2009 - 2010

This month we will be featuring highlights from our collection including several wonderful new additions. The maps on display will include a 1662 Plan of the Kremlin, a three-dimensional relief map of Mont Blanc, a detailed plan of Seville from 1788, and the Map of the Peninsula of India (1800). 

Various cultures think of and express spatial representation in different ways, sometimes stretching some of our preconceived notions of what a map is. We will have images and reproductions of some of these interesting maps as well as maps showing the locations of indigenous cultures. 

The Map Library has a large collection of maps of urban areas and we actively acquire historical city maps to support research on campus. Some of the maps on display will be a 1666 map of London showing the Great Fire of that same year, the finely detailed Nolli plan of Rome (1748), a 26 sheet map of Tokyo from ca. 1849, and many other interesting maps and views of cities. 

Some maps are just plain strange; they don’t conform to our ideas of how a map should look. Some of these qualities are the result of artistic and creative impulses, others are done with the specific intention of emphasizing certain spatial characteristics. Some projections involve complex geometry and the results often express creative and beautiful images of earth including "double hearts." We will have on display Oronce Fine's 1531 heart shaped map, Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion map, and many others. 

Islands hold a special place in our psyches and imaginations; they can represent safety, isolation, or even idyllic utopia. On display was the atlas L’Isole piu Famose del Mondo (Famous Islands of the World) (1620), 17th and 18th century maps of Malta, Madagascar, and the “Spice Islands”, as well as many other rare and interesting items. 

The Map Library’s collection of maps and atlases is continually growing through purchases and generous gifts. We showed some of these new additions to the collection such as facsimile medieval world maps known as mappae mundi, early airline travel maps and brochures, and vintage roads maps as well as other beautiful maps. 

This month we showcased classic automobile road maps of the 1920's through the 1960's. The Map Library has a large collection of vintage road maps which were distributed by oil companies, state highway departments, and automobile associations. Artists were often hired to design beautiful stylized maps, map panels, and advertisements which were used to entice potential travelers into adventuring out onto the open road. Many of the maps that will be on display were received last year as part of a large and generous gift from Tom Beauvais. 

Our theme this month is "Art and Maps." Maps often contain beautiful artistic and stylistic elements that are filled with significant meaning. Mapmakers throughout the ages have used their creative expression as a means to draw the reader in. We will have many rare and modern maps on display. A stunning visual experience awaits you. 

The Map Library will feature many antique and modern planetary and celestial maps from its collection including Cellarius' stunning celestial atlas, Harmonia Macrocosmica (1708), and the 1781 edition of Flamsteed's celestial atlas. Also included are some very detailed lunar maps, maps of Mars, images from the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, as well as many other fascinating works, including the online exhibit, Divine Sky: The Artistry of Astronomical Maps.