor of Geography, Department of Earth and
Environmental Science Interests include cultural and historical geography and the regional geography of England and Wales, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Mediterranean. Dr. Harrison is currently engaged in a study of the historical geography of Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries. The project involves the overlapping areas of geography, history and literature, the aim being to evaluate William Camden's "Britannia" as source material for the geography of England and Wales during that period.
William Camden (1551-1623) was a contemporary of Shakespeare, and is variously known as an English historian, antiquarian, chorographer or geographer. His major work, "Britannia," first published in London in 1586, went through many editions, the earliest ones in Latin. The edition presently being studied is the English translation made by Edmund Gibson and published in 1695. This edition is useful in that Gibson makes his own additions to Camden's text,thus providing information for both the 16th century and the 17th century. The main object of Camden's "Britannia" was to provide an appreciation of the land and ancient monuments of the Britons. But the book also provides a survey of the regions, places and features of Britain; county by county, Camden describes the natural environments and landscapes, the towns and cities and countrysides, agriculture and industries, etc. The book also includes a series of county maps produced (in the Gibson edition) by the cartographer Robert Morden. The study in progress consists of a detailed examination of the geographical content of the text. County by county, information will be collected on the physical and human geography of England and Wales. The geography of these areas in Camden's time will then be compared with that of later periods. Important changes will certainly be revealed, such as the decline of some towns and the appearance of others; the phenomenal expansion of London; the development of industial regions; changes in agricultural systems and changes in farm field patterns; and changes in population distribution. Attention will also be given to the changing pattern of human impacts on the natural environment. Already in Camden's time there was the realisation that the need for charcoal for iron-making was leading to deforestation in certain regions. A comparison of the maps with modern maps will also reveal environmental changes in coastal areas due to deposition and erosion. The study involves the transposition of the geographical method back to a previous historical period, and Camden's "Britannia" must contribute an important piece of documentation. On the other hand, it will have to be borne in mind that the picture provided in one source by one author must to some extent be a subjective one; it will also have to be recognised that material which might interest a modern geographer would perhaps have been omitted because it seemed unimportant or irrelevant to a writer in the 16th century. For further information, write or call:Dr. Robert S. Harrison |
||
| Long Island University | C.W. Post Campus |