Cartography - Archive of Exhibitions Which Closed in 2012

Please see Cartography - Calendar of Exhibitions for a current calendar of exhibitions.
Click here for archive of past exhibitions.

Few years until early 2012 - Bucharest
The Muzeul National al Hartilor si Cartii Vechi [National Museum of Maps and Old Books], Strada Londra nr. 39, is a unique presence in the Romanian museum landscape. Its existence is due to the map-drawing collection donated with generosity by the former Prime Minister and his wife, Adrian and Daniela Nastase, who are the founders of this culture house. Other maps came from gifts received by former President Ion Iliescu and from the collections of some important commercial banks. The entire collection totals more than 800 maps and engravings, drawings, lithographs etc. as well as a few specific objects to the museum theme; and is displayed in 16 rooms which combine the scientific part with the artistic one.

September 30, 2011 - January 8, 2012 – Gent
In the early twelfth century Lambert, Canon of Saint-Omer (now in French Flanders), compiled an encyclopaedia of the knowledge of his predecessors. In that book entitled Liber Floridus he describes the world and the cosmos, and man’s life within that greater whole. His own contribution was mainly in the fields of cosmography, geography and cartography. Lambert illustrated his findings with colourful miniatures which help make this medieval encyclopaedia a truly superb piece of work. He was drawing maps of the world four centuries before cartography became a discipline in its own right. A world-famous manuscript, the Liber Floridus is recognized by the Flemish Community as a masterpiece. It derives from St Bavo’s Abbey in Ghent and is now part of Ghent University Library’s collection. In the exhibition, Liber Floridus. Cartography around 1100, at STAM - Ghent City Museum, Godshuizenlaan 2, scientific insights into this mediaeval masterpiece take the form of a fascinating story. Thanks to precious illuminated manuscripts from the late-eighth to the twelfth centuries loaned by institutions in Belgium and abroad, the Liber Floridus can be shown alongside its sources and works by Lambert’s contemporaries.

December 9, 2011 - January 15, 2012 - Hong Kong
Precious ancient rare books and special collections from the National Library of China, which has the world's largest collection of Chinese documents, will be on display at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library, 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay. The 42 exhibits on display are some of the precious treasures in the National Library of China's vast holdings. They consist of "shanben" (rare books), Dunhuang documents, ancient maps and atlases, epigraphical and pictorial rubbings and texts and illustrations from China's ethnic minorities, and feature a wide spectrum of disciplines ranging from religion, literature, geography and medicine to art and technology of ancient China. Ancient Chinese cartography has a long history. The earliest mention of a Chinese city map dates back to the 11th century BC during the early years of the Western Zhou dynasty. In ancient China, maps functioned as the territorial emblems of a state and provided concrete proof of territorial rights.

January 6-31, 2012 - Casper, Wyoming
The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, 1501 North Poplar Street, is presenting a temporary exhibit on historic maps of the United States, United States territories in the west, and the state of Wyoming. The Jack Rosenthal map collection will be displayed in the Edna Kennell Heritage Gallery. The exhibit includes 37 original maps that date from 1853 to 1912. The collection is on loan from the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper. For more information, contact the Center at (307) 261-7780.

January 20-31, 2012 – Hanoi
The city of Ha Noi evolved quickly from the period of French colonisation, from an oriental-style urban centre to a modern city. Two French historians and doctors, Philippe Le Failler and Olivier Tessier from the Ha Noi-based French school of the Far East (Le Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-orient), selected old photos, maps, and drawings of Ha Noi from 1873-1945 which are now on display at a new exhibition in the capital. The exhibition entitled Mot So Hinh Anh Tieu Bieu Ve Ha Noi Giai Doan 1873-1945 [Ha Noi Views and Prospects for the Period 1873-1945] is held at the Thang Long-Ha Noi Heritage preservation Centre, No 9 Hoang Dieu Street. The exhibition features more than 80 panels of photos, documents, and drawings of Ha Noi from 1873, when French forces started to occupy the city, to the August 1945 Revolution and the country's independence.

