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A 'narrative map' of Champlain's discovies

• December 23. < http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=2397 > 'New Map Chronicles Champlain's 13 Years of Exploration in the St. Lawrence River Valley' (News Release from the University of Maine).
        'The nearly 40-inch by 60-inch [102 x 152 cm] bilingual map, titled "They Would Not Take Me There: People, Places, and Stories from Champlain's Travels in Canada, 1603-1616," was developed by Michael Hermann, senior cartographer att he Canadian American Center, and Margaret Pearce, assistant professor of geography at Ohio University. UMaine professor of French Raymond Pelletier, associate director of the Canadian American Center, provided translation.' The way it was made is interesting because it blurs the distinction between the history of cartography (original maps) and newly created historical maps.
        'The map, which is based on Champlain's published journals, features excerpts written by the adventurer, indigenous place names and extensive narrative details of the five locations where Champlain spent long periods of time - Tadoussac, Québec, Montréal, Morrison Island and the Penetanguishene Peninsula ... "We wanted to put Champlain in the context of the Native landscape, which included places named before he arrived," says Pearce, director of the Ohio University Cartographic Center, whose research involves indigenous cartography, and historical and cultural geography. "We wanted to somehow address the fact that typically only people with written records are included in maps. This is our way of decolonizing the map."
        'All of Champlain's travels were dependent on the knowledge, skills and technologies of the tribes that made up the Algonquin, Wendat, Wabanaki and Innu. He collected maps and stories from the Native people to inform his own published maps. His maps expanded European knowledge of the region, and were used as the basis for new European maps of North America, according to Hermann and Pearce ...
        'Because of its extensive use of stories, "They Would Not Take Me There" has been characterized as a narrative map. It also is categorized as subversive cartography because it contains numerous unconventional mapping elements ... Unlike conventional cartography in which insets are used as details of the main map, Hermann and Pearce employed sequential insets as storytelling tools. As a result, the many insets used on the Champlain map not only are at different scales and orientations, they also introduce what Hermann and Pearce describe as "mental maps" in Champlain's mind.'

If you are a head of state watch out for maps that are the wrong way round


• December 20. < http://www.taiwantodaynews.com:80/?p=270 > 'Presidential greeting card shows controversial map' (in the Taiwan Today News).
        We all knew that old maps can be playthings for today's politicians. But had we realised the danger to a state's president if they used one that was the wrong way round? President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan included an illustration of a map from the National Palace Museum in his seasonal greeting card. The problem is that it 'depicts the north end of the country on the left, which some said put Taiwan "above" China'. Taiwan is actually arranged north-south but the early map [illustrated, though not identified, in an earlier piece, which I cannot now find] made the fatal mistake of swinging it round. No doubt the map indicates which way is really 'up' but that is not going to save the President from criticism. As one MP put it, "the map had roused a lot of controversy in the legislature. How can we teach children how to read maps?". Indeed. Perhaps by telling them there is no reason north has to be at the top. Or, as another legislator put it, 'the map should not be read politically as the earth is round and everyone looks at maps from different angles.' A crash course in the history of cartography for Taiwan's MPs perhaps.

Earliest (?) map of Madison County (Alabama) found in time for its bicentenary


• December 15. < http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1229336148140990. > 'Early 'mother map' of county uncovered' (by Gina Hannah in the Huntsville Times).
        'A few months ago, David Robb had a couple of hours to kill in Nashville and, being a history buff and map enthusiast, decided to spend some time at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, perusing the maps and documents there. His unexpected find was a little-known map rolled up and placed on a shelf for decades, all but forgotten but of significance to anyone interested in Madison County's history. Hand-sketched on a piece of fine linen in September 1807, the map shows the boundaries of Madison County, the Elk and Tennessee rivers, Chickasaw Island (now Hobbs Island) and the southern border of Tennessee. It was drawn by Thomas Freeman, the famed surveyor and friend of first U.S. President George Washington. Freeman had surveyed Madison County and drawn other maps, but this one, Robb said, is particularly noteworthy.
        '"To my knowledge, it's the earliest known map of Madison County," Robb told a crowd gathered at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library on Sunday to celebrate the county's bicentennial. He said the piece is likely a "mother map," from which all later maps of the Madison County and North Alabama area were drawn. The map's artwork extends into the Muscle Shoals area.
        'Robb, former director of the Huntsville Museum of Art, said he found a reference to the map while flipping through an old-fashioned card catalog at the Tennessee Archives. Freeman's name caught his eye: The surveyor, who helped lay out the District of Columbia, died in Madison County after conducting extensive survey work here, and is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery.
        'Madison County isn't likely to become the new home of the historic map, Robb said, because of its historical significance to Tennessee. The map was drawn showing the Southwest Territories (bordered to the south by the Tennessee River), and could be the earliest map showing Tennessee's southern boundary, the 35th parallel, he said.'

Collect free local maps


• December 3. < http://blogs.library.auckland.ac.nz/science/archive/2008/12/03/708.aspx > 'Call For Maps!' (University of Auckland, Library).
        The Librarian, Brian Marshall, puts out a general plea for the 'local and freely available maps' produced by the town concerned. As he points out, 'these maps often contain local information which is very difficult to find in any other way'. He illustrates an example from the town of Bulls (whose web address is 'unforgetabull' - that is how they do things in New Zealand). Apart from being cheap (or free), ephemera, it has always seemed to me, is likely to preserve more social history than you will find in 'proper' maps. Tourist plans are an excellent example. So, if map librarians are not already hoovering up such things, I hope they might consider doing so. Ideal for these straightened times.

D-Day artist and cartographer reminisces


• December 1. < http://www.denverpost.com/ > 'Art of war seen in Denver man's top- secret project' (by Kevin Simpson in the Denver Post).
        An interview with the 84-year-old Peter Hesse, who, as a member of the US 663rd Engineer Topographic Company, played a part in the preparation for, and aftermath of, D-Day. Aged 20, he enlisted from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design and joined 'a top-secret unit that helped create three-dimensional models of the landing areas for Allied forces to use in planning the June 6 attack - an undertaking that gave form to information collected by sources from military frogmen to French resistance workers to aerial photographers.'
        'Hesse's group focused on Utah Beach and the terrain several miles inland. Using boxes about 2 feet square and 2 inches high, the artists replicated the area's contours and added natural and man-made landmarks, with each box representing about 1.5 square miles."Planes were going in low, taking photographs," Hesse said. "Technologically, it was pretty Neanderthal compared to now, but we had photos to work from. We made the homes out of cork, trees out of sponge, and painted the whole thing."The level of effort and detail poured into the process was unprecedented in military history, said Joe Balkoski, a Baltimore-based military historian who has authored two books on D-Day.
        'The work by Hesse and others represented a monumental study of Normandy's topography, tides and natural conditions and the enemy's defenses. Soldiers hitting the beaches carried maps that included drawings of what their landing sites would look like - tools that came in handy when, for instance, some units were put ashore about a mile from their target point on Utah Beach."The models had told them to look for a windmill, and they found it a mile to the north (and) said now they knew where they were," Balkoski said. "Down to the lowest-ranking private, every soldier had an idea what things would look like when they got there."
        'Balkoski has interviewed D-Day veterans for nearly 30 years, and he has come to recognize a common theme."One thing you typically find, with officers in particular, is that they always bring up maps and the knowledge they had of the beach," Balkoski said. "Some of them would reach into drawers and bring out maps they still had. The Germans had nothing like that. American maps were, and still are, spectacular, even on modern cartographic levels."
        'Shortly after arriving in France, Hesse found his basic art skills in demand once again when one of the generals needed topographic maps of the surrounding region. "So I put four maps together and with my watercolors painted the high areas with yellows and oranges," Hesse said. "Blues and greens were the lower areas. He could better visualize the terrain."'

1860s map of Victoria found in Dublin has been sent back to Australia


• November 30. < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5258361.ece > 'Dublin sends gold map home Down Under - 143 years late. A map sent to Dublin for an 1865 exhibition to promote the state of Victoria has been repatriated' (by Senay Boztas in the [London] Sunday Times).
        The multi-sheet, hand-coloured map of Victoria, measures 3 x 4 m. 'It was sent to the 1865 Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures to promote Victoria and was later lost after being stored by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI). Comprehensive surveys stopped in Australia in 1868, the printing plates disappeared and some of this historical information was thought lost. However, the map was found by chance in the GSI archives. Peadar McArdle, its director, said: "It was rolled up and probably hadn’t been unrolled since the late 19th century. It was moved from building to building until by happenstance someone decided to unroll it earlier this year."' The Melbourne Museum and the State Library of Victoria requested its repatriation and the map is now being restored and digitised for an exhibition next year.
        'Judith Scurfield, of the State Library of Victoria, said: "The map is very valuable, has amazingly detailed topography for the time and fills in some gaps in people’s knowledge." The map had several Irish connections. Some of its engravers had worked or trained in Ireland, while one of the authors was Sir Frederick McCoy, a Dubliner who worked at the GSI before emigrating to Australia.' The map is not identified but, from the British Library map catalogue, it looks as if it might be, the eight sheet map, 'Victoria geologically colored. Alfred R.C. Selwyn Government Geologist, and Director of Mining and Geological Surveys. Scale of 8 miles to an inch.' (Melbourne : Government Printing Office, July 1st, 1863). [Update 23 January 2009. Judith Scurfield provided the following description of the map, which turns out not to be what I suggested. ' Progress Map of the Geological Survey of Victoria. This huge map, measuring 4 x 3 metres, was created for the 1865 Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures, as a compilation of geological quarter-sheets covering the central part of Victoria.'

Not Google overlays but side-by-side, old and new maps, for walking the Tokyo streets


• November 27 [seen 26th]. < http://mdn.mainichi.jp:80/features/news/20081126p2a00m0na012000c.html > 'Historical maps of old Edo reveal Tokyo's hidden gems' (in the Mainichi Daily News).
        'Old maps from the Edo era [up to 1867] are all the rage these days. Bookshops display numerous guidebooks that feature historical maps alongside their modern counterparts, and middle-aged people and seniors have taken to walking about town with these books in hand.' The book that started this trend, "Mochiaruki Edo-Tokyo Sanpo (Handbook for walking the streets of Edo-Tokyo)" was published in 2003 and has sold 50,000 copies. Enough of the old city remains to make the exercise worth while. 'Old Edo maps were originally referred to as "cutout picture diagrams" and were devised in the mid-Edo period to help merchants deliver their goods. Major residences were labeled with their owners' names, such as "Matsudaira-so-and-so," giving maps the look of a residential directory.'

Definitions of the word 'map' shown graphically


• November 25. '321 Definitions of "Map"' (by John Krygier on his Making Maps: DIY Cartography blog).
        Taking the 321 definitions of the word map proposed by < http://www.usm.maine.edu/maps//essays/andrews.htm > John Andrews, Krygier indulges in a sophisticated parlour game. He extracts what he consider the significant words out of the 8106 included in Andrews's definitions and puts them into a 'a word cloud generator like the wonderful Wordle'. He includes all the definitions, without their citations, and illustrates three graphic manipulations of key terms. I leave it to sharper minds to detect the deeper meaning in these.

The Samourka Collection inspires both a book and an Athens exhibition


• November 22. < http://www.planeteye.com:80/ArticleFullView/feed+4451.aspx > 'Exhibition of Mapmaking' (by Denise for Planet Eye).
        'The maps of Samourka Collection (ca 1200 maps) representing Greece, printed from 16th to 18th c., cover the major part of the cartographic history of that period and the schools of mapmaking. The Samourka Map Collection is a subject of systematic research and the basis for relevant map exhibitions and publishing.
        'The book "The History of Mapmaking in the Greek World, 1420-1800: Maps from the Margarita Samourka Collection," by Giorgos Tolias, was presented at the National Research Institute on November 20th. Athens University Professor Paschalis M. Kitromilidis, Thessaloniki Universtity Professor Evangelos Livieratos and the author, who is also director of research at the Institute of Modern Greek Studies, all spoke at the presentation. To mark the occasion of the book's publication, an exhibition of maps from Margarita Samourka's collection is being held at the institute. Its subject is "Maps of Greece during the Renaissance: 1478-1598." It is sponsored by the Samourka Foundation. The show will run to December 9th.' Giorgos (George) Tolias is a well-known cartographic historian, who was winner of the second Imago Mundi Prize.

