Do any standard reference works in Geography have an explicit discussion of the concept of ‘earth’? I don’t mean Earth as the planet, but earth as element, ground, soil, land, etc.? There is no entry in The Dictionary of Human Geography – I’ve checked the fourth and fifth editions, but I doubt there was one earlier which was removed; there is no entry in the massive International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, in the new Oxford Dictionary  of Human Geography or the older Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography.

Now obviously all of those have entries on things that relate to the concept of earth, but it’s interesting that there isn’t an explicit reference to it, although of course most entries on geography itself note that it means earth-writing. I’ve gone through a number of standard reference points, and not turned up anything. I know there is a huge literature that relates to this topic, but I’m looking for texts that take it as a starting point in an introductory analysis. Any suggestions would be appreciated.