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Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post features maps of the World's Columbian Exposition that took place in 1893. Images of a guide map, souvenir maps, floor plans, and bird's eye views are included in the post.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History, City Histories
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post features selected maps that were created under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, African American History, American History, Manuscripts
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
A picture of a skull and crossbones marks the location of a special collection in the Geography and Map Division. The collection consists of wreck charts published by U.S. federal government agencies, treasure maps made by famous cartographers during the 18th and 19th centuries, and treasure maps published by commercial companies during the mid -20th …
Posted in: 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, Exploration
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
Mars receives more media attention than the other planets in our solar system. People are obsessed with the classic novels The War of the Worlds and The Martian Chronicles. The movies Total Recall and The Martian were huge hits. Mars has polar ice caps, dry river beds and extinct volcanoes, and Martian landscape posters have …
Posted in: Exploration
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
The Napoleonic Wars began in 1803 and lasted until Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The Geography and Map Division holds numerous maps of the battle. I am sharing images of a few of my favorites. I would like to begin with a brief summary of Napoleon’s final battle and the events that led to …
Posted in: European History, Military History
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post focuses on three decorative 19th century fans from the collections of the Geography and Map Division. The art of Asian fan making dates to ancient times. According to Gonglin Qian, author of Chinese Fans: Artistry and Aesthetics the earliest Chinese fan that has been found dates from 475 to 221 BC. It was …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, Asian History
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
The Borgia world map is described in this post. The map was made during the 15th century by an unknown cartographer. In 1794, the map was purchased at an antique store in Portugal by Cardinal Stefano Borgia.
Posted in: 15th century cartography, 18th century cartography, European History
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post describes a manuscript globe of Mars that was created during the early 20th century by the self-taught Danish astronomer Emmy Ingeborg Brun.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, Biography, Women's History
Posted by: Cynthia Smith
This post features a qibla compass that was recently acquired for the collections of the Geography and Map Division. The qibla compass was made in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire.
Posted in: 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, Middle East and North African History