Copperplate printing was a major method of map production for several hundred years. This post explores the history of printing maps with engraved copper plates, featuring several example maps and photographs of copper plates from the Geography and Map Division collections. This is the first post in a new series about map printing and creation, Fabricating the World.
Historically, maps have been used to promote political ideologies. The Dutch mastered the technique during the 16th and 17th centuries, making the Low Countries (present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg or Benelux Countries and Northern France) appear in the form of a lion, called Leo Belgicus.
This post is about maps related to the voyages of Sir Francis Drake in the collections of the Library of Congress. The maps are held in both the Geography and Map Division and the Hans Peter Kraus Collection of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
In 1528 Venetian cartographer, miniaturist, and editor Benedetto Bordone published Libro di Benedetto Bordone : nel qual si ragiona de tutte l’isole del mondo, con li lor nomi antichi & moderni, historie, fauole, & modi del loro uiuere, & in qual parte del mare stanno, & in qual parallelo & clima giacciono (Book of Benedetto …
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 …
Starting in the 16th century, an island off the coast of Newfoundland was labeled as the “Isle of Demons.” Rumors spread that those who ventured near the island heard strange noises. Mariners believed that the Isle of Demons was inhabited by evil spirits; they were afraid to visit the island or to sail near it. …
The word utopia is used to describe a perfect place. The British statesman and writer Sir Thomas More coined the word from the ancient Greek words ou-topos meaning “no place” and eu-topos meaning a “good place.” In this post I am featuring maps of the mythical land named Utopia. In 1516 Thomas More wrote a …
Recently I came across an interesting map of Florida in our collections. Dated 1823, the map was made only four years after the territory of Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and 22 years before it became a state in its own right. The map, authored by surveyor Charles Vignoles and engraved …