October 12, 2011 - February 10, 2012 - Tempe, Arizona
Changing Boundaries: Historic Maps of the U.S.-Mexico Border is an exhibit of maps that illustrate how the present U.S.-Mexico border region has evolved over the past four centuries. It will be on display at Arizona State University, School of Transborder Studies, 1120 S. Cady Mall. The event is free and open to the public. The maps on display are from the collection of Simon Burrow, who curates the exhibit. Burrow has been acquiring items in his collection from map and used book dealers around the world over a span of 25 years. The maps, which date as early as 1597, show the explorations, claims, counter claims and conquests that resulted in the current borderline. There are examples of how California was depicted as an island populated by Amazons and maps that show where ancient and mythical cities were thought to be, as well as treasure maps that would allegedly lead to Cibola – the Seven Cities of Gold. The exhibit moves to "Fronteras Cambiantes" - CECUT, Tijuana Cultural Center from February 24, 2012 - May 30, 2012.

October 3, 2011 - February 15, 2012 - Cambridge, Massachusetts
Canals represent major achievements of civil engineering, but they often originated in schemes that were initially derided as the quixotic visions of impractical dreamers. In many cases, the major proponents of canals were motivated as much by utilitarian concerns as by an idealistic quest to dissolve barriers between different regions, cultures, and bodies of water. Visions and Revisions: The Cartographic Construction of Canals explores the cartographic trail left by some of the most ambitious of these projects, including China’s Grand Canal, the Erie Canal, the Suez Canal, and the Panama Canal. It will examine the physical, political, and ideological obstacles that had to be overcome before these visions could be realized. In many cases, the initial plans were drastically revised, new solutions were improvised, or the entire enterprise was postponed for another generation of dreamers. Exhibit is in Map Gallery Hall, Pusey Library, Harvard University. For further information, contact Joseph Garver at 617-496-3670.

September 10, 2011 - February 17, 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama
Mapping Birmingham charts the growth – and aspirations behind that growth – of Birmingham from its founding to present day. The exhibition can be seen at Vulcan Park and Museum, 1701 Valley View Drive. The exhibition’s artifacts, maps of the city depicting key points in its history, offer glimpses into Birmingham’s past and its vision for the future. Maps come from Birmingham Public Library archives depict the development of the communities of Mountain Brook and Corey. Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision of a unified park system for Birmingham is depicted through a reproduction of his groundbreaking 1925 study. Visitors also encounter the latest plans for the Birmingham metro area. Vulcan Park and Museum collaborated with a host of local architecture firms and architecturally minded groups to procure designs for Park Place, SoHo, and Mt. Laurel, and to offer glimpses of yet-to-be-realized plans for Birmingham’s system of parks and neighborhoods, and for revitalized historic districts.

January 18, 2012 - February 17, 2012 – Paris
La France en relief - From Louis XIV to Napoléon III can be seen at the Grand Palais, Nef du Grand Palais, Entrée principale, Avenue Winston-Churchill. Relief maps - models of fortified tows – were produced for military purposes from the reign of Louis XIV to the end of 19th century. Theses objects, of an incredible quality and size, shed light on a range of historical phenomena, including the development and setting of borders, siege warfare and fortifications, map-making, and the transformation of the town planning and the landscape.

December 3, 2011 - February 19, 2012 - Sydney
A new exhibition of historic charts at the State Library of NSW revisits how explorers put Antarctica on the map. On the 6 February 1772, Captain James Cook sat down to plan his second voyage south. He had been commissioned by Britain's Royal Society to discover the vast, largely mysterious landmass thought to exist at the bottom of the world. He sketched a rough map of the Southern Hemisphere and marked the routes sailed by others before him - French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who circumnavigated the globe in 1766-69, and Abel Tasman, who skirted Australia's southern shores more than 100 years earlier. Then he marked in yellow ink the route he would take. This voyage would prove the mysterious 'Terra Incognita' was neither as big nor as habitable as previously thought. Cook's chart is one of 120 rare maps on display at the State Library of NSW in Sydney to mark the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The exhibition Finding Antarctica: Mapping the Last Continent tells the story of the gradual discovery, exploration and charting of this unknown region from the 15th century through to the present day.

