Maps: Finding Our Place in the World

For my birthday, Bossyboots gave me a really thoughtful present...  He found this great map book, full of photos of all sorts of maps from all over the world - all eras, all sorts, all cultures.  Some are rudimentary maps, some are insanely creative, some were dry, others wildly colorful.  The book also explains how maps have shaped the world over time.  I loved it!  I will definitely be drawing lots of inspiration from this book for my own maps.  Take a look at just a few of my favorites from my birfday book:

I just adore the way this seventeenth-century English map was drawn down a wrapping ribbon...

And this is a map from Sandro Botticelli, 1490, of the many circles of Hell (The Inferno is one of my very favorite books, ahem, literature - whatever - it's awesome.)

I love the color of the title facing on this French map of wind currents in the Indian Ocean.

I am fascinated with this map of the geographic distribution of PLANTS (of all things.)  Beautiful, isn't it?

I love books.  I love maps.  I love maps of books.  This is a gorgeous map of the journey of the Pequod from Moby Dick (1956, Everett Henry)

This is a sixteenth-century map of (at the time) the known world:

This is a map of a fantasy Fairyland... (Bernard Sleigh, 1920?)

I just find this map of Italy by William Harvey (1869) hilarious.  Extremely literal, but I love it.

! And I LOVE this... a map of London created on a woman's glove for the Great Exhibition (George Shove, 1851)

What inspires you?

Comments

[E @ Oh! Apostrophe]

Cool book! My hubs flips out over maps too... I'm going to check this out!

[salisburycompany]

I love maps, too! Of the ones you displayed, the Moby Dick map is my favorite! Can you believe Isaac and I read the entire book together?????? Isaac has some definite ideas about Moby Dick!!!!

[Sweetchic Events]

What an amazing book, that must be such great inspiration for you!!

[duet letterpress]

wow! what a wonderful gift!