'Persian Gulf', now a pitch for 'Gulf'


• November 19. < http://www.uaedailynews.com/uae/3868.html > 'President of Austria lauds Sharjah Ruler for pioneering dialogue among civilisations' (in the UAE News).
        There have been several past comments in these news pages about the official policy of the Iranian government to promote the use of the term 'Persian Gulf', citing early maps as authority. Now comes an announcement from the United Arab Emirates: "Director General of the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information Abdullah Owais presented the Austrian President with a book authored by the Ruler of Sharjah under the title: Gulf in the Historical Maps". 'Gulf' is the supposedly neutral term favoured in the Arab world, and by the current US administration. I have no further information about the book, which may or may not be in English. Amazon does not yet seem to be actively marketing it.

Chinese collectors want ceramics rather than maps


• November 19. < http://www.danwei.org/maps/maps_yang_lang.php > 'Who cares about maps?' (by Joel Martinsen on the Danwei site).
        In seeking reasons for the limited interest in early maps within China the article looks at two, blog-style books produced by the journalist Yang Lang, and reproduces an article from the New Weekly by Ning Xiaoxiao, 'Why are the best ancient Chinese maps overseas?' Pointing out that 'Chinese antique collectors are overlooking maps in their race to acquire ceramics and other artifacts of China's imperial past', that seeks answers from the collector Sun Guoqing. The 1974 British 'Museum' (i.e. British Library) exhibition of Chinese and Japanese maps is still, apparently, very influential.

John Hessler on the Waldseemüller map


• November 17. < http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/11/16/ST2008111602230.html?sid=ST2008111602230 > '16th-Century Mapmaker's Intriguing Knowledge' (by David Brown in the Washington Post).
        An interview with John W. Hessler of the Library of Congress about the Waldseemüller map explores the question: 'How was it that a German priest writing in Latin and living in a French city far from the coast became the first person to tell the world that a vast ocean lay to the west of the American continents? That is one of the bigger mysteries in the history of the Renaissance ... "There is some probability that Waldseemueller knew something that is no longer extant -- information that we don't have," Hessler said.'

More on the Snider auction


• November 16. < http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20199423&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8 > 'Annals Of Americana: Philadelphia's Snider Collection On The Auction Block This Week' (by Thom Nickels in the [Philadelphia] Bulletin).
        The sale this week, by Bloomsbury Auctions (New York) of the collection gathered by Jay T. Snider since the 1980s has achieved an impressive press coverage. This article is more of a society piece about the pre-sale reception and you need to pick your way through the hyperbole. Confusingly, Snider acquired the Philadelphia collection of Martin Snyder [sic]. For a comment on the maps that are included in the collection, see under 2 July 2008.

'Lack of interest by historians in maps'


• November 3. < http://historycompass.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/debate-what-can-gis-offer-world-history/ > 'DEBATE: What can GIS offer World History?' (on the 'History Compass: Theory and Methods' blog).
        The debate takes place over the period 3-14 November 2008. Starting with Jack Owens's article < http://historycompass.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/geographically-integrated-world-history1.pdf > ‘Toward a Geographically-Integrated, Connected World History: Employing Geographical Information Systems (GIS)’, and with invited contributions from Ian Gregory and Stephen J. Hornsby, it is open to 'all of you "attending" online to comment and get involved in the discussion'. The present page ends with the provocative statement from Stephen J. Hornsby: 'Given the general lack of interest by historians in maps and in thinking spatially, I am dubious about the success of Historical GIS in the discipline.'

Rare maps dealer nails his theses to the door


• October 28. < http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/311480 > 'Madison store owner fights back against bad buyer behavior' (by Doug Erickson in the Wisconsin State Journal).
        John Taylor says he's not angry, just mystified. For several years, he's watched people enter his Madison store, J Taylor's, and inflict various forms of abuse on him and his merchandise, from manhandling delicate items to insulting him if he won't negotiate a lower price. The store, at 18½ N. Carroll St. on the Capitol Square, sells "antiquities, notable books and rare maps."
        Two weeks ago, Taylor posted a lengthy note on the shop's front door. Some might call it a rant. Taylor thinks of it as tough love."Handle the books, papers and tools gently," he writes. "You're quite lucky to have this opportunity to experience authenticity. So excuse my admonishment while you break the back of a $5,000 atlas." His note - a merchant's manifesto, if you will - says the store is "not a flea market, nor is it an eBay moment." If any "offers" are to be made, "I, John, will offer it up to you. Not vice versa." For good measure, Taylor throws in a laundry list of things not to do, including "distract, meddle with, pick at, insult, spit on, snipe at or needle the contents of J Taylor's." "Is this where we are with manners in society today?" he asks. "Are we so detached from each other that we don't think about each other's feelings?"

Artist inspired by the Ordnance Survey Irish townland surveys


• October 26. < http://laughingsquid.com/squidlist/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=179866 > 'Patricia Looby : field systems' (from the Squid List).
        An exhibition at the DCP Project Space, San Francisco (October 30 - November 29, 2008) is closely inspired by the first edition Ordnance Survey townland maps of Ireland (6 inches to the mile). The artist, Patricia Looby, who works in Tipperary, has 'produced a body of work that reunites the spirit of a place and its actual cartographical history - a visually manifested memoir of human activity in 70 acres of agricultural land in Tipperary. Taking one specific townland, the place where she grew up, Patricia Looby has intensely researched all known maps of the area stretching from pre-Famine field systems and dwellings to the present day map image of this townland, which is called Corriconeen. The result is a deeply felt and thorough investigation of the actual landscape and the remembered fields, ditches, rises and hollows of a country childhood; a contemporary artists’ lexicon of the identity of place.' The gallery note provides a fuller explanation.

The role of maps in the 50-year boundary dispute between India and China


• October 19. < http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20081024252108000.htm > 'Maps and borders. Only political leaders can resolve the boundary dispute between India and China, not officials' (by A.G. Noorani in Frontline, 'India's National Magazine').
        I always hesitate when confronted with border disputes but this article seems to be calm and non- partisan, urging the need for a solution, rather than a specific 'Indian' solution. It also focuses on and illustrates three maps of the Kashmir region from 1947-50. 'Only a political approach, climaxed by a decision at the highest level, can settle the matter. In a couple of months it will be half a century since the issues were joined.' [Via < http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/10/the_history_of_3.php > The Map Room weblog].

Enticing exhibition opens in Los Angeles


• October 16. < http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-maps16-2008oct16,0,4448254.story > 'Los Angeles history unfolds in library's map exhibit' (by Bob Pool in the Los Angeles Times).
        This picks out some of the highlights of the 'L.A. Unfolded' exhibit that has just opened in the Getty Gallery of the Los Angeles Central Library (it runs until 22 January 2009). 'More than 100 maps reflecting changes and growth during the city's existence are being displayed', including the city's oldest map (1849). The brief overview gives an enticing foretaste of an exhibition that 'straddles the line between science and art', and seeks to have wide appeal. Particularly useful must have been 'a 1903 road map showing owners of the city's 1,600 automobiles where dirt roads were safe enough to drive at 8 mph'.

More on the proposed sale of material from the Cardiff Central Library


• October 9 < http://archiv.twoday.net/stories/5245091/ > 'News from the Cardiff Library Case (2). The Truth about Cardiff Central Library’s Special Collections' (by Klaus Graf on the Archivalia blog).
        Providing a few details about the cartographic component of the material due to be sold at Bonham's auction in London in November 2008, from a 'collection of Welsh books, pamphlets, prints and maps, which is second only to that of the National Library of Wales':
        'A series of books and maps relating to the Survey of Western Palestine, presented by the Marquess of Bute ... A collection (consisting of eight manuscripts [...], 189 volumes and pamphlets, and 22 maps, plans, and charts) was presented by Mr Illtyd Nichol, of the Ham.'
        See also the website of the <http://www.cardiffheritagefriends.org/ > Cardiff Heritage Friends (posted originally on 1 September 2008) which refers to a 1552 edition of Ptolemy's Geographia and two 17th century editions of Ortelius. [See under 2 September 2008 for the original post on this topic].

NEH funds 1000-map project on American colonization


• October 8. < http://www.supercomputingonline.com/article.php?sid=16309 > 'I-CHASS earns NEH grant for cartography project' (in Supercomputing Online).
        'The Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts and Social Science < http://www.chass.uiuc.edu > (I-CHASS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant to develop a database of 1,000 historical maps illustrating the trajectory of colonization in the Americas.' The grant, announced on the I-CHASS site on September 8th,was for almost $25,000. 'The Cartography of American Colonization Database Project (CACD) will organize what is now a bewildering array of available digital cartographic images by providing a gateway for scholars, teachers, and students. CACD will create the database as a research tool, followed by development for use by a wider audience. The project is led by Illinois associate professor of history S. Max Edelson in collaboration with Vernon Burton, I-CHASS director and Illinois professor of history, and Alan Craig, the associate director of human-computer interaction at I-CHASS.
        'While conducting research at the Library of Congress in 2007, Edelson was initially overwhelmed by the amount of available cartographic material and wondered how to make sense of it. He asked himself: "What maps are indispensable in explaining changes in cartographic representation over time? How can maps be linked together into groups to help answer critical questions in early American history? How can I, as an educator, introduce my students to maps and provide tools that will allow them to explore this world without becoming hopelessly lost?" '

Advertisement for the map librarian post at Harvard


• October 7 < http://www.educause.edu/JobOpportunities/HeadofHarvardMapCollectionandC/133661 > 'Head of Harvard Map Collection and Curator of Maps' (an announcement from Educause).
        A successor to David Cobb is being sought.

Launch of the first online map fair


• October 3. < http://antiquemaps-fair.com.server35.firstfind.nl/ > 'Welcome to the Virtual Antique Map Fair'.
        Robert Putman, author and Amsterdam map dealer, describes how he has set up the first virtual antique map fair. It will run for the period 16-18 October and has 22 participating dealers. Five days beforehand, a catalogue will be produced. Unlike normal fairs, this will be organised by geographical region. The fair is free, although you will need to login. If the dealer is online you can 'enter a chat session with him'.
       In a related move, Putman has "started a weblog, 'antiquemaps-blog.com' to form a platform for discussion on antique maps and sea-charts. On this weblog the virtual map fair will be a subject, where dealers and map collectors alike can comment on the fair, say hello to old friends and make new contact with other map enthusiasts, inform others about coming events etc, in short, the social gathering that goes with visiting a fair."

Boston's 'Walk to the Sea' opens with Norman B. Leventhal's maps


• September 25. < http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/09/25/into_bostons_past_on_foot/ > 'Into Boston's past, on foot. Mile-long Norman B. Leventhal Walk to the Sea to be dedicated' (by Casey Ross in the Boston Globe).
        'The new pathway, to be called the Norman B. Leventhal Walk to the Sea, will be formally dedicated by Mayor Thomas M. Menino today during an 11 a.m. ceremony at Long Wharf. "Norman has contributed to some of Boston's most recognized landmarks, and it is only fitting that our newest landmark is named in his honor," Menino said. "The Walk to the Sea will show the rich history of one of our nation's oldest ports and give visitors a new appreciation for how it developed..."
        'The route includes eight stations with glass pillars along the streets from the State House to the edge of the wharf. The pillars, which will be illuminated at night, contain copies of maps from Leventhal's collection, images of old photographs, and text boxes that note significant landmarks and explain how they changed over time ... The mile-long Walk to the Sea was initially conceived by urban planner Kevin Lynch in the 1960s, but it did not materialize as a formal proposal until Menino designated a route in 2007, at Leventhal's 90th birthday party. The walk runs along Beacon and Tremont streets and then follows State Street to the water ... The project was paid for through Leventhal's Mapping Boston Foundation Inc.'

A new blog about early maps


• September 24. JHMaps was started in July 2008. It is run by John Horrigan, who has an antique map business in Edmonton, Alberta. Although, initially at least, focussing on what is available locally, it is well illustrated and its author has a wide range of interests. He is also meticulous about providing references for those who want to read further.

