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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Ch'onhado is a type of Korean quasi-cosmographical depiction that means "map of the world beneath the heavens." This colorful map is a gorgeous example of the form.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
American Indians walked the land where the nation's capital city now stands long before Europeans arrived. Local historian Armand Lione shares that history when he talks about his research, much of which is conducted at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Geography and Maps Division, Native Americans, Researcher Stories, Washington DC
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Native American historical influences on the United States, in everything from state names to influences for the U.S. Constitution, are apparent everywhere you look.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, Native Americans
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Aeronautical Chart and Information Center of the U.S. Air Force created this photo-mosaic map of the moon in 1962, as part of the nation's drive to put astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, Maps, Science
Posted by: Neely Tucker
In 1154, Arab Muslim geographer al-Idrisi, working at the behest of King Roger of Sicily, created a huge map of the known world. The map was more than 9 feet long and composed of 70 separate section maps. The Library preserves a 1928 recreation of this map.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM, Maps
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The remarkable career of Marie Tharp, the cartographer and scientist who helped map the ocean's floor for the first time in history, is preserved in her papers at the Library. A pioneering female scientist of 20th century, her work help lay the groundwork for the modern understanding of continental drift and plate tectonics.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM, Maps, Women's History
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The ceramics created by ancient Maya potters make for some of the most vibrantly colored objects that survive in the archaeological record of the Americas. John Hessler, curator of the Library's Kislak collection, explains how their distinctive blue color has survived for centuries.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, Jay I. Kislak Collection, Library Work and Employees, Native Americans, Preservation and Conservation
Posted by: Neely Tucker
German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller's 1507 world map was the first to name the New World as "America," for the Italian-born explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. The Library holds the only copy of the map known to still exist.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library's Geography and Map Division recently acquired a rare 18th-century carving of a Theravada Buddhist cosmography that originated in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). The Library's John Hessler translates and explains the nine-foot-tall carving.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, Maps