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.
Excitement about the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is sweeping our own nation’s capital, as it is in so many places around the world. Here at the Library of Congress, we’re certainly marking the occasion. The Informal Learning Office (ILO) recently hosted an Olympics-themed Family Day, and afterward they published a blog post about it where …
An insight into early 18th century trade in the East-Indies focusing on the English East Indies Company and the 1721-1723 trade voyage of the ship Townsend revealed through the maps of British cartographer Herman Moll.
Growing up in a Brazilian-American household, I’ve long appreciated the delicious versatility of the Atlantic cod, scientific name Gadus morhua, known to the Portuguese-speaking world as bacalhau in its preferred salted and dried form. It was only when I began working as a map librarian, however, that I saw how powerful cod truly was. Centuries …
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.