Maori map of 1793 being reproduced on a sacred site in New Zealand's North Island


• September 24. < http://www.stuff.co.nz/northland/4702769a1927.html > 'Mapping of the past'.
        'A map drawn more than 200 years ago by a Maori chief is the inspiration for decorative panels at Te Rerenga Wairua - Cape Reinga ... In 1793, Tuki Tahua and Ngahuruhuru, two Tai Tokerau Maori chiefs were kidnapped for the purpose of teaching convicts on Norfolk Island the techniques for manufacturing flax. While he was living on Norfolk Island, Tuki drew two maps for the Lieutenant-Governor King, one in chalk on the floor of a room, and the other on paper. Two significant features of Tuki’s map are Te Ara Wairua - spiritual pathway - noted by a dotted line running the length of the North Island to Te Rerenga Wairua - the spirits’ place for entering into the area and leaping off into the underworld. The second is ‘Poenammoo’ (Te Wai Pounamu - The South Island) identified with information about two important natural features, a tree and a lake - presumably the greenstone waters of Te Waipounamu. The Northern part of the North Island is drawn larger than the rest of the country and could be a reflection Tuki’s familiarity with the north. The South Island is rotated 90 degrees to the west, possibly because the paper was not large enough to draw it correctly.'
        An illustration of the surviving paper map and Phillip Barton's commentary on it, can be seen in The History of Cartography, Volume 2, Book 3 (Chicago University Press, 1998) pp.506-9.

More on the 'North Carolina Maps' website


• September 10. < http://news.ncdcr.gov/2008/09/10/new-online-map-site-shows-state-routes-of-old/ > 'New Online Map Site Shows State Routes of Old'.
        A background piece from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources about the new website North Carolina Maps, 'the most complete collection of state maps now online'. The site is the result of collaboration between the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources State Archives, the Outer Banks History Center and UNC-Chapel Hill. The project's history and funding is described. Nicholas Graham, the maps project librarian, commented that they wanted 'to be sure researchers capture all the information a map can offer'. The result, for which all users will be extremely grateful, is that the very clear enlargements take the image to several times the original size. 'Eventually the website will include more than 1,500 digitally reproduced maps.' [See earlier entry under 18 August 2008]

Supposedly unique lithographed plan donated to Indiana university


• September 4. < http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=22025 > 'Jinsie Scott Bingham '56 Donates Rare 1871 Map to DePauw Archives'.
        'Jinsie Scott Bingham, a member of DePauw's Class of 1956, has donated a one-of-a-kind, historic map to the University's Archives. "Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana, 1871," was drawn by H.H. Bailey, who was known for creating and publishing maps of cities throughout the Northeast and Midwest in the late nineteenth century.' Wes Wilson, coordinator of archives and special collections at DePauw, described the lithographed bird's-eye view as 'the only known copy'. If this surprising statement is correct either H.H. Bailey must have had little success in Indiana or the paper he used was of very poor quality.

Cardiff Council is planning to auction rare early material including atlases


• September 2 [updated September 7; see also 9 October]. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/7593883.stm > 'Fight to stop rare books sell-off ' (BBC News Wales).
        'An action group says it is "aghast" at plans to sell some of Wales' oldest and rarest books. Cardiff Council could eventually sell up to 18,000 items dating from the 15th Century at auction to raise money for improvements in library services. The collection at the central library includes early atlases along with a second edition of Shakespeare. An initial 139 items are being assessed but the group, which includes academics, wants an end to the process. The council says all proceeds from the sale will be re-invested back into the whole Cardiff library service ... A new action group, Cardiff Heritage Friends, which includes local residents, historians, other academics, solicitors, and librarians, is calling for the council to stop the sale "of some of Wales' greatest treasures".'
        No details are given of the atlases involved, though Britannia Depicta is illustrated. Peter Keelan, head of special collections and archives at Cardiff University Library, is quoted as saying that his library could take over the volumes (since the cost of their maintenance is one of the cited reasons for the projected sale). "There is nothing else here in Wales as the library in Aberystwyth concentrates more on Welsh texts. Students would have to go to London for their research. If these books disappear from Cardiff, research will grind to a halt."
        A message to the ExLibris list from Klaus Graf on 4 September (not accessible to non- subscribers) includes a press release. This states that 'sales lists are now being drafted by the auctioneers Bonhams in London and the first sales will probably take place before the end of the year.' An open letter from Helen Phillips, Professor of English Literature Cardiff University includes the statement that 'these truly remarkable collections include a notable collection of rare atlases'.
        See the original Council document (11 January 2007), < http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/objview.asp?object_id=7331 > 'Disposal of Surplus Library Stock'. This cites 'Rare atlases' as one of the target categories, and makes the general ( self-fulfilling) comment that 'the majority of the collections ... have not been catalogued and as a result are not (or very rarely) accessed by members of the public.' The Council also makes the disparaging comment that this material is 'unsuitable for use by anyone other than academics and specialists'. Clearly, a more responsible home needs to be found for these volumes. As Dr James put it: 'for Cardiff, having these books is the difference between Cardiff being a local and Welsh interest library to being a library in the international league.'

Donor of a collection of Middle East maps in the Spertus Institute dies


• September 1. < http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/chi-hed-syale-01-sep01,0,1706413.story > 'Ex- dean secured funds for UIC dentistry building' (by Trevor Jensen in the Chicago Tribune).
        The death was announced of Dr Seymour H. Yale, Dean of the University of Illinois' College of Dentistry, on 28 August. He had donated to the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in Chicago the < http://www.spertus.edu/asher_cja/yalemapcollection.php > 'Muriel Yale Collection of Antique Maps of the Holy Land and the Ottoman Empire', comprising 'over 1,200 maps dating from the mid-15th to the 20th century'.
[away from the Internet 29 August - 6 September 2008 - leading to delayed postings for that period]

"Corporate cartographers are demolishing thousands of years of history"


• August 29 [with update 2 September]. < http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/internet-maps-demolish-british-history-912333.html > "Internet maps 'demolish British history'" (by Michael McCarthy in the [London] Independent).
        'Churches, cathedrals, stately homes, battlefields, ancient woodlands, rivers, eccentric landmarks and many more features which make up the tapestry of the British landscape are not being represented in online maps, which focus on merely providing driving directions, said Mary Spence, President of the British Cartographical Society ... in a session on the Future of the Map at the annual conference in London of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers.' Google came in for particular criticsm. See also 'Here Be Dragons: Internet maps make travelling a more efficient, but duller, experience' from the [London] Times, 29 August < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article4629010.ece > and a post on the < http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/09/more_responses.php > The Map Room weblog (2 September).

Another job posting at the University of Texas at Arlington


• August 26. < http://www.h-net.org/jobs/display_job?jobID=37039 > 'Director, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies and the History of Cartography' (on the H-Net Job Guide).
        The History Department of the University of Texas at Arlington recently appointed Professor Imre Josef Demhardt as the Jenkins and Virginia Garrett Endowed Professorship, a Named Chair in the History of Cartography and Greater Southwestern Studies. They are now seeking a Director of the > http://www.uta.edu/history/swstudies.htm > Center for Greater Southwestern Studies and the History of Cartography. 'The Director oversees all operations of the Center, which was founded in 1991 as part of the History program, but works closely with the UTA Library, where the Center office is located.'

How to make a 'mysterious old map'


• August 20 [date seen]. 'Old Map Tutorial' (Directory Aviva. Photoshop Tutorials. Learn About Using Adobe Photoshop).
        "Here’s a great way of taking a simple black and white drawing and converting it into a mysterious, old map, lost for hundreds of years. For the ingredients you need to look on the net for a nice, black and white drawing or diagram." There are obvious dangers in broadcasting 'how to' pages about creating map fakes. However, this exercise seems to be intended for web presentation alone. That said, the result (which looks as if it has suffered from the worst kind of 1860s brittle paper damage) is reminiscent of some ghastly productions that are peddled in the real world.

Research into an ethnographic map of Hungary, possibly used in the 1919 treaty negotiations


• August 18. 'Historic Map of Hungary in the Ball State University Libraries' (on the Ball State University Geospatial Resources and Map Collection blog).
        An interesting post, that needs to be read in its entirety. It concerns a single map acquired from the Library of Congress through the participation of the retired map librarian, Paul W. Stout, who participated in 'six of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Special Summer projects - each lasting six weeks - between 1977 and 1996 ... The Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Special Summer Project was developed in 1951 to employ the use of interns to process the backlog of maps that the Division received from federal libraries and government mapping agencies after World War II. Ball State University Libraries was one of the many institutions to sponsor a participant in the program over the years. In exchange for their work, participants were able to select duplicate maps and atlases from the Library’s stock and send them back to their sponsoring libraries.'
       'During a four-hour selection period in the 1983 Special Summer Project, Stout discovered two maps he suspected were not duplicates. The maps were of the Hungarian portion of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire dated 1919. One of the maps had specific notations indicating it had been used at the Peace Conference in Versailles, France following World War I. Stout remembers reading "American Commission to Negotiate Peace" stamped on the map. (The Treaty of Trianon was organized as part of the Peace Conference at Versailles in order to determine the borders of Hungary and was signed in June of 1920, so the American delegation may have used these maps as a resource for the peace negotiations).' One of the maps was annotated; the unannotated example was handed to Stout. 'Stout recalled both maps having identical ownership stamps - first belonging to the U.S. State Department in 1919 then transferred to the Central Intelligence Agency in 1949. The map measures over six feet by almost ten feet in size [183 x 305 cm]. The title of the Ball State map is Ethnographical Map of Hungary - Colonization and Population by S. Batky and Ch. Kogutowicz dated 1919. The map states "designed by order of the Foreign Ministry of the Hungarian Republic." The map shows the areas where ethnic Hungarians were predominant. This information was one of the criteria for the negotiations used by the Americans at the treaty. Based on circumstantial evidence, Stout believes this map was used by the American Delegation to Negotiate Peace in preparation for the determination of Hungarian territory ... The map of Hungary will be on display in the GRMC and is available for historical research and as a learning resource.'

New collaborative map image site announced


• August 18. < http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/ncm/index.php/2008/08/18/north-carolina-maps/ > 'North Carolina Maps' (North Carolina Miscellany blog).
        'I’m excited to announce the release of the beta site for North Carolina Maps, the historic map digitization project by the North Carolina State Archives, UNC-Chapel Hill University Library, and Outer Banks History Center. The site currently includes over 750 maps, primarily from the State Archives and the North Carolina Collection. Maps from the Outer Banks History Center will be added in the fall. There is an impressive variety of maps on the site, including many of the earliest maps of North Carolina, state highway maps, Coast and Geodetic Survey maps, and - my personal favorite - soil survey maps. North Carolina Maps also includes at least one map for each of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
        'New maps and features will be added to the site on a regular basis over the next two years.' [See the original post for all the separate links; it is good to note the very high quality of the enlargeable scans. See later entry, 10 September 2008].

New book on Cook's exploration of the north-west coast of America


• August 16. < http://www.adn.com/life/story/496284.html > 'Cook's tour of Alaska. New book details explorer's achievements in North Pacific' (by Mike Dunham in the Anchorage Daily News).
        An interview with 'Anchorage attorney and former Assemblyman James Barnett' who talks about his recent book, Captain Cook in Alaska and the North Pacific. Barnett has spent years researching the voyages of Cook and his successors along North America's west coast. "Of the many books and articles about Cook, there is scant attention to the North Pacific outside of Hawaii. It is an afterthought, and yet finding the Northwest Passage was the purpose of the third voyage. My book is the first, to my knowledge, to be devoted to Alaska and the North Pacific coast of America, and also provides details about later voyages in the area."

Miniature roll-on maps for the 1920s UK motorist


• August 15. < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1045114/The-1920s-satnav---weird-wonderful-gadgets-quite-took-off.html > 'The 1920s satnav ... and other weird and wonderful gadgets that never quite took off' (in the [London] Daily Mail).
        'Maurice Collins, a retired businessman from Muswell Hill, London, has cherry-picked 50 must-have items from his collection of 1,400 historic gadgets to show off at the British Library Business and Intellectual Property Centre. Mr Morris said his collection was a celebration of "ingenious products that attempted to solve human difficulty"'. Pride of place in this piece is given to a 'route-finder for the well-equipped 1920s driver: a wristwatch-style device equipped with minuscule maps. Miniature scrolls bearing the directions were loaded onto the watch and revolved as the wearer continued his journey' (as illustrated). See also an undated announcement from Ananova, with a different illustration, < http://www.ananova.com:80/news/story/sm_2967876.html > 'The Plus Fours Routefinder was designed to be worn on the wrist - relying on good old-fashioned paper maps wound around wooden rollers, which the driver turned en route. The tiny scrolls also showed the mileage and gave a "stop" instruction at the journey's end. The device was intended to allow drivers to navigate around the UK, but with so few cars on the roads it never really took off.'

