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Detail of manuscript map of part of Henrico and Chesterfield Counties showing topography and some landowners' names.

More Places in Civil War History

Posted by: Amelia Raines

This post is a compilation of the Places in History series written by G&M staff in 2011 and 2016, which explores maps produced during the Civil War, their creation, and the geography they depict. Previous blog posts based on that series can be seen under Places in Civil War History. Mapping Slavery According to the 1860 …

A photo of the Jno. Glidden ship as it sinks.

Lost at Sea: The Treasure Maps of the Library of Congress

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 …

Outline map of Ireland with illustrations of hills and towns, and a compass rose behind the island

Benedetto Bordone’s Isolario

Posted by: Amelia Raines

This is a guest post by Abraham Kaleo Parrish, Geospatial Data Visualization Librarian in the Geography and Map 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 …

From Childhood Fancy to Space Age Discovery

Posted by: Julie Stoner

This is a guest post by Geography and Map Division summer intern, Wayne Hastings, who worked on processing and housing the John Parr Snyder Collection. Imagine this. During the summer of 1972, the United States was in the midst of one of the most wildly impressive eras of technological and scientific development – the Space …

Authorized map of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Illustrated map of Antarctica with information about the expedition and an inset map of its route

Virtual Orientation: Maps in the Classroom

Posted by: Amelia Raines

Please join Geography and Map Division staff tomorrow for a virtual orientation to our collections and resources! Date: Tuesday, August 8, 2023 Time: 3:00-4:00 pm (Eastern) Location: Zoom Register for this session here! Join us for a virtual orientation that will provide an introduction to the world’s largest map library, this time with a special focus on …

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 …