January 24, 2012 - February 24, 2012 - Mississauga, Ontario
Presented in partnership with the Peel Heritage Complex, Heritage Mississauga, 1921 Dundas St. W., is delighted to host the A Call to Arms: The War of 1812 & Historic Mississauga traveling exhibit from the Archives of Ontario. The Archives of Ontario’s War of 1812 traveling exhibit sheds light on formative events in the history of Ontario. The War of 1812 had long-term effects on the economic, social and political life of the province. This exhibit is a history resource that showcases some of the personalities and locations that played a role in the war, and explores the events of that conflict using the correspondence and diaries of those who lived it. Their words are illustrated with artwork, maps and photographs from the holdings of the Archives, many being made widely available for the first time. This free exhibit is open from Tuesday to Friday, 9am-5pm, and 8pm on most Tuesdays. For more information, please contact Heritage Mississauga at 905-828-8411 ext.29.

December 2, 2010 - February 25, 2012 – Cracow
The Cracow Saltworks Museum Wieliczka has an exhibition Mining Cartography. The exhibition introduces the fascinating world of historic cartography including the presentation of valuable and unique maps of Martin Germanus, engraved by William Hondius in 1645; and the oldest county plan Bochnia of 1746. In contrast, there is a display of contemporary maps developed and plotted using computer techniques. Additionally, there are plans of coal mines, displays of surveying equipment, and instruments used to draw maps.

October 1, 2011 - March 9, 2012 – Auckland
You Are Here: Mapping Auckland shows Auckland as a city that has been planned, designed and drawn many times over. See maps from the rich, vast collection in Auckland Museum’s library and plot your own story of the city on the interactive map. What did Auckland look like on paper 70 or even 170 years ago? How did early Aucklanders depict the space around them? And what stories do these maps have to tell? Created by Auckland Museum, The University of Auckland and Unitec, this exhibition will give you a new perspective on your city. Now open in the Auckland Museum, Parnell, Pictorial Gallery (2nd floor); Open daily, 10am – 5pm.

February 27, 2012 - March 23, 2012 – Manchester
Manchester was a stone's throw away from a brave new world of helipads, boulevards, tunnels and moving pavements, according to unrealised plans unearthed by researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester School of Architecture. A remarkable collection of architects' drawings, maps and other exhibits - many of which have never before been seen by the public - will go on show at a special exhibition. Curated by Dr Martin Dodge and Richard Brook, it is It called Infra_MANC. The urban motorway, known as the Mancunian Way and completed in 1967, was originally part of 1945 plans for four ring roads and an array of radial 'boulevards'. The plans would have wiped out large parts of the Victorian city and transformed it into an unrecognisable landscape of highways in the sky. Infra_MANC will take place at CUBE and the RIBA Hub, 113-115 Portland Street.

January 6, 2012 - March 28, 2012 - Tucson, Arizona
A new exhibit, Mapping Arizona: From Mexican Territory to U.S. State, offers a visual illustration of Arizona’s path to statehood as documented through historical maps of the region. The exhibit, on display in the University of Arizona Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd, is one of several exhibits, lectures and events hosted by the University Libraries in celebration of the state’s Centennial. In addition to an array of historical maps, “Mapping Arizona” also includes books and unique documents selected from Special Collections extensive holdings. These additional materials offer insight into the stories that accompany the lines, boundaries, and borders within the maps.

October 22, 2011 – March 30, 2012 - Topeka, Kansas
The Great Overland station, 701 N. Kansas Avenue, was once an active rail station, but since 2004 the 80 year old structure has served as a museum dedicated to railroad heritage. The People's Kind of Railroad: The Santa Fe, the City, the State, and the Nation will feature over 80 photographs, as well as a wide variety of maps, pictures and artifacts.