Chris Baruth, AGM map curator, escapes from Georgia


• August 13 < http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=783249 > 'Milwaukee academics escape Georgia violence' (by Georgia Pabst in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
        Describing how Christopher Baruth, curator of the American Geographical Society map collection at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee library and his wife, Barbara (with others) escaped from Georgia. They 'had been in the remote Caucasus mountains of Georgia, for the opening of an exhibit of historic photographs of Mestia, in the northwest Svaneti region. The permanent collection is housed at UWM.' After 20 hours of difficult and dangerous driving, they had to walk across to Turkey and then wait two days for a flight home.

Donor of rare map collection to Queen's University Library, Kingston, Ontario dies


• August 9. < http://www.ospreyobituaries.com/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=255768&source=Kingston%20Whig%20Standard > 'Obituary for Albert Henry Ruddell'.
        The death has been announced (on 6 August) of Albert H. Ruddell, who was in his 85th year. In 2003, he donated a collection of 175 maps to Queen's University Library. These were the subject of an exhibition in January-March 2006.

Young gallery curator in Georgia who researches the maps he sells


• August 8. < http://www.ajc.com:80/news/content/hotjobs/careercenter/articles/2008/08/08/0810_wilmjmaps.html > 'Why I love my job. Kenneth Hosley, Curator' (Karl W. Ritzler for ajcjobs).
        Kenneth Hosley is the managing curator of the Grey Parrot Gallery, Buckhead owned by the collector Alex Branch. He joined after graduating from the University of Georgia in 2003. What is interesting and gratifying is his enthusiasm for "tracking down rare maps, manuscripts and books that people haven't seen for hundreds of years". 'Hosley spends a great deal of time researching his finds to put them in their proper historical context. That can involve hours of searching the Internet and looking for original sources of information in the University of Georgia's historical holdings in Athens or at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah ... "Finding one-of-a-kind pieces and working with people who love the same thing," Hosley said. "These are actual pieces of history. ... To hold history in my hand - you can't get that anywhere else."' While much of the material has expected Georgia connections, the gallery has much wider coverage.

Profile of collector/dealer Ky Kylander


• August 7. < http://www.wickedlocal.com/duxbury/news/x1592404692/Duxbury-s-man-of-many-maps > 'Duxbury’s man of many maps' (by Caroline Dufault in the Duxbury Wicked Local).
        A profile of Clarence (Ky) Kylander, who started collecting maps in 1989 and has now amassed 200, mostly of the New England area [he lives in Duxbury, Mass.]. He also deals in maps from Snug Harbor Cartographer. Now retired, he is one of that large group of medical map collectors.

CONTENTdm features Nevada site for August


• August [seen 2nd] < http://www.oclc.org/news/announcements/announcement290.htm > 'CONTENTdm featured collections: August 2008' (announcement from OCLC - 'The world's libraries. Connected').
        The < http://www.delamare.unr.edu/maps/digitalcollections/nvmaps/ > 'Nevada in Maps' site (Ansari Map Library, University of Nevada), with its 4,200 scans, is one of four featured by CONTENTdm for August. 'The original focus of this digital map site was a collection of historic maps of Nevada presenting topographic, geologic and mining themes. Many of these maps are over 100 years old, deteriorating, rare, not cataloged and, therefore, not readily available or even known to potential patrons. There are now over 4200 maps and atlases on this site with many more to be added. The site also includes contemporary maps of Nevada and the Great Basin.'

Canadian government makes political capital out of Arctic map


• August 1. < http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=47e09716-9396-441f-88be-fbb9af626b67 > 'Ancient map prompts renewed debate over Arctic sovereignty. Century-old relic discovered in Lévis' (by Randy Boswell in the Montreal Gazette).
        'The rediscovery of an important century-old map of the Canadian arctic created by Quebec explorer Joseph-Elzéar Bernier - the legendary ship captain credited with cementing Canadian control over its polar frontier - gave Prime Minister Stephen Harper an opportunity yesterday to reassert his government's determination to defend Canada's Arctic sovereignty.
        'The vintage map, recently found by Quebec archivists, was unveiled by Harper and provincial heritage officials during a ceremony held in Lévis, Que., where Bernier lived before his death in 1934 and where Harper is hosting a major Conservative party gathering this week. Jeanne Coude, a Lévis history buff who has been spearheading efforts to erect a monument paying tribute to Bernier, described the map as a "unique" record of the explorer's Arctic travels and his key contribution to securing Canadian control over the vast Arctic archipelago.
        'Born in 1852, Bernier was raised to pilot ships and emerged in the early 1900s as the Canadian government's top flag- bearer in the Arctic region. At the time, the country's hold on the Arctic islands - deeded to Canada by the British government in the 1880s - was still considered tenuous because U.S. and Scandinavian explorers were more active in the region and several major islands remained disputed. Bernier led numerous expeditions into Arctic waters, conducting surveys and placing markers to solidify Canada's claims over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of land and sea.' No details of the map are given and the photograph shows only part of it.

Cartographic historian appointed director of the Clements Library


• July 24 (seen 29th) < http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6655 > 'Americana curator, scholar to lead U-M's Clements Library' (news release from the University of Michigan).
        J. Kevin Graffagnino is to be the new director of the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan. Subject to formal approval in September, he will start on 17 November 2008. He has a history doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, was a rare book dealer, and is currently executive director of the Vermont Historical Society. Mention is made of his 16 books and 60 articles. Among those with a cartographic theme is The Shaping of Vermont: From the Wilderness to the Centennial, 1749-1877 (Rutland, Vt., 1983).

More on the Ganado collection of Malta maps


• July 25 [updates 26th & 27th, below] < http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080725/local/unique-map-collection-transferred-to-heritage-malta > 'Antique maps transferred to Heritage Malta' (in the Times of Malta).
        'Heritage Malta today formally acquired a unique collection of antique maps of Malta which was built over a period of 50 years by lawyer and historian Dr Albert Ganado ... The maps will be kept in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta. They will not be put on permanent display but will be exhibited during specific exhibitions. The map collection which is to be known as "The Albert Ganado Map Collection" is the largest and most complete collection of antique maps of Malta in the world. The manuscript maps are unique and many of the maps are very rare and are not found on the market. The Ganado collection is probably the only one that shows the development of certain representations of the Maltese islands such as the Great Siege of 1565 and the plans of Valletta. "These Great Siege maps are of great importance as some of them were printed whilst the siege was in progress to disseminate the news in Europe particularly in Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands," Heritage Malta said.
        'The collection consists of 19 manuscript maps, and 431 printed maps made between 1507 and 1899. Many of the maps were made before 1570 when Abraham Ortelius published the first standard Atlas. Most of these maps were printed as single sheets and only a few of them are left. Some are found only in the Ganado collection.' [Update 26 July < http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080726/local/a-gift-for-future-generations > : 'Dr Tabone [chairman of Heritage Malta - featured in a photograph with Dr Ganado] said the maps will be made accessible to the public and will therefore help those who wish to study and research the subject as well as provide additional insight into Maltese cartography.' The piece 'A gift for future generations', by Lisa Gwen Baldacchino, adds further details about the background to the agreement. See also 'Ganado Map Collection transferred to Heritage Malta', by Annaliza Borg < http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=72897 >] [See the earlier entry on 16 July 2008]

      'Map Collection transferred to Heritage Malta' (Gozo News 27 July 2008) < http://gozonews.com/item/map-collection-transferred-to-heritage-malta/ > adds further details. The collection will be known as "The Albert Ganado Map Collection". 'He has written widely about the subject and is the author, with Dr Maurice Agius Vadalà, of A Study in Depth of 143 Maps Representing the Great Siege of Malta of 1565? (1994-95). In 2003 he wrote Valletta Città Nuova: A Map History (1566-1600).'

The Old Print Shop is 110 years old


• July 23. < http://www.nysun.com/antiques/selling-prints-for-generations/82427/ > 'Selling Prints for Generations' (by Alex Taylor in the New York Sun).
        About the Old Print Shop, at 150 Lexington Avenue, New York, founded in 1898, and now run by the third and fourth generations of Newmans. Their speciality is 19th-century American prints and early maps. 'In March, the Old Print Shop sold a previously unknown variant of John Melish's well-known map of America, circa 1816-20, to the Library of Congress, for more than $50,000. ... It is also the type of shop that is becoming increasingly rare. "When I started working with my dad in the 1970s, there was a great gallery like ours in most cities," Robert Newman said. "There was Goodspeed's in Boston, Zeitlin's in Los Angeles, Sessler's in Philadelphia, and Nebenzal in Chicago. But they've either retired, shut down, been bought out, or closed."'

Another book from Miles Harvey


• July 17. < http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121631926429962663.html?mod=googlenews_wsj > '"Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America"' (by Miles Harvey in the Wall Street Journal).
        An introduction to, and excerpts from, the book with the title above, published by Random House. The subject is Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, who produced drawings of the Native Americans in the south-eastern U.S.A. (1562-4), with an accompanying map, later published by De Bry. The style is the same mixture of history and autobiography employed in Miles Harvey's earlier The Island of Lost Maps, about the map thief Gilbert Bland.

Dr Albert Ganado's collection of early Malta maps goes to government of Malta


• July 16. < http://www.independent.com.mt:80/news.asp?newsitemid=72307 > 'Parliament: Freedom of Information Bill unanimously approved' (by Reuben Fenech in the Malta Independent Online).
        'A parliamentary resolution was unanimously approved in the beginning of yesterday’s parliamentary sitting to the effect that Dr Albert Ganado and his wife Muriel Ganado can now transfer a rare collection of Malta maps valued over e1,747,500 [i.e. Euros = about $1,200,000] to the government of Malta in exchange of the immovable property where Dr Ganado and his wife live. The said immovable property, which has been rented by the government to the Ganado family for a very long time, is valued at e1,727,500. The rare collection of maps has been described in a report laid out in the House of Representatives by Mr Joseph C. Sammut as being unique and of significant historical and cultural value to Malta.' Dr Ganado has long been recognised as the outstanding authority on the mapping of Malta, and his collection is without equal. It remains to be seen what arrangements might be made for access. See the announcement to MapHist in January 2006 about plans to digitise the 600-item collection. [See the later entry on 25 July 2008]

An interactive look at the streets and buildings of mid-18th century Rome


• July 13. < http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=123962&sid=39&fid=1 > 'At the intersection of 18th and 21st (centuries, that is): a map of Rome ' (by Lewis Taylor in the [Oregon] Register-Guard).
        A descriptive piece about the University of Oregon's ongoing project based around the 1748 Giambattista Nolli plan of Rome. The new feature, Vasi’s Grand Tour of Rome, took two years of research and was funded by a $200,000 grant from the Getty Research Institute. 'The group’s previous project, the Nolli Map, allowed viewers to explore the city using a combination of satellite images and the work of Nolli, a master cartographer who created the first accurate map of Rome in 1748. Similar to the hybrid maps found on Web sites such as GMaps, the program actually pre-dates Google’s interactive mapping system. The Nolli map won awards and attracted far more Internet traffic than its creators ever dreamed of ... While the Nolli Map blended cartography, history, technology, architecture and urban design, the updated site adds art and perhaps a degree of cultural history. Users can still click on Nolli’s detailed and highly accurate map and learn all about the city’s hundreds of architectural wonders. Now, the site also includes hundreds of etchings by Vasi, many of which show people going about their daily lives in the city.' Jim Tice, whose contemporary building photographs can be compared with Vasi's illustrations, draws attention to 'Nolli’s revolutionary means of mapping by using shaded areas for streets and white areas for the interior spaces of buildings'.

Rare maps of Pennsylvania and a view of Philadelphia coming up at auction


• July 2. < http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/the-jay-t-snider-collection,454948.shtml > 'The Jay T. Snider Collection Featuring the History of Philadelphia and Important Americana To Be Sold at Auction' (press release from Bloomsbury Auctions).
        Bloomsbury Auctions in New York will hold a sale in November 2008 of the 'preeminent Americana collection related to the City of Brotherly Love'. It was formed over the past fifteen years by Jay T. Snider. The following are itemised: Thomas Holme's 'A Mapp of ye Improved Part of Pensilvania', and 'Nicholas Scull's excessively rare 1759 Map of Pennsylvania, as well as a lovely example of Scull and George Heap's East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia'. [For a later news story see 'The Jay T. Snider Collection Featuring the History of Philadelphia and Important Americana to be Sold At Auction', in the Wall Street Journal, 15 October 2008, < http://www.marketwatch.com:80/news/story/jay-t-snider-collection-featuring/story.aspx?guid=%7B18036D49-EB57-4D5B-9F55-DCE7EC80210D%7D&dist=hppr >.]

