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.
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.
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.
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.