February 29, 2012 - March 31, 2012 - South Salem, New York
A new exhibit at the Lewisboro Library, 15 Main Street, features five historical maps of Lewisboro and its neighbors. The maps, on public display for the first time, are all part of the town historian's collection. A sixth map, given to the town by Robert Treadway of North Salem, portrays the origins of the boundary lines of our two towns and was researched and drawn by Mr. Treadway for the North Salem Historical Society. He presented Lewisboro with a copy of his project. This map is on loan from the town clerk's office. The maps will be on display in the library's magazine room and have been hung so that the viewer should be able to get a close look at our town's changes over the last two centuries, from 1829 to 1906.

January 27, 2012 - March 2012 - Minsk, Belarus
The Nesvizh open-air museum is hosting a map exhibition Belarus: base maps of the 16th-17th centuries. The event is held as part of the national campaign “Nesvizh is Belarus’ 2012 capital of culture”. Originals and digital copies are presented at the exposition. The whole collection includes 15 maps but the most interesting of them is a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1613. This is the first large-scale map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the so called Radziwill’s map. One of the richest barons of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Nicholas Christopher Radziwill (Sirotka) was the initiator of its creation. The map was created in Nesvizh at the end of the 16th century - beginning of the 17th century. The full version of the map consists of two parts: a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself and a map of the lower reach of the Dnepr with its rifts. All in all, 1,039 settlements are illustrated on the map, including 544 settlements in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which 342 on the territory of Belarus. All the names are in Latin, many of them provide historical and other data about settlements, etc. The Radziwill’s map became an important step in the development of the European cartography and was the most popular source of information about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the European cartography during two centuries.

January 17, 2012 – April 8, 2012 – Evanston, Illinois
The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, presents Prints and the Pursuit of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe an exhibition that examines how celebrated Northern Renaissance artists contributed to the scientific discoveries of the 16th century. This exhibition and the accompanying catalogue offer a new perspective on the collaboration between artists and scientists: the project challenges the perception of artists as illustrators in the service of scientists, and examines how their printmaking skills were useful to scientists in their investigations. Artists’ early printed images served as effective research tools, not only functioning as descriptive illustrations, but also operating as active agents in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. Taking into consideration prints, books, maps, and such scientific instruments as sundials, globes, astrolabes, and armillary spheres, this project looks at relationships between their producers and their production, as well as between the objects themselves. Previously this exhibit was at the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

February 10, 2012 - April 10, 2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa
The Courage of//Kabbo: From landscape to Literature and be seen at Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, corner of Yale Road and Enoch Sontonga Avenue, Braamfontein. This exhibit consists of photographs, notebooks, maps, and other articles and marks a century since first Bleek and Lloyd publication on Bushman folklore, "Specimens of Bushman Folklore." Curated by Pippa Skotnes. Additional information from Michelle at 011 717 4700.

April 2-12, 2012 - Diss, England
An exhibition on Ancient Maps of Diss, including information on the 1637 manorial map which townsfolk helped buy for the county in 2007, will run at the Corn Hall Gallery on St Nicholas Street. The free exhibition includes the launch of a book inspired by the 1637 map which is now kept at the Norfolk Record Office in Norwich. The book reproduces much of its detail and describes what life would have been like then. The Corn Hall will be showing several other maps drawn up in later centuries, as well as local history displays.

February 29, 2012 - April 25, 2012 - Luxembourg City
Le Luxembourg dans la Grande Région - Chefs-d'œuvre cartographiques de la collection Fritz Hellwig [Cartographic masterpieces from the collection of Fritz Hellwig] can be seen in the Archives Nationales, Plateau du Saint-Esprit. Discover the evolution of the political and economic space of the Greater Region Saar-Lor-Lux and the development of art and science of cartography. The Archives nationales present 58 original maps, masterpieces dating from 1513 to 1950 from the collection of Fritz Hellwig and preserved in the Archives of the Saarland. Fritz Hellwig, who is now 99 years old, was a member of the Bundestag, the High Authority of CECA and former vice-president of the European Commission. This is a touring exhibition, designed by our colleagues of the Archives of the Saarland. The Archives nationales hope to contribute through this collaboration to a greater cultural exchange in the Greater Region. A catalogue of the exhibition, including 22 large-format maps of Luxembourg as well as extensive information on the Greater Region and the cartography, is for sale at the Archives nationales and in bookstores across the country.