Papers relating to William H. Emory, 19th-century US border surveyor found


• June 22. < http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hgV2VgvJzhZDcNMTKKQhs1MYvLyAD91F5BGO0 > 'Md. plantation attic holds 400 years of documents' (by Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press).
        'A Maryland family's massive collection of letters, maps and printed bills has surfaced in the attic of a former plantation, providing a firsthand account of life from the 1660s through World War II ... The documents include maps, letters, financial records, political posters .. The papers come from several generations of the Emory family, prominent tobacco and wheat farmers who settled here on a land grant from Lord Baltimore in the 1660s. The former Poplar Grove plantation is still in family hands, though the mansion now is used only as a hunting lodge. The documents were moldering in an attic until students touring the house started sorting through them this spring'.

  The papers are to be housed in the Maryland State Archives. There is mention that 'William H. Emory (1811-87) was a colonel in the U.S. Army when the Civil War began', but not that he was a notable surveyor of the US borders, particularly in the Southwest. How many of the maps in the collection relate to him?

Maps from the Red River Rebellion, 1869-70, acquired by the University of Alberta


• June 19. < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080619.wartifacts19/BNStory/Entertainment/columnists > '"The Holy Grail of archival collections": Famous Mountie Sir Samuel Steele managed to be present at most of the Canadian West's defining moments. Now, a rich trove of materials about his life is coming home' (by Elizabeth Renzetti in the [Toronto] Gobe and Mail).
        The archive of Sir Samuel Steele (1849-1919) has been acquired by the University of Alberta. 'The Steele archive - thousands of letters, journals, maps and photos - will be handed over in London today in a ceremony at Canada House presided over by Prince Edward. The Prince is the honorary Deputy Commissioner of the RCMP, and Steele was the prototype Mountie, having been the third man to enlist in the North-West Mounted Police ... "He had an uncanny ability to be at the most important moments in history," says Robert Desmarais, the U of A's rare- books librarian... [he] was appointed to the Red River expedition sent West to put down the Riel uprising [1869-70]. His journals, letters and maps from that campaign, as well as documents he held onto from fellow soldiers, are now available to scholars for the first time ... Upon hearing that Christie's auction house was selling the archive for $1.8-million, the University of Alberta sent researchers to examine it and immediately snapped it up. The U of A plans to make the documents available digitally.'

18,000 piece jigsaw keeps the British rowing team occupied for four years


• June 17. < http://www.toynewsmag.com:80/news/29984/RAVENSBURGER-Puzzle-challenges-GB-Rowing-Team > 'Ravensburger: Puzzle challenges GB Rowing Team' (Toy News Online).
        'British Olympic Rowing Team completes mammoth jigsaw puzzle. Four years, 26 training camps, three World Championships and one Olympic games later, and the 18,000-piece jigsaw puzzle presented to the Olympic Rowing Team by Ravensburger has been finished. Measuring three metres by two metres, the puzzle, Four Historic Maps, will be framed and hung at the team's UK training headquarters in Caversham.' The three early world maps and one of America are illustrated here (without identification). As the Ravensburg marketing manager commented: "we’ve never heard of someone persevering for four years - it has to be a sign of the team’s determination to win".

Custer's Last Stand recreated from contemporary maps


• June 15 [date seen]. A recently published book by Michael N. Donahue, Drawing Battle Lines: The Map Testimony of Custer's Last Fight, is described thus, in extracts from the Amazon blurb [the spelling is theirs]: the book 'serves as a comprehensive pictorial view of the battle based on drawings and maps made by participants and researchers. Many of these maps have never been published, studied, or even viewed by the general public. The widespread dispersal of these original maps has made effective, comparitive research virtually impossible without an extraordinary large library ... Unfortunately, maps of the battle have historically played a subordinate role to the written or oral interviews. Many who fought in the Custer fight, as well as interviewers of the participants, realized the universal art of drawing could clarify information otherwise cluttered by language, interpretation and cultural differences ... The author has carefully analyzed each map providing a summary of its critical values and flaws, using only the original maps and sketches created by eyewitnesses or second generation researchers who interviewed battle participants.' A reviewer notes: 'For eighteen summers at the battlefield, Donahue gathered and pondered a variety of formerly unknown maps and took them to the field, sometimes by horseback, to apply their clues to the terrain itself.' I have not seen this volume.

Admire the grass stippling on the original map of Central Park


• June 12. < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/nyregion/12central.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin > 'A 150-Year-Old Map of Central Park Still Comes in Handy Today' (by David W. Dunlap in the New York Times).
        "Greensward", the plan by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux that won the park-design competition in 1858 is 'the centerpiece of "Celebrating Greensward: The Plan for Central Park, 1858-2008", which will be on view in the old Arsenal at Fifth Avenue and 64th Street until June 19.' The pen and ink map measures 3 feet by 8 (approx. 90 x 240 cm) and includes 'hundreds of thousands of stipple points for vegetation'. Vaux's son 'once recalled that "there was a great deal of grass to be put on by the usual small dots and dashes, and it became the friendly thing for callers to help on the work by joining in and adding some grass to Central Park".'

A map and other material associated with Jefferson to be exhibited in Kalamazoo


• June 8. < http://blog.mlive.com/kalamazoo_gazette_extra/2008/06/jack_of_all_trades_master_of_t.html > 'Jack of all trades, master of them all' (by Mark Wedel in the Kalamazoo Gazette).
        An exhibition, "The Sciences... My Supreme Delight -- T. Jefferson 1809" opens at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum on 14 June (and runs to September 1, 2008). The piece is, in effect, an interview with the curator, retired history professor, Paul Millikan. 'Millikan has 67 pieces in the exhibit. Only two -- two chairs from Monticello -- actually belonged to Jefferson. Others are 18th- and 19th-century period pieces that match what Jefferson owned, including an orrery with brass balls representing the sun and known planets, a surveyor's compass to help map out the new country, a pantagraph that mechanically copied documents and a barometer to gauge the seasons ... One of Millikan's prize pieces is an embroidered map of the world in 1810. Jefferson had many maps from all over the world, but this map was made in France as a gift for Napoleon's second wife, Marie-Louise.' It shows the French endorsement for Jefferson's claim that the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 gave the US the land all the way to the Pacific Northwest.

Update on the first printed map of Cook's discoveries [see under May 3, 2008]


• June 6. < http://stmarys.yourguide.com.au/news/national/national/general/cooks-spoils-have-a-new-berth-in-sydney/784321.aspx > 'Cook's spoils have a new berth in Sydney' (by Steve Meacham in the St Marys/Mt Druitt Star).
        The map fetched Austr. $418,000 at auction and was acquired by the State Library of New State Wales, Sydney. It will be on exhibition there from June 13 to July 31.

Map evidence shows that Machu Pichu discovered 45 years before Hiram Bingham


• June 3 [with update 21 June]. < http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14050-incan-lost-city-looted-by-german-businessman.html > 'Incan lost city looted by German businessman' (by Michael Marshall in the NewScientist.com news service).
        'The "lost city of the Incas", Machu Picchu, was actually discovered forty years earlier than thought, and ransacked. Machu Picchu was famously discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1912. New evidence shows that it was first visited in 1867 by an obscure German entrepreneur named Augusto Berns, who apparently looted the tombs with the Peruvian government's blessing ... Berns' activities were uncovered by Paolo Greer, who in 1978 discovered an old map of the area and subsequently traced Berns' activities through documents in the National Library of Peru.' Three maps are partly reproduced here: two in manuscript by, respectively, Berns and his partner 'Poker Harry' Singer; the other is a printed geological map. [Updates: 21 and 28 June 2008 - critiques of the story on Kim MacQuarrie’s Peru & South America Blog {and check later posts as well}.]

Champlain's maps placed centre stage in Quebec's quatercentenary


• May 30. < http://www.marketwire.com:80/mw/release.do?id=862860 > 'Government of Canada Unveils Commemorative Map of Champlain's Voyages and Explorations in Celebration of 400th Anniversary of Quebec' (press release from Fisheries and Oceans Canada).
        The commemorative map, obtainable 'from Canadian Hydrographic Service authorized chart dealers', features elements from his maps, a reproduction of the 1632 map, and various historical details and reconstructions. There were no obvious illustrations of this composite, bilingual, double- sided sheet.

Chickasaw Nation pays to have maps of the 'Indian Territory' digitised


• May 12. < http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080512_1_A15_hMore65213 > 'Exploring Oklahoma online. More than 600 historical maps on society’s Web site show Indian territories, cities in their infancy' (by Randy Krehbiel in the Tulsa World).
        'The [Oklahoma] Historical Society has digitized and put online more than 600 historical maps, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Chickasaw Nation. It plans to eventually make as many as 4,000 maps accessible through its Web site ... PDF versions of the maps can be printed directly from the Web. Professional quality prints and digital file copies can be ordered from the Historical Society for as little as $7.50. For researchers, access to the society’s collection of 15,000 maps has jumped the 19th century into the 21st. Until now, the Historical Society couldn’t even make photocopies of most of its maps.'

First printed map of Cook's Australian discoveries coming up for sale in Sydney.


• May 3 [seen May 2] < http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rare-cook-collection-to-be-sold/2008/05/02/1209235155773.html > 'Rare Cook collection to be sold' (by Steve Meacham in the Sydney Morning Herald).
        The second known example of what is described as the map that shows, "for the first time, the whole of Australia," is coming up for sale in Australia. It is known as the 'Banks Map', after Sir Joseph Banks, and was engraved in 1772, after Capt. James Cook returned to London from his first voyage. Banks paid for John Bayly to produce a private version (in 100 copies), which pre-empted the official Admiralty version by two years. The map forms part of a collection put together by by an American investment consultant, Robert Parks, described as 'the world's finest collection of Captain Cook memorabilia in private hands'. The collection will be offered 'in a fixed-price sale organised by Hordern House, the rare books specialist', in Sydney. The catalogue will appear at the end of the month. The map is likely to be valued in the region of Austr.$200,000 {see update 6 June 2008 for the outcome}. [See the rest of the article for further interesting details - via < < http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/05/banks_map_inclu.php >The Map Room weblog.]

Place-name battle for 'Persian Gulf': a book, an encyclopedia and a film


• April 29 < http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=167448 > '"The Persian Gulf in Historical Maps" unveiled at Iranology Foundation' (in the Tehran Times).
        'The joint work of the Iranology Foundation and the Iranian Academy of Persian language and Literature entitled "The Persian Gulf in Historical Maps" was unveiled at the Iranology Foundation Sunday.' The various co-authors are quoted thus: '"Since the ancient times, those who knew the world have called ‘Persian Gulf’ the water passageway which separates the Arabian Peninsula from the land of Iran. ‘Sinus Persicus’, ‘Persischer Golf’, and ‘Golfo di Persia’ were some of the other terms used to refer to this passageway. But when Arab nationalists took power in Egypt in early 1950s, some began to use the term ‘Arab Gulf’. Iran has expressed its opposition since."... "The book tolerantly discusses all differing points of views, political propaganda and abuse of the term ‘Persian Gulf’"..."The atlas contains 40 maps from the pre-Islamic and early Islamic era; the atlas derives its content from a wide array of sources, the major one being Istakhri’s "Al- Masalik al-Mamalik" (The Book of Roads and Kingdoms)"... "We use of an old Islamic system for describing maps which had been forsaken for a long time. Actually we have tried to revive this old tradition"..."We selected 160 out of a total of 400 original maps. Our main criteria was the quality of the maps. The interesting point is that nowhere in the maps the name of the gulf could be found without the prefix ‘Persian’."' One of the authors is shown holding the book. It is not clear if the atlas has 40 or 160 maps. Is it permissible to wonder about the 240 that were not chosen, given that some earlier maps certainly use other terms to designate the Persian Gulf?

  There are two other items of related news:

  • < http://www.payvand.com/news/08/apr/1273.html > Iran is to compile a 'Persian Gulf Encyclopedia', to be compiled in eight volumes over the next four years. Researchers will be provided 'with historical maps of the region and articles to be used in the encyclopedia.'
  • < http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1122432&Lang=E > 'Historical preview of Persian Gulf by an Iranian filmmaker' - 'Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Bozorgnia is due to start a film called "Silk Waterway" which looks into the historical record of Iranians’ possession of Persian Gulf. The screenplay has made use of historical documentary books which have described Persian Gulf and its situation centuries ago. The film depicts Iran and Persian Gulf in a thousand years ago with a story about an Iranian sea captain taking his precious merchandise to China.'

