Evelyn Edson (born November 28, 1940, in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

) is an author,

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, and professor emerita of history. She is known for her three books on the history of cartography.

Biography

She graduated in 1962 with a B.A. from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

. From 1962 to 1964 she taught at Poughkeepsie's Oakwood Friends School and then matriculated as a graduate student at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. There she graduated in 1965 with an M.A. and in 1972 with a Ph.D. From 1966 to 1969 she worked at the University of Chicago as a lecturer in western civilization. At

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university enrolls arou ...

she was from 1970 to 1971 a visiting assistant professor and from 1971 to 1972 an associate dean in continuing education. She was a professor at

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

's Piedmont Virginia Community College from 1972 to 2006, when she retired as professor emerita. Edson was from 1986 to 1988 a member of the advisory board for

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

's western tradition telecourse. In 1999 in England, she spent six months as a Fellow of the Senior Common Room at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, where she was sponsored by Sarah Bendall. In November 1999 Edson was appointed to the advisory council of the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. From 2000 to 2004 she was a council member of the National Council on the Humanities. Natalia Lozovsky favorably reviewed Edson's 1999 book ''Mapping Time and Space: How Medieval Mapmakers Viewed Their World'', which describe mapmaking in western Europe from the 8th century to the late 13th century. Edson's 2004 book ''Medieval Views of the Cosmos'', coauthored by Emilie Savage-Smith, is a valuable overview of comparative cartography for medieval maps created in the distinct traditions of Christianity and Islam. Edson's 2007 book ''The World Map, 1300–1492'' describes the work of the Italian cartographers of the 14th and 15th centuries and how these cartographers were influenced by the writings of

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

Odoric of Pordenone Odoric of Pordenone (c. 1280–14 January 1331) was a Franciscan friar and missionary explorer from Friuli in northeast Italy. He journeyed through India, Sumatra, Java, and China, where he spent three years in the imperial capital of Khanbaliq ...

, and Sir

John Mandeville ''The Travels of Sir John Mandeville'', commonly known as ''Mandeville's Travels'', is a book written between 1357 and 1371 that purports to be the Travel literature, travelogue of an Englishman named Sir John Mandeville across the Near East as ...

. In August 1976 in

, she married Andrew "Andy" Austin Wilson. They have a daughter and a son.

Selected publications

Articles

* * * *

Books

* * with Emilie Savage-Smith, *

References

External links

* * (photograph by Joel Sternfeld) {{DEFAULTSORT:Edson, Evelyn 1940 births Living people 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians American women historians Swarthmore College alumni University of Chicago alumni American medievalists Women medievalists