Our Map of the Month for August is the first detailed survey of St Kilda, published 1928. Although published by the Ordnance Survey, the surveying of this map was completed by a 73 year-old retired explorer and surveyor, assisted by a young geology student from the University of Edinburgh.
Author: Laragh Quinney
Map of the Month – Marauder’s Map
I solemnly swear that I am up to no good! J.K. Rowling’s magnificent imagination conjured up the Marauder’s Map of Hogwarts Castle. This magical map is usually disguised as a blank piece of parchment, activated by the spell above. Once unlocked, the map reveals a detailed plan of Hogwarts, covered in named, moving dots which […]
Map of the Month – 1574 map of the Americas
September’s Map of the Month is one of only seven surviving copies of Paolo Forlani’s 1574 map of the Americas. Beautifully engraved in a clear and legible style, this map shows the continents of North and South America as separate from Asia. Wind-rose lines surround the Americas; these would have aided navigation for sailors. To the south lies […]
Map of the Month: Edinburgh in 1582
The first map of the month for You are Here the National Library of Scotland’s exhibition of maps is Edenburgum, Scotiae Metropolis, which will be on display until the end of August. This attractive birds-eye view of Edinburgh was engraved around 1582 by Franz Hogenberg, for inclusion in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum edited by Georg […]
Blaeu Atlas Maior
View the wonders of 17th century mapping in the latest addition to the Library’s online map gallery. We have just added a complete zoomable facsimile of Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior of 1662-1665. The Blaeu AtlasMaior or Cosmographia Blaviana is one of the largest and most splendid of the multi-volume Dutch world atlases. Its 594 maps and 3,368 pages of text spread over 11 volumes […]