January 12, 2012 - April 27, 2012 – Leiden
Leiden University organizes the exhibition Topographic Memory. Treasures from the collection of Dutch topography. Town profiles and drawings of prominent buildings like, monasteries, castles, city gates and bridges are not only beautiful to look at, but can also help to reconstruct the past. The exhibit can be seen in the University Library at Witte Singel 27.

October 4, 2011 – April 28, 2012 – Portland, Maine
The Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, corner of Forest Avenue and Bedford Street, newest exhibition is The Grand Tour and the Development of Tourism: 1600 to 1900" on October 4, 2011. The exhibit traces the “grand tour” as a rite of passage for the British gentry from its beginnings to the early modern era, when railroad and steamships introduced mass tourism as we experience it today. Exhibition will be open to the public Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

February 22, 2012 – April 28, 2012 – New York
The American Civil War is one of the defining events in American history. To commemorate its 150th anniversary, the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library created the exhibition Torn in Two: the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. This multimedia display takes a geographic and cartographic approach to exploring and illuminating the causes of the conflict, the conduct of the war and how the war was remembered in later years. It will showcase 50 historic maps interwoven with 40 photographs, paintings, prints, diaries, political cartoons, music and press of the period. The exhibit can be seen at the Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street. The exhibit will be open to the public free of charge, Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A fully illustrated, 152-page exhibition catalog is available for US $35.00; for information about purchasing a copy, send inquiries to maps@bpl.org. The exhibit will move to the Osher Map Library, Portland, Maine, April 1-August 30, 2013.

January 20, 2012 - April 29, 2012 - Topeka, Kansas
The Kansas Historical Society announced that the Kansas Museum of History will display the world’s earliest printed map as part of its new temporary exhibit, You Are Here: Putting Kansas on the Map. The Kansas Museum of History is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday and 1 – 5 p.m. Sunday. The Museum is located at 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka. Admission fee is $8 adults, $6 students. A highlight of this exhibit is the world’s earliest map, a “T-in-O” style map of the world, represented as an “O” with a “T” inside. The “T” divides three land masses: Europe, Asia, and Africa. This map is on loan from the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas. An 1823 map by explorer Major Stephen Long shows the plains labeled as the “Great Desert.” This map led to the perception that Kansas was not habitable. It is on loan from Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries. Also in the exhibit are the best maps from our collections, including a 1560 map of the New World by German cartographer Sebastian Münster. It is the first map to show the North and South American continents as separate from the rest of the world. Other exploration- and settlement-themed items in this exhibit include a map showing Pottawatomie land allotments, a map of Indian reserves in 1854, a topographical map of the Oregon Trail, an 1880s map showing places to water cattle in Gove County, and Union Pacific land grant maps. Other maps in the exhibit explore town development and tourism, including an imaginative map of Ness City showing water canals and early 1900s travel maps.

January 6, 2012 - May 4, 2012 - Santa Fe
Between the Lines: Culture and Cartography on the Road to Statehood, an exhibition of thirty maps commemorating the centennial of New Mexico statehood, is located in the State Capitol building, right outside the governor’s office in the Governor's Gallery. The maps date from 1564 to 2011 with more than half of them detailing the history and culture of the state in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The maps are drawn from the holdings of the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library of the Palace of Governors of the The New Mexico History Museum and private collections across New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Tomas Jaehn, Director of the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, and Dr. Dennis Reinhartz, Emeritus Professor of History at The University of Texas at Arlington, among others.

