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Category: 19th century cartography

Colored map showing the city of Boston in the center with buildings, surrounded by a river.

John Bachmann’s Bird’s Eye Views

Posted by: Meagan Snow

John Bachmann, a Swiss born lithographer, moved to the United States shortly after 1848, and went on to produce a series of bird’s eye maps that depict American landscapes in ways that were groundbreaking around the mid-nineteenth century. His work blurred the line between cartography and fine art, and his landscape prints are held by …

Detail of a map of New York City that shows the subway lines in different colors.

What Goes Up Must Come Down: A brief history of New York City’s elevated rail and subway lines

Posted by: Sonia Kahn

On a recent trip to New York City, I frequently found myself in the underbelly of the city, submerged below the hustle and bustle as I was transported up and down Manhattan. I couldn’t help but notice while I was visiting how the now antique mosaics depicting station names give the subway system character. It’s …

A landsat image of part of Iceland.

Mapping the Land of Fire and Ice

Posted by: Cynthia Smith

Early maps of Iceland are compelling, they are often embellished with sea monsters and pictorials. Modern maps of the country are equally interesting because of the unique shape and terrain of the island. Iceland, with its glaciers and volcanoes, is accurately nicknamed the “Land of Fire and Ice.” The maps of Iceland featured in this …

Initial design plan for landscape architecture of Chicago South Park Chicago.

Chicago’s South Park by Fredrick Law Olmsted

Posted by: Carissa Pastuch

During the month of April, the Library of Congress celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903), farmer, journalist, publisher, conservationist, and the first American landscape architect, who designed the grounds surrounding the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and many other notable public and private green spaces. To celebrate, the Great Hall …

View of completed St. Louis Bridge, with steamboats in Mississippi River, surrounded by eight views of stages of bridge construction, based on photographs taken in 1874 by R. Benecke, sections of pier and machinery.

Pictorial St. Louis – The Great Metropolis of the Mississippi Valley

Posted by: Julie Stoner

The panoramic map was a popular cartographic form used to depict U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Known also as bird’s-eye views, perspective maps, or aero views, panoramic maps are nonphotographic representations of cities portrayed as if viewed from above at an oblique angle. Typically printed on …

Map of archeological sites in Iraq

The Matron of Mesopotamian Antiquities

Posted by: Carissa Pastuch

Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868–1926) was a British archaeologist, explorer, and diplomat. Proficient in French, German, Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic, and an avid reader and writer, she traveled widely and was able to engage with native populations because of her ability to communicate in many languages and openness to experiencing unfamiliar traditions. She found the Middle …