  A 1707 lead-mining map of Swaledale acquired by North Yorkshire County Records Office
  

• April 25. < http://www.northallertontimes.co.uk/northallerton-news/Old-map-puts-together-pieces.4018483.jp > 'Old map puts together pieces of our history' (in the Northallerton, Thirsk & Bedale Times).
        'The oldest known map of one of North Yorkshire's most beautiful valleys has been saved for posterity by the county council. The map depicting Swaledale was drawn in about 1707 to settle a dispute over the ownership of lead mining rights. It was bought by the council’s County Records Office, based in Northallerton, in February for £1,000 and will be kept in carefully controlled conditions ... The map reveals previously unavailable information about the size and location of settlements and access rights on the moor, including the right to graze stock, gather heather - which was used for thatch - and dig peat, which was used for fuel.' The original hand-drawn map measures 35 inches (89 cm) and is drawn on vellum. A copy has been presented to Swaledale Museum in Reeth, for public access.

Maps in the Stephen F. Austin Papers at the University of Texas to be conserved


• April 10. < http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/04/10/cah_stephen_austin/ > 'Center for American History Awarded Grant for Preservation of Austin Papers'.
        'The Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded a "Save America's Treasures" federal grant to support the conservation and general preservation of the Stephen F. Austin Papers. The $173,930 grant was awarded by the National Park Service, which administers the prestigious "Save America's Treasures" program in collaboration with the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. It will fund a three-year conservation project to repair and stabilize the Austin Papers, considered the most significant collection documenting Anglo-American colonization in Texas ... The collection contains the personal and official records of Moses Austin and his son, Stephen F. Austin. The papers, which span the years 1676-1873, were created or gathered by Stephen F. Austin beginning in 1821, the year he initiated his colonization efforts in Texas ... Treasures in the papers include significant letters and maps'.

An Indian-made film about the genesis of the Survey of India


• April 10. < http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080046434 > 'Tracing the Arc: a film by Pankaj Butalia' (from NDTV.com).
        Commentary to a 21 minute film, which can be seen here < http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=26627 >. It was apparently broadcast from New Delhi on April 10th. This describes the work of William Lambton and George Everest in tracing the Great Indian Arc of the Meridian, in the period 1802-43. 'It looks at what motivated the British to undertake such extensive mapping of India in the first place. To what extent were these maps necessary for expansion of the empire, and to what extent were these devices with which to access remote areas of India to see what they had to offer which was of commercial benefit to the East India Company are questions the film addresses.'

Wooden tablet from a Taiwanese temple (18th century?) maps a land dispute


• April 11 [seen 10th] < http://taiwanjournal.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?CtNode=122&xItem=33690 > 'Exhibition showcases finest Ma Zu relics' (by Sandra Shih in the Taiwan Journal, XXV, 14).
        About the exhibition devoted to Ma Zu, goddess of the sea, held at the National Museum of History in downtown Taipei, from March 2-23. The exhibition is therefore closed, but the following passage seemed interesting. 'One of the highlights of the exhibition was a 2.7-meter long and 0.9-meter wide horizontally inscribed board. Loaned from Ciyou Temple--literally meaning protected by kindness--in Sinjhuang City, Taipei County, the relic has been in the temple since 1778 during the Ching dynasty (1644-1912). Differing from most boards that bear moral and ethical inscriptions, Ciyou's relic announces the details of a court action over a contested land title brought by two intellectuals named Li Wu-hou and Li Wei-jhi. The wooden tablet also includes detailed descriptions and maps of the area. "This is not a common tablet that could be found in an old temple because it served as a judicial decree as well as a historic artifact," Chairman Lin Tao-hung of Ciyou Temple said during the opening ceremony of the Cultural Exhibition of Taiwan's Goddess Ma Zu in the NMH.'

1963 map of the Gettysburg battle to be removed


• April 7. < http://blog.pennlive.com/leftcoast/2008/04/lights_out_at_the_gettysburg_e.html > 'Lights out at the Gettysburg Electric Map' (by Scott Roberts).
        'This Sunday will be the last day to visit the beloved Gettysburg Electric Map. Soon afterwards, the historic map will be cut into four pieces before being stored in a nearby Civil War-era barn. Park Service officials have yet to decide upon a new venue for the 60 year-old, one-of-a kind, 30 x 30 foot [9 x 9 metres] map. Relatives of the maps creator, Joseph Rosensteel, and visitors who view the map as a national treasure, are worried about the map's future.

  'Emily O'Neil, Rosensteel's daughter, is disappointed that the National Park Service has excluded the map from the new Gettysburg Visitors center. "It is just an incredible way to visualize those three days of the battle," she says. "The actual intent that my father had remains viable and extremely important to so many people." Kathi Schue, president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association, calls the map "a national treasure." She is upset about the map being retired. "Do you know how many thousands of school kids have seen that map in the past 40 years? The things that they will be most likely to take away from their Gettysburg experience are the monuments and the map." John Latschar, superintendent of the Gettysburg National Military Park, agrees that the map is "an icon of its age," but describes the map as "one hundred percent antiquated." He adds that, "From an architectural standpoint, it takes up an immense amount of space."' For more on this story see, for example, the Civil War Librarian blog for 24 March 2008. [Update: 7 May 2008. A < http://www.savetheelectricmap.com > website has been set up by Jon Dekeles of Post Falls, Idaho to gather support for saving the map. For later update see under 13 May 2009.]

More about the 1964-65 World’s Fair terrazzo map


• April 7. < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/nyregion/07map.html?_r=1&oref=slogin > 'In the Tent of Tomorrow, a Faded Map of Yesteryear' (by David W. Dunlap in the New York Times).
        Further on the "half-acre terrazzo road map of New York State from the 1964-65 World’s Fair - an exuberantly overstated mix of small-town parochialism, space-age optimism and Pop Art irony", which it is hoped may be preserved. A small section is on display at the Queens Museum of Art until 4 May in the exhibition, Back on the Map: Revisiting the New York State Pavilion at the 1964-65 World’s Fair. [For an earlier entry, with links to additional illustrations, see archive below under 31 January 2008.]

Large Blaeu globes sold for a record sum


• April 4. < http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lfsearch_coa/LotDescription.aspx > A pair of the largest globes produced by Willem Blaeu (and his son Johannes) have been sold at Christie's, Amsterdam for Euros 800,000. They came from the 'Princely House of Liechtenstein' and were bought by a private European collector. As usual, the globes formed a pair: a terrestrial of 1645/8 (i.e. showing Australia) and a celestial dated after 1630. At 68 cm (26 in), they were the largest globes of their time. The auctioneers claim that this is 'the largest sum ever paid for a work of art in the Netherlands, with the exception of paintings.' [Via < "http://www.maptheuniverse.com/?p=187 > Map the Universe and < http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/04/blaeu_globes_fe.php > The Map Room weblogs].

Collecting tips from a US road map collector


• April 1. < http://www.collectorsweekly.com/blogs/dave/guest-column-an-interview-with-road-map-collector-richard-horwitz/ > 'Guest Column: An Interview With Road Map Collector Richard Horwitz' (by Marty Weil in the Collectors Weekly, via the Ephemera Blog).
        Interview with the past president of the Road Map Collectors Association, a retired picture editor who 'lives in New Jersey with his wife and more than 12,000 road maps'.

The new Tampa Bay History Center is to receive part of the Touchton map collection


• March 30. < http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/30/tr-treasured-maps-of-early-florida/ > 'Treasured Maps of Early Florida' (by Philip Morgan in the Tampa Tribune).
        About the 'Spanish exploration exhibit at the $52 million Tampa Bay History Center in Florida, which is scheduled to open in December in the Channel District', and the maps belonging to J. Thomas Touchton, president of the Witt-Touchton Co., an investment firm. Touchton 'has collected some 2,000 maps of Florida, from colonial Spain to early 20th century road maps. "Just by accident, I have put together over 25 years what dealers tell me is the largest collection of Florida maps in the world not in a museum or library," says Touchton, the history center's founding president who led the fundraising campaign to build and endow the new 60,000-square-foot facility. A prized possession is a 1622 edition of a 1601 Spanish map. "It's the first known printed map in history with the name 'Tampa' on it," he says. Over the next several years, Touchton will donate most of his collection to the history center. A number of unique items will be on display at the map center, which will have an adjacent map library so people can study them.' [See 17 January 2009 for the opening.]

1833 map of Covington, Louisiana to be preserved


• March 27. < http://blog.nola.com/tpnorthshore/2008/03/historic_map_of_covington_will.html > 'Historic map of Covington will get TLC at SLU' (by Charlie Chapple in the [New Orleans] Times-Picayune).
        'Covington officials, at the urging of former city councilwoman Pat Clanton, are moving to permanently preserve the oldest known map of the city in the regional archives of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. The map, entitled "Commerce and Virtue the Division of St. John Covington," dates back to 1833 and once belonged to Clanton's grandfather, Emile Frederick Sr., who was the city's eighth mayor in 1891 and 1892. It was later given to the city by family member Harold Burns, Clanton's first cousin, during the administration of the late mayor Ernest J. Cooper in the early 1970s. The cloth map, encased in a gold frame, has been displayed on the walls of the mayor's office since then until the September 2006 fire at City Hall. It's now in a closet at the Greater Covington Center. Clanton said she became concerned about the map in 2005 when then City Council Clerk Lynne Moore discovered that the map was gradually fading. Clanton said she recently talked to Southeastern history professor Samuel C. Hyde Jr., director of the university's Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies and Archives. The center is willing to permanently store and preserve the document under a donation or loan agreement with the city, Clanton said.'

Map-inspired exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society


• March 27. Simeon Nelson, artist in residence with the Royal Geographical Society in London for the past 15 months, announces an exhibition of the resulting work, < http://www.simeon-nelson.com/cryptosphere.html > Into the Cryptosphere, running from 7 April-9 May 2008. His website illustrates the new work and the early maps that helped to inspire it.

Call for the Bodleian's Gough Map to be put on permanent display


• March 26 < http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2147406.0.bodleians_rare_map_should_be_on_show.php > 'Bodleian's rare map 'should be on show'' (by Andrew Ffrench in the Oxford Mail).
        'One of the most important maps ever made in Britain should be placed on display, according to a key member of staff at Oxford University's Bodleian Library. The Gough Map, which dates from about 1360, is the earliest surviving map of Great Britain to show routes across the UK and to depict the island with a recognisable coastline. Richard Ovenden, keeper of special collections at the Bodleian, believes the map is such an important historical document that it should be on display for the public. He said the map was high on the list of items the library hoped to display, following a £5m donation from Julian Blackwell, to pay for ambitious redevelopment plans.'

  '"Schoolchildren from Oxfordshire will benefit from purpose-built facilities so they can engage with some of the Bodleian's treasures," Mr Ovenden said. Earlier this month, he warned that the renovation project, which is expected to start in 2010 and finish in 2012, would only happen if the Bodleian could free up space in the library, by building a £29m book depository on the Osney Mead industrial estate.

Official survey records lost in a fire in Pakistan


• March 21. < http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\21\story_21-3-2008_pg12_8 > '165-year-old maps burnt' (by Amar Guriro in the [Pakistan] Daily Times).
        'The city’s records [of Karachi], some over a century old, were burnt in the fire at the Board of Revenue Sindh building early Thursday morning. These records included 165-year-old historical and administrative records such as city surveys, maps, measurements, locations of all major arteries, small lanes, roads, temples, churches, mosques, graveyards, amenity plots, hospitals, government schools, public parks, railway tracks, tombs and shrines of saints, cow grazing spots, potable water ponds, government offices and all other places for which the government has allotted land. "In the colonial era when Bombay (Mumbai) was part of Sindh, the British government directed for the first time for a city survey at the grass-roots level in 1843," said an official who said he was not authorized to speak. "The survey was continued till 1911. During it, the revenue team measured every inch of the land of Sindh." ...

  'There were also records of other cities in Sindh, said Syed Anwar Hyder, a senior member of the Board of Revenue. An official of the city survey department said on conditions of anonymity that records of the land allocated during the tenure of former Sindh CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim were also burnt. This claim was rejected by Hyder. When asked why such valuable material was kept in such a building, he replied that the records had been safe for a century and there was no reason to move them. He also rejected arson. "It could have been a short circuit, but we have yet to investigate that," Hyder said. "It was a public holiday and almost all the offices were closed and only a few officials came in the morning to do some important work," he said. "The fire broke out all of a sudden in the record room located on the rooftop of the office of the superintendent of the city survey."'