April 29, 2012 - May 5, 2012 - Westborough, Massachusetts
A week-long exhibition by the Westborough Historical Society, Mapping Westborough can be seen at the Community Room downstairs at the Westborough Public Library, 55 West Main St. The exhibition features approximately 40 maps of Westborough drawn from the collection of the Westborough Historical Society, the Westborough Public Library, the Town of Westborough, and the Westborough Historic Commission. The maps explore the history of the town from early colonial days to the present time. Through the language of cartography, the maps in the exhibition illustrate the way Westborough changed over time: from a farming community to a small village to a thriving community served by major roads and highways. Maps featured in the exhibition include the Marlborough Plantation, dated 1667; the plan of Chauncey 1717, submitted with the petition to form the town; a copy of the first map of the United States published in America, dated 1784 and showing Westborough; bird’s eye view map from 1888; fire insurance maps from 1904; highway map from 1938; an aerial photo/map from 1967, and many more.

April 29, 2012 - May 6, 2012 – Tehran
An exhibition of historical maps of Iran dating back to the Qajar era (1794-1925) can be seen at Golestan Palace, a Qajar era monument located in downtown Tehran. Five complete maps of Iran containing detailed information about Persian Gulf and its islands are on display. The maps belong to the time of Naser ad-Din Shah and Mozafar ad-Din Shah. Three of the maps were drawn by Iranians and two by foreign geographers.

April 28, 2012 - May 14, 2012 - Astana, Kazakhstan
Maps and journeys: Encounters of Kazakhstan and Europe from Alexander the Great to Queen Victoria is an exhibition of original maps from the private collection of Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, and it will take place for the first time in Kazakhstan. It tells the story of how Western travellers to Central Asia gradually introduced Europe to the culture and traditions of the Nomads. Nigel Gould-Davies taught international relations at Oxford University and worked for ten years in the British diplomatic service before joining BG Group in Astana in 2010. His experience of Kazakhstan inspired him to acquire a personal collection of maps that portray the unfolding history of Western encounters with this country over the past 2,000 years. Together they tell the story of the unfolding relationship between these two great regions of the world, and highlight the intrepid journeys of the travellers who made this possible. The exhibition can be seen at the Palace of Independence, 52 Tauyelsyzdyk Avenue.

April 3, 2012 - mid May 2012 – Dublin
For the first time ever, this collection of historical maps of the Phoenix Park, spanning over three hundred and fifty years, will be on view to the public in the Phoenix Park Visitor's Centre. From Robert Girdler's map of 1650 we can begin to trace the changing landscape of the park over the centuries. Be it, James Asser's drawing of the Park c1775 or Captain Brown's map of 1813 or the more recent Ordnance Survey maps of the 19th century, the exciting story of the Park is illustrated.

May 9-18, 2012 – Washington
The U.S. and Mexican Commissioners of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) inaugurated an exhibit, Maps, Minutes and Monuments: History of the Boundary Line, 1848-2011, depicting the IBWC’s history and accomplishments at the Organization of American States. The exhibit will be on display at the headquarters of the OAS, located on the corner of 17th Street and Constitution Avenue, weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. This display is drawn from an earlier exhibit prepared for the IBWC’s Border Sanitation and Water Quality Summit held in San Antonio, Texas, in March 2011. The portion of Maps, Minutes, and Monuments currently on display at the OAS offers illustrative examples of the IBWC’s history and the breadth of its activities through maps and technical drawings created by cartographers and engineers; treaties and “minutes” (the term for agreements intended to implement the treaties) crafted by diplomats and administrators; and the boundary monuments, dams, and levees built and maintained by the IBWC. The items on display come mainly from IBWC holdings, but some are from other public and private sources. The IBWC is an international body comprising United States and Mexican Sections that have responsibility for applying various boundary and water treaties between the two countries that date from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 and for settling differences that may arise out of these treaties. The U.S. Section receives foreign policy guidance from the U.S. Department of State, and the Mexican Section similarly operates under the foreign policy direction of Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Relations. The IBWC is widely recognized as a model of effective international cooperation. The two sections maintain headquarters in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on opposite sides of the Rio Grande.

