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expensive items; to participate in conferences; to be a client of the 'right'
dealer, but they also need taste. Antiquarian collectors' taste is reflected in
knowledge of their artefacts, in the nature of the displayed artistic images
decorating boardroom, study or library and in their participation in IMCoS.
A clear case of social distinction, with cultural consumption and practises
marking class position (Bourdieu 1984).
6- Everyday collecting
Market research suggests that only 1% of the British population buy a map
in any year and that purchasers are almost all middle class and male (Ord-
nance Survey 2002). However mass produced everyday printed maps are
readily and cheaply available.
There are sufficiently complex patterns of variation amongst these publica-
tions to appeal to collectors. Topographic maps display complex publication
histories revealed in marginalia and print codes. However mass-produced
contemporary mapping differs significantly from antiquarian maps. The
aesthetic is hidden in the practicality of the image: contemporary topo-
graphic surveys are standardized not aesthetic, a significant change from
more artistic antiquarian images, collected for their look. Also many more
copies of current mapping are printed than was ever the case in the era of
copper-engraved production. Such maps have relatively low second-hand
values, usually less than the costs of a new edition.
In the 1970s and partly in response to inflating prices of antiquarian mate-
rial a growing number of people became interested in collecting these pro-
saic cartographic images. Specialist collecting organizations were formed
to foster knowledge of the collecting field. In the UK the Charles Close
Society for the History of the Ordnance Survey (CCS) was established in
1980, ostensibly to encourage the serious study of the history of the
national survey and its products, but in practice to meet the needs of a
growing collecting market (see Perkins 2006). Paradoxically the ubiquity
and ephemeral nature of digital mapping on the web may encourage
nostalgic collecting of the fixed published format.
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