Category — Map Exhibitions

An exhibition of historical and fictional works related to pirates and piracy will be on view at Boston College’s Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections through November.

“Pirate Treasures” will include rare maps and books published between 1695 and 2007, many of them on public display for the first time. The exhibit consists primarily of maps and books from the Nicholas M. Williams Ethnological Collection. Assembled by anthropologist Rev. Joseph J. Williams, SJ, (1875-1940) and named for his father, the collection consists of more than 16,000 books and manuscripts reflecting his interest in the history, customs, beliefs and folklore of the people of the Caribbean. Piracy is the primary subject of nearly 100 books in the Williams Collection.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Hours: Monday through Friday from 9 am..-5 p.m. (except holidays ) or by appointment. Venue is handicapped accessible.

Source: Wickedlocal.com

[tags]pirates, antique maps, Caribbean[/tags]

The Rocky Mountain Map Society is presenting the Eighth Annual Rocky Mountain Antique Map Fair at the Denver Central Library, 10 W. 14th Avenue Parkway, Denver, CO. Fifteen European and American dealers will show thousands of maps from the 16th through 20th centuries. Prices range from $10 to more than $30,000. Experts will be on hand to examine maps brought to the fair. Hours are 5 to 8 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Entrance: $5.

At 1pm on Saturday afternoon, Rocky Mountain Map Society member Tom Overton will present, The Changing Face of Colorado: County Boundaries from Statehood to the 20th Century in the Gates Room on the 5th floor of the Denver Central Library.

For more information, visit the Rocky Mountain Map Society’s web site.

[tags]Rocky Mountain Map Society, Antique Maps, Map Fairs, Annual Rocky Mountain Antique Map Fair, Antique Map Collecting[/tags]

A great opportunity to see some antique maps of the Ukraine in New York City, The Mapping of Ukraine: European Cartography and Maps of Early Modern Ukraine, 1550-1799, opens today at he Ukrainian Museum of New York City.

The Mapping of Ukraine: European Cartography and Maps of Early Modern Ukraine, 1550-1799, includes 42 original maps published by European mapmakers over a 250-year period. A majority of the maps in the exhibition are from the Museum’s Marie Halun Bloch Collection, which consists of 52 maps bequeathed to the Museum by the Ukrainian American writer of children’s books upon her death in 1998.

Dr. Bohdan Kordan, Professor of International Relations and Chair of the Department of Political Studies, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, and curator of the exhibition, will be on hand for its opening.

The exhibit runs until October 3rd, 2008.

[tags]maps of the Ukraine, Ukraine Museum, map exhibitions, antique maps[/tags]

The Richmond Times-Dispatch recently reported that a generous donation from Seymour I. Schwartz, distinguished alumni professor in the University of Rochester’s Department of Surgery, ensures that the University of Virginia is now home to some of the world’s finest rare maps.

The monetary value of the collection is unknown, but 80 year old Schwartz says he

…doesn’t even want to hear questions about the worth of the maps he collected for more than 40 years. All he’ll say is that the collection he started in 1964 didn’t cost much then, relatively speaking.

Schwartz said maps moved him intensely. He loved looking at the maps in his collection every day. He appreciated their beauty and historical meaning and even holding them.

The collection of 16th-, 17th- and 18th- century maps includes:

famous explorer Hernando Cortes’ 1524 map of Mexico City — the first to show Florida;

a 1508 map that is one of the first to show the Western Hemisphere; and

George Washington’s map of the Ohio River Valley drawn when he was an unknown surveyor.

About 50 of the maps are currently on display in  “On the Map,” at the school’s special collection library. The exhibit will be on display until January, 2009.

The full story, which includes a brief slideshow, can be read here.

[tags]antique maps, map collections, university of virginia, map exhibits[/tags]

There is an interesting article about maps and the Festival of Maps in Chicago in this past Sunday’s online edition of the Washington Post.

No matter the age, maps have always inspired that eternal human penchant for dreaming of far-off places, for locating oneself in the universe. As vessels of wishful thinking, they transform us into explorers lured by the mystery of the unknown, if not a lust to conquer it.

The lengthy and informative article also includes a short slide show of images from the Chicago Festival.

[tags]antique maps, map exhibitions, cartography, chicago festival of maps[/tags]

I’m a little late with this, but a new exhibit from the Library of Congress has opened:

“Exploring the Early Americas,” which features items from the Jay I. Kislak Collection and Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 World Map-the first document of any kind of use the word “America”-focuses on the history and legacies of the Americas and the impact of European contact, culture and conquest.  It opens Thursday, Dec. 13, in the Northwest Galleries of the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The exhibition, with labels presented in both English and Spanish, is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

Among the most significant elements of the exhibition are Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 World Map, which was the first document of any kind on which the name “America” appears and the first map to depict a separate and full Western Hemisphere, with the Pacific as a separate ocean; and his 1516 Carta Marina or Navigators’ Chart, another large world map. Also on display will be the Schöner Sammelbund, a portfolio that contained the two world maps and other cartographic materials. The Schöner portfolio was stored in a German castle for nearly 400 years, until it was discovered in 1901. An interactive display enables visitors to discover more about each map by accessing map highlights linking to curator insights.

Read more details at the Library of Congress Exhibit Site.