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 […]
Category: 16th-century items
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 […]