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Archive: 2023 (46 Posts)

map showing Eastern Hemisphere

Exploring the First Printed Arabic World Atlas

Posted by: Carissa Pastuch

On the vault shelves of the Geography and Map Division between John Arrowsmith’s London Atlas of Universal Geography (1858) and a 19th century French jigsaw-puzzle map of the world made of wood, Atlas geographique, lies a 50 x 31 centimeter nondescript atlas in green binding. The hunter green lusterless cover may seem unremarkable, but open …

Southern Lands, Explorers, and Bears – Oh My!

Posted by: Amelia Raines

The story of the naming of America has been told before – not surprisingly considering the object central to the story, Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 world map, is one of the most important treasures in the Geography and Map Division. The name was bestowed by the mapmaker to show his support for Amerigo Vespucci’s argument that …

Photograph of a small book showing a map unfolded while still attached to the binding of the book. A ruler on the table shows that the unfolded map is longer than 12 inches.

Reading between the Gridlines

Posted by: Amelia Raines

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity, thanks to generous funding from the Philip Lee Phillips Society and the Library of Congress Professional Association, to attend the Material Foundations of Map History, 1450-1900, course held by the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. The course was taught by Matthew Edney, Osher …

An image of the book "The Travels of Marco Polo.

Who drew the Map with Ship?

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

Featured below is a map known as the “Map with Ship.” The map was donated to the Library of Congress in 1943 by a retired merchant and author named Marcian F. Rossi.  Marcian Rossi was born in Italy in 1870. He moved to the United States during the 1880s. The Rossi family inherited a collection …

Typus orbis descriptione Ptolemaei.

Virtual Orientation to the Geography and Map Division: Tuesday 6/13

Posted by: Amelia Raines

Please join Geography and Map Division staff tomorrow for a virtual orientation to our collections and resources! Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2023 Time: 3:00-4:00 pm (Eastern) Location: Zoom Register for this session here! Reference librarians Cynthia Smith and Julie Stoner will present an introduction to the Geography and Map collections at the Library of Congress. This orientation …