February 28, 2012 - May 26, 2012 - Clinton, Massachusetts
Denis Khotimsky had no idea historical maps of Russia still existed until he found one on eBay at the age of 28. A cartography enthusiast since childhood, he was born in Moscow and moved to the U.S. in 1992 when he bought that first antique map - printed in 1595 by the famous Flemish engraver Gerhard Mercator. Since then, Mr. Khotimsky, 48, has amassed a collection of 300 old maps and books, of which 32 will be on exhibit at the Museum of Russian Icons, 203 Union Street. They have never been shown to the public. The exhibit Pathways to Russia includes a huge 1711 panorama of Moscow, a 1656 map showing “the procession of Muscovites,” a 1662 map of the north Dvina River, described as the only waterway into Muscovite; and two rare 1570 and 1606 maps of Tataria, or Tatar, basically the Mongol Empire.

February 2, 2012 - May 27, 2012 - New Haven
The libraries, museums and galleries of England owe a debt of gratitude to the Society of Antiquaries of London, the oldest repository for ancient manuscripts, paintings, drawings and rare books that chronicle the history of England. Making History: Antiquaries in Britain is an expansive and fascinating collection of some of those antiquities - 100 from the Society, augmented by about 50 items from Yale Center for British Art and other Yale collections, on exhibit at the Yale Center for British Art, 1180 Chapel St. It’s a veritable walk through British history depicted through works of art, furniture, geological and historical maps, coins, arms, even a copy of the Magna Carta from 1225.

February 24, 2012 – May 27, 2012 - London
To mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Gerhard Mercator (1512-94), Treasures Display: Gerhard Mercator: Mapping Britain small display will feature some of the celebrated cartographer's most groundbreaking work including the first 'Atlas', one of his only surviving manuscript maps, and maps and letters demonstrating his influence upon the early mapping of Great Britain. Free in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, British Library, 96 Euston Road.

August 22, 2011 - May 30, 2012 – Tucson
Becoming Arizona: The Valentine State is an exhibit in celebration of 100 years of Arizona statehood. On February 14, 1912, Arizona became the 48th state, and the last of the contiguous states, to join the Union. Known as the “Valentine State,” Arizona’s path to statehood was marked by a pioneering spirit, intermittent achievement and political debate. Becoming Arizona: The Valentine State recreates the colorful story of Arizona’s path to statehood. This year-long exhibition is on display in the gallery at Special Collections, 1510 E. University Blvd. Becoming Arizona features a selection of maps, books, photographs, letters, scrapbooks and unique items selected from Special Collections’ extensive Southwest and Borderlands holdings. The exhibit documents the experiences and stories that defined the region during the colonial period, territorial times and the years leading up to 1912 statehood. Additional information from Chrystal Carpenter.

February 24, 2012 – May 30, 2012 - Tijuana
Changing Boundaries: Historic Maps of the U.S.-Mexico Border is an exhibit of maps that illustrate how the present U.S.-Mexico border region has evolved over the past four centuries. It will be on display at "Fronteras Cambiantes" - CECUT, Tijuana Cultural Center, Paseo de los Héroes No. 9350, Zona Urbana Río. The maps on display are from the collection of Simon Burrow, who curates the exhibit. Burrow has been acquiring items in his collection from map and used book dealers around the world over a span of 25 years. The maps, which date as early as 1597, show the explorations, claims, counter claims and conquests that resulted in the current borderline. There are examples of how California was depicted as an island populated by Amazons and maps that show where ancient and mythical cities were thought to be, as well as treasure maps that would allegedly lead to Cibola – the Seven Cities of Gold.

