Videos

A newly-discovered sixteenth century rosary telling the story of creation and the early ages of man. Only the second known example of such an extraordinary devotional object, the Boncompagni Rosary features two miniature globes. These celestial and terrestrial spheres, bearing many of the hallmarks of contemporary cartography and astronomy, are part of a globe-making tradition that spanned Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The story of London told in 30,000 books, maps, and prints spanning 400 years.

In 1675, the same year that De’ Rossi secured the prestigious and valuable commission of decorating the papal summer residence, the Castel Gandolfo, with nearly two hundred engraved maps of Europe, America and the city of Rome, he also created this magnificent and elaborate wall map of the world, published with the privilege of the Pope.

Daniel Crouch took part of this year’s Malcolm Young Lecture, which is the Society’s annual lecture given in honour of Malcolm Young, co-founder of IMCoS.

California Map Society Spring Conference – Day One (1 May 2021)

Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) has been called the father of geography.

The Greek astronomer and cartographer was born and lived in Alexandria in Egypt between c100 and 170.

A rare and fascinating manuscript globe of Mars made during a period of renewed interest in the red planet and suggestive of the possibility of Martian civilisation.

One of the finest maps of – what is now – Greater London ever produced.

Turgot’s fine plan of Paris during the reign of Louis XV.

In 1734 Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690-1751), Mayor of Paris, decided to promote the reputation of Paris to Parisian, provincial and foreign elites by implementing a new plan of the city. He asked Louis Bretez, a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and professor of perspective, to draw up the plan of Paris and its suburbs.

Christopher Saxton’s wall map is a result of the first survey of the whole of England and Wales, and is the first map of those countries to give all the place names in English. Saxton has been dubbed “the father of English cartography” (Skelton).

The map shows the city of Amsterdam in the early decades of the sixteenth century, facing south, before the construction of the semi-circular ring of canals. It is bordered by the IJ, the Singel, a stretch of river Amstel, in the west and the Kloveniersburgwal and Gelderse Kade in the east. The waterway in the middle is labelled here “Den Amstel” in the South and “Damrack” in the North.

One of the largest maps of Venice ever published, and the first map of the city based upon accurate field surveys. Lodovico Ughi’s topographical map is a landmark in the cartographic history of Venice. Successive Venetian mapmakers in general did not significantly alter the appearance of the city: among the exceptions is Ughi’s work. Not only is it one of the largest printed plans of Venice, but it also served for centuries as a model for subsequent maps.