New Atlas of (Map) Designs; Vintage City Maps
August 29, 2018 11:32 AM   Subscribe

Incredible new map designs from around the world, in pictures. And interesting vintage city maps from around the world, in pictures: Forbidden City to Convict's Landing maps
posted by MovableBookLady (4 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
If you're interested in maps like this, particularly the second links, I recommend reddit's papertowns subreddit. Lots of charming maps from various eras and places done in that almost videogame map looking style.
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:58 PM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Boston Public Library's Leventhal Map Center has tons of vintage maps (with links to other collections), although not the most Bostonian map of the US ever.
posted by adamg at 8:00 PM on August 29, 2018


I'm a librarian at a US state college. A lot of our students come from poor rural areas with crummy schools. On the first day of classes last week one of our history professors gave his first year students a simple assignment: an empty map of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East ( it had lines delineating land, but even that might have been unclear to the students) along with a list of cities mountain ranges, rivers for them to fill in on the map. He told them they could find maps in the library. Dozens of them came to me over the next few days. It became quickly apparent that they had little or no experience in finding and reading maps. I have many atlases and a 16" (outdated) globe. I had to do a lot of teaching to get them to where they understand the basics on a map and I'm considering offering a workshop next semester, geographic and cartographic literacy 101. I had lots of discussions with them about over-dependence on GPS. Those little maps on their phones give them a very limited view of their location. I wonder if that limited perspective spills over onto their thinking in other areas.

Most of them looked at me like I was nuts when i told them I love getting lost, I love random wandering, but a few were intrigued. I have hope.
posted by mareli at 10:38 AM on August 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


Mareli: I think a workshop or seminar or even a course on cartographic literacy would be a great idea. A few months ago, Jimmy Kimmel sent a guy out of the street with a map and asked passersby to find something on the map; nearly all couldn't find anything, including the United States. Finally, along comes a boy of about 13 who could reel off pretty much anything. So there is some hope.
posted by MovableBookLady at 5:28 PM on August 31, 2018


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