  Also another article in the same issue: < http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\03\21\story_21-3-2008_pg12_1 > 'Records go up in flames at Secretariat' (by Faraz Khan)
        'Important records of the surveys and land revenue department were destroyed Thursday after several government department offices, including the Board of Revenue building, were gutted in an inferno that erupted at the Sindh Secretariat. The decades-old building was established in 1836, during the British government, and is located opposite the Sindh Home Department, a short distance from the Sindh High Court. A four-member investigation team has been formed on the directives of the Sindh chief minister to probe the incident.'

  The two accounts leave many questions unanswered (usual with a major fire), as officials seek to pass the blame. See the related entry (in the 2007 archive, under 1 October) about early maps found in plastic sacks on the roof of the Karachi Municipal Archives and Research Department.

Details are awaited about Belgian digital initiative


• March 17. < http://mapsandmore.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/belgian-map-collections-go-digital/ > 'Belgian map collections go digital' (by Joost Depuydt on his Maps & more blog).
        'On March 14th, 2008 four Belgian federal institutions announced their common project to digitize their map collections. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any substantial information about it, except for some small articles in the Belgian press. The websites of the four institutions remain silent. Nevertheless, the expectations run high, since considerable sums of money are being mentioned. The four institutions are:
  • Rijksarchief (State Archives)
  • Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Royal Library)
  • Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika (Royal Museum for Central Africa)
  • Nationaal Geografisch Instituut (National Geographic Institution)'
  Joost Depuydt is in charge of maps, drawings and prints at the FelixArchief (City Archives) in Antwerp. [Update 26 March: the text of the article from Le Soir, 15-16 March 2008, is availabe on the BIMCC site (click on the illustration.]

  Library opens in Berkeley with a major collection of Japanese maps
  

• March 17. < http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/03/17/MNDGVJLC2.DTL > 'Cal's East Asian library's gold is on shelves' (by Charles Burress in the San Francisco Chronicle).
        'The campus fanfare swirling around the opening today of UC Berkeley's new $46.4 million < http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EAL/ > C.V. Starr East Asian Library highlights the building's Asian-influenced architecture and especially its airy spaciousness. Much is made of it being the first freestanding library devoted to East Asia at any American university ... The rare items housed in the library will not be available until after the rare-book room opens on July 1 and will also require advance notice and special permission.' Among the 'gems' is 'a collection of 2,500 historic Japanese maps said to be the largest and most comprehensive outside of Japan'. The piece gives background information on the nature and origin of the library's collections, which include significant holdings of Chinese and Korean material. [See an earlier note about this library on 16 October 2007.]

Preview of 'Maps: Finding Our Place in the World'


• March 11. < http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.maps11mar11,0,2092666.story > 'To collectors' delight, exhibit is all over map. Cartography treasures displayed at Walters' (by Glenn McNatt in the Baltimore Sun ).
        A preview of the centrepiece in Baltimore's < http://baltimorefestivalofmaps.com/ > Festival of Maps, the exhibition at the Walters Art Museum. 'Maps: Finding Our Place in the World' opens on Sunday (16 March). Various people give their comments, including members of the Washington Map Society.

Champlain vividly remembered


• March 9. < http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/03/09/champlain_was_here/?page=1 > 'Champlain was here. America's founding myth tells of the Puritans landing in wild, uncharted lands. Yet a French explorer had already mapped the territory in exquisite detail.' (by Ted Widmer in the Boston Globe).
        The Director of the John Carter Brown Library introduces an exhibit curated by the JCB, "Champlain's America: New England and New France," showing at the Boston Public Library (March 13 to May 31). Celebrating the 400th anniversary of Quebec's foundation by Samuel de Champlain in 1608, the author reflects on his broadly forgotten achievements, for example in the discovery and mapping of much of the New England coast before the Mayflower arrived. Widmer's elegant piece is well worth reading. [Note: elsewhere the exhibit title is given as "Before New England: Champlain’s America".]

Map used for the last lunar landing up for auction


• March 7. < http://historical.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=6000&Lot_No=58038&type=amer6000-temaa030608 > 'Apollo 17 Lunar Module Flown Complete Orbit Monitor Chart...'.
        Heritage Auction Galleries are offering the complete, 18-panel lunar chart produced for the last landing on the moon. This example was used by the mission Commander Gene Cernan, for navigating down to the surface. It notes where the lunar module was to land on 11 December 1972. The item is in an online sale, due to close on 24 March, with an estimate of $125,000-150,000.

The Baltimore 'Festival of Maps' has its own microsite for maps


• A revised version of the successful 2007 exhibition at Chicago's Field Museum opens in Baltimore on 16 March. The Walters Art Museum has set up a microsite, < http://www.thewalters.org/maps/index.html > Maps at the Walters Art Museum, to keep track of the 'host of exhibitions and events'. Entry to the exhibition, which will run until 8 June, is free.

New book displaying the map treasures of the National Library of Australia


• March 6. < http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/you-are-here--maps-that-define-a- nation/2008/03/05/1204402556166.html > 'You are here - maps that define a nation' (by John Huxley in the Sydney Morning Herald).
        Announcing a new publication, Australia in Maps, 'a book of 52 great pieces of cartography from the library's collection of more than 1 million rarities, charts and aerial photographs ... The curator of maps, Martin Woods, concedes that the book - begun by his predecessor, Maura O'Connor, and more than 25 years in the making - barely scratches the surface of the library's collection. "But it's a start, an important part of the process of revealing more of our treasures, of our great stories, to the public. Funds are being raised to increase the library's maps display area, now so small that fewer than 10 items can be shown at once. And Dr Woods and his team have begun the huge task of digitising the collection for the library's website'. [Via << http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/03/australia_in_ma.php > The Map Room weblog].

A 17th-century Dutch wall-map found stuffed up a Scottish chimney


• March 1. 'The most commodius ornament: 17th century wall maps'.
        The latest issue of < http://www.nls.uk/collections/maps/subjectinfo/cairt > Cairt, the newsletter of the Scottish Maps Forum (issue 12, February 2008, pp.7-8), has the interesting story of an example of Valck & Schenck's wall-map of the world (no. 544 in Rodney Shirley's The Mapping of the World), whose royal arms of William & Mary place it in the period 1689-94. The large rolled map (166 x 227 cm/65x89in), on its original linen backing, was found 'stuffed up a chimney' in a house in north-east Scotland. The builder involved gave it to a friend, rather than putting it in a skip, and from there it found its way to the National Library of Scotland. Not surprisingly, the map is in appalling condition, but part of the double-hemisphere design, the ornamental borders and the strips of town view can be seen. Only one complete example is recorded, in Rotterdam.

David Rumsey to give this year's OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture


• February 27 [seen March 1st]. < http://sils.unc.edu/news/releases/2008/02_rumsey.htm > 'Maps and technology to be featured at OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture in Information and Library Science' (press release from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
        'David Rumsey, an historical map scholar and collector, will share how he turned his private map collection, one of the largest in the U.S., into a public resource at the second annual OCLC/Frederick G. Kilgour Lecture in Information and Library Science on Wednesday, March 19, 2008. Rumsey, president of Cartography Associates and Chairman of Luna Imaging, Inc., will present [as a free public lecture], "Turning Private Collections into Public Resources Using Digital Technologies and the Internet" in the Auditorium of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus at 2 p.m.' The release includes biographical notes and examples of two of his recent incursions into social networking: Google Earth and Second Life [on which see 'Historical Maps in Second Life: David Rumsey's antique maps feature in an innovative build in the virtual world' by Erica Naone in Technology Review, 29 February, and the preceding entry.]

David Rumsey launches his 'islands in Second Life'


• February 27. < http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-27-2008/0004763474&EDATE= > 'Mapping Into New Worlds: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection Establishes Unique, Experiential Map Exhibit in Second Life' (from PRNewswire).
        'David Rumsey took his historical map collection, one of the largest private map collections in the U.S., into virtual worlds today with the launch of the Rumsey Maps islands in Second Life ... '"Virtual worlds are the logical next step for my collection," said David Rumsey. "I've digitized over 17,000 maps at full resolution, which I am providing free for use on my site, and my maps have been featured as layers in both Google Earth and Google Sky. Using a virtual world allows me to create new ways of experiencing these maps in avatarized form and at unprecedented scale, for both learning and entertainment."' Five sample maps are briefly described.

Interdependent maps and text of 18th century Cheshire estates reunited


• February 25. < http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/display.var.2069904.0.historical_sleuths_unearth_vital_documents.php > 'Historical sleuths unearth vital documents' (in this is Cheshire.co.uk).
        A heartening story of how luck and detective work led to a volume of 1762 estate plans by John Probert of the village of Wybunbury near Nantwich, Cheshire being reunited in the County Archives with their 'book of reference'. While the maps were handsome, they were of limited use without the accompanying text, which supplied the details of 'tenants, field names, acreages, rents etc.' Taken together, 'the documents and maps provide an accurate view of land use, the residents, tenants, fields, buildings and their uses, covering over 9,500 acres.' The maps had been cut out of the volume perhaps a century ago.

The history of Berlin focusing on contemporary maps


• February 21. < http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2008/feb/21/professor-receives-grant-mapping-project/ > 'Professor receives grant for mapping project' (by Christina Brown in the Daily Bruin [UCLA]).
        'As part of a collaboration between a number of universities over many years, Professor of Germanic languages [at UCLA] Todd Presner’s project HyperCities, a Web-based platform that shows Berlin as it evolves over centuries, has won a grant totaling $238,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The award will be presented today to Presner at a day-long convention in Chicago for the 17 winners. Recipients were selected from 1,010 applications for the first-ever Digital Media and Learning Competition run by the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory and funded by the MacArthur Foundation ... The project now covers the 800-year history of Berlin through maps from the past ... With the grant money, the team hopes to expand the project to include Los Angeles, Rome and Lima.'

Claim that maps provide oldest evidence of Jewish ghettos in Italy


• February 20. < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3403817.ece > 'Secret documents from Holy Inquisition revealed' (by Richard Owen in The Times) [London].
        'Secret documents from the archives of the Holy Inquisition today went on public show for the first time in Rome - though not the instruments of torture used to extract confessions from heretics ... Marco Pizzo, co-curator of the exhibition with Monsignor Alejandro Cifres, head of the Congregation's archives, said the sixty documents on display at the Vittoriano Museum on Piazza Venezia in the centre of Rome included a collection of maps of Jewish settlements across Italy, "the oldest evidence we have of the ghettos"'. The exhibition, 'Rari e preziosi. Documenti dell'età moderna e contemporanea dagli archivi del Sant'Uffizio', runs until 16 March only. One of the talks in an associated three-day conference (21-23 February) is by Micaela Procaccia (Direzione generale per gli Archivi, Roma): 'Universitas hebreorum, Keillah qadosh: gli archivi per la storia degli ebrei in Italia' < http://w3.uniroma1.it/dsmc/notizie/allegati/Conv_inquisizione.doc >. [There does not seem to be a webpage for the exhibition.]

Uncatalogued map of Hampton, New Hampshire donated to the 'wrong' town


• February 19. < http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080219/NEWS/802190347/-1/NEWS10&sfad=1 > '1830s map of Hampton found in No. Hampton library' (by Amy Kane in the Seacoastonline).
        The hand-drawn map of Hampton, dated from internal evidence to about 1830, 'was discovered rolled up in a tube in the North Hampton Public Library, mistakenly donated to the wrong town 20 years ago and never catalogued.' It has now been transferred to the Hampton Historical Society, which will try to obtain funding for conservation and scanning. The map is "like a slice of history nobody knew existed". Each house is shown, 'oriented in its true direction, and labeled in small script with the owner's name'. The moral of the tale would be obvious to the map cataloguers of the world.

