How do I learn about historical cartographic practices? I’m interested in maps and cartography, but I don’t know much about the actual processes by which maps have been made historically. I’ve tried to do some research, but all the scholarship I find is about specific maps, not a more general look at cartographic practices in different times in history, which is what I’m really wanting.
If you speak Spanish, I can recommend you a couple of authors: my mentor Jesús Varela Marcos, and my good friend Kevin Rodríguez Wittmann. Varela is more centered on Christopher Columbus, but still is a good specialist on history of cartography, whereas a Kevin is a fantastic specialist in portolan charts.
A great resource for all things related to historical cartographic is History of Cartography by University of Chicago Press, which has a great bonus of being available freely online. There are several volumes which comprehensively cover lots of periods and lot's geographical areas. The main focus is European practice (Volume I, Volume III) but also there are articles on Asian, African even American cartographical practices (Volume II)
There are plenty of different topics, but many cover the process of map making. Like the Volume I, Chapter 19: Portolan Charts from the Late Thirteenth Century to 1500 is great for learning on how the medieval navigational maps were made. Volume III focuses on Renaissance era, but there are some great articles on the mapmaking itself, like Volume III, Chaper 19: Land Surveys, Instruments, and Practitioners in the Renaissance, or from same Volume Chapter 22. Techniques of Map Engraving, Printing, and Coloring in the European Renaissance and many others.
They are IMHO the best and easiest yet very detailed and academic overview of cartography through the ages