Map was clerk of the royal household and justice itinerant; in 1179 he was present at the Lateran council at Rome, on his way thither being entertained by the count of Champagne; at this time he apparently held a plurality of ecclesiastical benefices, being a prebend of St. Paul's, canon and precentor of Lincoln and parson of Westbury, Gloucestershire. There seems to be no record of his ordination, but as he was a candidate for the see of Here ford in 1199 it is most probable that he was in priest's orders. The last reference to him, as living, is in 1208, when an order for payment to him is on record, but Giraldus Cambrensis, in the second edition of his Hibernica, redacted in 1210, utters a prayer for his soul, "cujus animae propitietur Deus," a proof that he was no longer alive.
The special interest of Map lies in the perplexing question of his relation to the Arthurian legend and literature. (See ARTHURIAN LEGEND.) To him have been attributed the Lancelot proper, the Mort Artus and the Queste. He is constantly referred to as an authority. It seems unlikely that a busy court official could have written the long prose romances attributed to him. But he seems to have been the man who linked up the Arthur legend proper to the cycle of the Holy Grail. His undoubted work is the De nugis curialium, and he is reputed to be the author of various witty goliardic verses. Taking all the evidence into consideration it seems more probable that Map had, at a comparatively early date, before he became so important an official, composed a poem on the subject of Lancelot, which was the direct source of the German version, and which Chretien also knew and followed.
The form in which certain of the references to him are couched favours the above view ; the compiler of Guiron le Cortois says in his prologue that "maistre Gautier Map qui fu clers au roi Henry—devisa cil l'estoire de monseigneur Lancelot du Lac, que d'autre chose ne parla it mie gramment en son livre", and in an other place he refers to Map, "qui fit lou propre livre de mon soingnour Lancelot dou Lac." Now only, during the early part of his career could Map fairly be ref erred to as simple "clers au roi Henry," and both extracts emphasize the fact that his work dealt, almost exclusively, with Lancelot. Neither of these pas sages would fit the prose romance, as we know it, but both might well suit the lost French source of the Lanzelet; where we are in a position to compare the German versions of French romances with their originals we find, as a rule, that the translators have followed their source faithfully.
See art. "Map" in Diet. Nat. Biog. De nugis curialium and the Latin Poems attributed to 4/lap have been edited for the Camden Society by T. Wright (1841). For discussion of his authorship of the Lancelot cf. The Three Days' Tournament, Grimm Library XV. See also under LANCELOT. The passages relating to Map cited above have been frequently quoted by scholars, e.g., Hucher, Le Grand Saint Graal; Paulin Paris, Romans de la Table Ronde; Alfred Nutt, Studies in the Legend of the Holy Grail. (J. L. W.) MAP, a representation, on a plane and a reduced scale, of part or the whole of the earth's surface. If specially designed to meet the requirements of seamen it is called a chart, if on an ex ceptionally large scale a plan. A collection of maps is called an atlas, after the figure of Atlas, the Titan, supporting the heavens.
Classification of Maps.—Maps differ greatly, not only as to the scale on which they are drawn, but also with respect to the fullness or the character of the information which they convey. Broadly speaking, they may be divided into two classes, of which the first includes topographical and general maps, the second the great variety designed for special purposes.
Topographical maps and plans are drawn on a scale sufficiently large to show most objects on a scale true to nature.
General maps are either reduced from topographical maps or compiled from such miscellaneous sources as are available. In the former case the cartographer is merely called upon to reduce and generalize the information given by his originals. In the latter case no surveys are available, and the map has to be compiled from a variety of sources. These materials generally include reconnaissance survey of small districts, route surveys and astro nomical observations supplied by travellers, and information from native sources. The compiler, in combining these materials, is called upon to examine the various sources of information, and to form an estimate of their value, which he can only do if he have himself some knowledge of surveying and of the methods of determining positions by astronomical observation. A knowledge of the languages of the written accounts and even of native languages, is almost indispensable. Frequently the explorer him self, or the draughtsman employed by him fails to introduce into his map the whole of the information available. Latitudes from the observations of old-time travellers may generally be trusted, but their longitudes should be accepted with caution.