Two examples of a 1862 wall-map of Will County, Illinois made into one


• February 15. < http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-map_restored_15feb15,1,2285953.story?ctrack=2&cset=true > '2 Civil War-era maps are discovered and shed light on Will County. Civil War-era charts are shedding light on Will County history' (by Joel Hood in the Chicago Tribune).
        'Nobody is sure how long the old maps had been in that forgotten cast iron vault [in the country archive room], nothing but twine and luck holding them together. It wasn't until officials delicately unfurled the crumbling relics that the significance of the discovery came to light: a Civil War-era snapshot of Will County, and its movers and shakers, in remarkable detail.' The maps, though not identified as such, are presumably examples of S.H. Burhans and J. Van Vechten's, 'Map of Will County, Illinois' (1862). Finding two examples of the same map, both in poor condition, allowed conservators to 'cannibalise' one to provide the sections missing in the other. 'The 4-foot-by-5-foot map [122 x 152 cm] is the showcase piece of "The Origins of Will County" exhibit that begins Friday in Lockport, chronicling the lives of the county's early pioneers, business leaders and important figures in the throes of the Industrial Age.' [See further, 'Piecing together the past. Careful work helps rebuild old map of Will County' by Louise Brass in the Herald News, 22 February < http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/lifestyles/801443,6_1_NA22_MAPS_S1.article >.]

The recently discovered first map of Namibia to go on display


• February 7. < http://allafrica.com/stories/200802070245.html > 'Namibia: Early Maps of Namibia on Display' (by Frederick Philander in the [Windhoek] New Era).
        An exhibition of early maps of Namibia is to be held at the National Art Gallery of Namibia, 'next Friday and will run until March 20'. This will display the maps and other materials (some of which contain valuable ethnographic detail) produced by the Swede, Charles John Andersson in 1851-67. The two maps he compiled were 'sent to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden. The second map showed what is today northern Botswana and southern Zimbabwe with the Zambezi River. The waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya is featured on the map which was made three years before Dr David Livingstone visited the Falls for the first time (1855) ... The Namibian map is the first map ever made of central and northern Namibia.' The unpublished maps were found only recently in Sweden. 'In addition to displaying the two unique maps, the exhibitors intend to bring forward and discuss the fact that the African people participated to a great extent with information and sketches in the production of the early maps, as well as guiding and leading the European, American and Asian explorers. This fact was hardly ever mentioned in the representations that the explorers did in their home countries about their discoveries in Africa.'

Pemberton's maps of Vancouver Island to be put on the web


• February 7. < http://ring.uvic.ca/08feb07/history.html > 'Clicking back in time: UVic Libraries put BC history online' (by Patty Pitts in the Ring, the University of Victoria's Community Newspaper).
        'Five original hand-coloured maps of Vancouver Island circa 1855-9 made by the colony’s surveyor-general, Joseph D. Pemberton' are among material from the University of Victoria’s Special Collections and Archives that are to be put on the web. This is possible because of a grant from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, marking the 150th anniversary of British Columbia. The scans will be made available on the library's < http://contentdm.library.uvic.ca:8000/ > image display system.

A major Italian archive digitised at UCLA


• February 1. < http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/orsini-43780.aspx > 'UCLA Library opens its major Orsini family archive to online searching. Rich trove of materials documents history of illustrious Italian family' (by Dawn Setzer in the UCLA Newsroom).
        The Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) announces < http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/orsini/ > online access to the extensive archive of the Orsini family ranging from 1150 to 1950, acquired in 1964. 'Much of the material concerns property administration, including maps, registers, plans, inventories of houses and palaces, appointments of personnel, and reports from estate managers'. The 'Maps and Plans' search option provides access to 132 images of maps, plans, and other documents, enlargeable to high resolution via Zoomify.

  'The Rome-based Orsini have been one of Italy’s leading families since the Middle Ages, when they acquired extensive lands across the central and southern parts of the country. Comparable in power and influence to the Medici family, the Orsini produced three popes, 28 cardinals and 33 Roman senators and were crucial players in the complicated power-game of Italian politics during some of the most tumultuous times in the country’s history'.

  The collection of Orsini parchments at the Archivo Storico Capitolino in Rome 'will soon be available on-line'.

Part of the 'world's largest road map' to go on display


• January 31. < http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19250883&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=551069&rfi=6 > 'Tiles from Texaco World's Fair map on view' (by Jeremy Walsh in the TimesLedger).
        'A much loved road map is going indoors - and then underground. New Yorkers will have the chance to view the famous paved Texaco Map from the 1964 World's Fair as portions of it are deconstructed and preserved before their eyes. Conservationists have combined their technical efforts with an exhibition exploring the history of the map, the World's Fair and the pop art movement at the Queens Museum of Art. The exhibition lasts from Jan. 27 to May 4 ... The exhibit also includes photographs comparing the map's condition in 1964, the '90s and the present day, as well as a photo mosaic of the map in its current state by artist Anthony Auerbach, who documented the entire surface of the terrazzo map from a height of seven feet. As the photographs and the tiles themselves show, decades of neglect, weather and vandalism have taken their toll ... Preserving the tiles is a complicated process that involves removing the 600-pound tiles, taking out all the old, rusting iron supports, filling in missing spaces on the face, and replacing the support with a honeycomb matrix.' Ten of the tiles (covering Long Island) will be conserved and exhibited. For the rest, fund-raising will be needed. [See further < http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/02/restoring_the_t.php > The Map Room, 3 February 2008.]

  Another source, < http://www.nyc-architecture.com/BKN/BKN003.htm > 'New York State Pavilion (1964-1965 World's Fair)' describes it as 'an oversized map of the state of New York, which is made up of 567 mosaic terrazzo panels weighing about 400 lbs. each, largely covers its floor. The map is said to have cost one million dollars at the time, and displays the locations of all Texaco gas stations in the state of New York ... the world’s largest road map.' They sadly conclude that the map is 'beyond repair'. Other pictures here.

New study of the Gough Map (c. 1360)


• January 31. < http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/31/nmap131.xml > 'Britain's first ever road map published' (by Sophie Borland in the [UK] Telegraph).
        A sketchy piece about today's publication by the Bodleian Library Amazon. This is the first study for fifty years of this highly important map. [For further comment and links see Oxford University Library Services < http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/news/2008_feb_01 >Press Release, 1 February 2008.]

Some of the maps being donated to the University of Virginia by Seymour Schwartz go on display


• January 25. < http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid= 1173354354467 &path=!news > 'At UVa, maps to the past. Age of exploration to live again through library's exhibition' (by Bob Gibson in the [Charlottesville] Daily Progress).
        Previewing the exhibition due to open on 28 January at the Harrison Institute/Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. It will run throughout 2008. It comprises 'about 50 of America’s oldest and rarest maps', part of a collection running to 225 items, pledged to the University of Virginia Libraries by Dr. Seymour I. Schwartz. A map room is being named tomorrow (26th) in his honour. Schwarts is the author, inter alia, of The Mismapping of America and Putting America on the Map. The brief article also explains how he started collecting. See also the press release: < http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/press/schwartz/index.html >.

A special library opens in Ho Chi Minh City to deal with territorial disputes


• January 22 < http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01DOM220108 > 'Library offers data on Truong Sa, Hoang Sa isles' (originally in the Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times)).
        Another move in the dispute between Vietnam and China over ownership of the Spratly Islands. 'A library containing documents about Truong Sa (Spratly), Hoang Sa (Paracel) islands, and the East Sea has been opened in HCM City to enable studies by those interested in the subject. It has over 100 documents including books written in Chinese and old maps. All the documents will also be available online soon.' [For an earlier post on this topic see under 4 January 2008.]

Original plan of a Civil War fort found


• January 19. < http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/285854.html > 'Couple find rare map hidden behind photo' (Associated Press in the Wichita Eagle).
        The 'discovery of a Civil War map behind a framed Western print could be worth thousands of dollars.' A disintegrating frame bought 20 years ago proved to contain also a hand-drawn plan of Fort Abbott, 'one of five Civil War "star forts" built in Virginia, designed to keep Confederate troops from stealing Union Army cattle ... A Virginia museum curator was able to identify minor details on the map that indicate it was drawn by someone who was there. How the map came to Kansas remains a point of speculation.' Apparently the fort did not play a prominent role in the Civil War.

Two (actually three) claimants to be the first map to name 'America'


• January 17. < http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080117/NEWS02/37753644/-1/news > 'Two maps: Only one can be the first' (by Bryan Rourke, originally in the Providence Journal).
        As a diversion from seeing who is going to be first in US politics, the media are putting up alternative champions for inventing the name 'America'. The Library of Congress's recently acquired Waldseemüller map is regularly referred to as 'America's birth certificate'. Now the Providence Journal puts forward (again) the claim of its own celebrated institution, the John Carter Brown Library, which bought a smaller Waldseemüller world map in 1901, just before the wall-map was discovered in Germany. Since there is no direct evidence, the debate is open to all. Just to help this along, it is worth reminding the participants about the globe gores in Minnesota's James Ford Bell Library, included in their exhibition last October, entitled "The Map that Named America, 1507-2007". That is not mentioned in the current article. [But see the News Archive for 27 September 2007.]

Now look forward to Baltimore's "Festival of Maps"


• January 15. < http://www.baltimorefestivalofmaps.com/ > The Baltimore Festival of Maps.
        Details are beginning to emerge about the successor to last year's (and continuing) Festival of Maps in Chicago, to be held in Baltimore, March 16 - June 8, 2008. Keep an eye on the site because, no doubt, more will be added in the next two months.

Conservation needed for official maps of New York City dating back to 1748


• January 14. < http://www.nypost.com/seven/01142008/news/regionalnews/treasured_maps_465310.htm > 'Treasured maps: fight to save Manhattan's history' (by Jeremy Olshan in the New York Post).
        Manhattan borough is responsible for preserving all the official maps of New York County dating back to 1748. The Map Room of the Topographical Bureau contains '4,000 maps, 800 of which are being targeted for major restoration'.

The city of Vienna puts its cartographic history online


• January 8. < http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/170831.html > 'Vienna launches internet databank for its cultural heritage' ( earthtimes.org).
        Today, the city of Vienna 'presented a new online cultural data bank providing information about history, artworks, archeology and about a third of the city's buildings. The < https://www.wien.gv.at/kultur/kulturgut/ > digital cadastral map gives access to information on 55,000 of Vienna's 160,000 buildings via current and historical maps.' The GIS functions relate just to the modern maps, but select 'Stadtgeschichte - Karten vor 1850' [History of the city - maps pre-1850] for 8 maps (the earliest 1547, and including the 9 parts of the Carl Graf Vasquez plan of 1830), each with commentary and enlargeable to high resolution.

The Washington Post looks at the Field exhibit


• January 6. < http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010401321.html > 'Picturing the World, Around Us' (by Kari Lydersen in the Washington Post).
        Prompted by the Field Museum exhibit in Chicago, and the successor exhibit due to open in Baltimore, this has contributions from, among others, Barry MacLean, Matthew Edney and Michael Conzen.

Now there is to be a 'Festival of Maps' in Baltimore as well


• January 4. Tom Sander reports to MapHist about the plans in Baltimore for a 'Festival of Maps', on the Chicago model, from 16 March to 8 June. Apparently, 'more than 20 area arts and cultural organizations will present activities exploring the rich history and contemporary interpretations of maps and the mapping process'.

Early cartography used in the dispute over the Spratly Islands


• January 4. 'Vietnamese Claims to the Truong Sa Archipelago [Ed. Spratly Islands]' (by Todd C. Kelly in Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies. A Journal of the Southeast Asian Studies Student Association, 3 (1999)).
        An old article by a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, is resurrected on a blog entitled, 'Campaign to Defend Vietnam from Chinese Expansionism in SE Asia'. The article examines (supposedly objectively) the evidence of early charts.

Claim that Korean bank note contains altered map of 1861


• January 1. < http://dokdo-or-takeshima.blogspot.com/2008/01/korea-adds-dokdo-to-old-map.html > 'Korea to add "Dokdo" to image of old map' (on the Dokdo-or-Takeshima? blog).
        'The Korean government has decided to use an image of Kim Jeong-ho's 1861 Korean map, "Daedong Yeojido," on their new 100,000 won bank notes, but instead of using a true image of the famous map, the government will be adding the island of "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which did not appear on the original map or on any old Korean map. This seems to be yet another example of the Korean government's use of deceit to try to convince Koreans and others that Dokdo was Korean territory.' As with all reports of current territorial disputes that use early maps in evidence, the intention here is not to comment on the accuracy of any claim but to warn of the dangers (if true) of the propagandist use of old maps. This is the second time that an accusation has come from a Japanese source that an old map has been tampered with in Korea [see 'Sea of Japan/East Sea controversy enlivened by claim that original map was altered', filed under 1 March 2007]. One of the comments on the post above discusses what was shown on other maps by Kim Jeong-ho.