What is commonly thought of as the centuries-old field of “the history of cartography” was invented after World War II through incomplete historiographies by Cornelis Koeman, Armando Cortesão, R. A. Skelton, and J. B. Harley. This monograph begins to replace those misleading historiographies with an empirically grounded analysis of the ways in which early maps have been systematically studied since the early 1800s. It offers innovative accounts of the practices and institutions of comparative map history in support of Western imperialism and nationalism, and of the historiographical reconfiguration of comparative map history as the core of “the history of cartography.” Throughout, this monograph argues that “cartography,” “the history of cartography,” and “cartobibliography” are modern idealizations that obscure actual mapping and historiographical practices. All three terms need to be abandoned.