May 31, 2011 – May 31, 2012 – Washington
When Earth is viewed from space, cloud formations, coastlines, mountain ranges, islands, deltas, glaciers and rivers take on patterns resembling abstract art—with striking textures and brilliant colors. These images can be seen in a new exhibit, Earth as Art, in the exhibition hall outside the Geography and Map Reading Room, Library of Congress, on the basement level of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The 40 award-winning Landsat satellite images will become a part of the permanent collection of the Library’s Geography and Map Division (G&M). In 2006, G&M hosted an earlier “Earth as Art” exhibit and those images also became a part of the Library’s permanent collection. Landsat satellites for nearly 40 years have captured images of the Earth’s surface, providing data for applications in business, science, education, government and national security. The satellites monitor important natural processes and human land use such as vegetation growth, deforestation, agriculture, coastal and river erosion, snow accumulation, fresh-water reservoir replenishment and urbanization. The U.S. Geological Survey selected images for the exhibit based on their aesthetic appeal rather than their scientific value.

December 1, 2011 - June 2012 - Helena, Montana
Mapping Montana: Two Centuries of Cartography can be seen at Montana Historical Society, 225 North Roberts, Lobby Gallery. In December 1965 the Montana Historical Society marked the centennial of the creation of Montana’s first map, drawn by preeminent cartographer and surveyor, Walter W. de Lacy, with an exhibit of de Lacy’s maps. For the first time since 1965 the Historical Society is displaying a selection of the institution’s massive collection of over 10,000 maps. This unique collaboration between the Historical Society’s Research Center and the Museum will tell the story of Montana’s past from early exploration to the Indian wars to the arrival of the railroad and through the development of Montana’s industries of mining, cattle ranching, farming, and tourism. The exhibit will also document the creation of towns and cities, national parks and forests, and highways.

April 12, 2012 - June 9, 2012 - Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Four hundred and fifty years ago the Frenchman Jean Ribault approached the coast of Florida and saw a large river. As this happened on May first, he named it “River of May,” now known as the St. John's River. He explored both sides of the river and met the native Timucua inhabitants. Jean Ribault and the French in 16th Century Florida: Rare Engravings and Historic Maps can be seen at Beaches Museum & History Park, 381 Beach Blvd. On display in the Hallway and Dickinson Galleries, it tells the story of how representatives of French royalty encountered native Floridian royalty from two Timucua tribal groups. The exhibit features 16th century engravings, maps and artifacts, with much of it on loan from Michael and Linda Fisher of Jacksonville.

March 10, 2012 – June 10, 2012 – Dortmund
In honor of the 500th anniversary of birth of Gerhard Mercator, the Museum for Art and Cultural History, Hansastr. 3, will have an exhibit Vom Weltbild der Renaissance zum Kartenbild der Moderne [From the Renaissance to the Modern World Map]. Mercator (1512-1594) was the first cartographer with high precision in their mapping. His remarkable skills in copperplate created globes, world maps and detailed in previously unheard of quality. His Atlas shaped our current understanding of relevant maps. This special exhibition demonstrates the individual aspects of Mercator's work and its implications for mapping and navigation to this day. In addition to original globes, there will be other exhibits on the development of today's world image. The Mercator Atlas of 1595 is a key exhibit.

May 10, 2012 - June 10, 2012 - Opole, Poland
Exhibition of Maps of Silesia consists of about 100 maps of Silesia and Silesian town views. It can be seen in the Regional Public Library, Gallery WuBePe, ul. Piastowska 20. XV to XIX century maps come from Opole library collection and VKOL (Olomouc Scientific Library, Czech Republic). Presented also are 1507 and 1535 editions of Ptolemy's Geographia with maps of Central Europe specifying the name of the region ("Slesia" and "Schlesia"), once belonging to the Kingdom of Bohemia, then to Habsburgs, Prussia, and now to Poland.

April 12, 2012 - June 12, 2012 - Bogota, Colombia
In the late eighteenth century the Spanish Navy Brigadier Joaquin Francisco Fidalgo undertook, by order of the Spanish Crown, an expedition to the shores of the Caribbean. His mission was to participate in the development of an atlas of North America, which would allow Spain more power over the conquered territory and better coping strategies in the war with England and France. The knowledge of the stars cultivated since ancient times, and the ability to measure and relate time and distance with nautical inventions of the time, made this journey a pioneer of modern Spanish mapping in the New World. Time and stars. The expedition of Fidalgo and mapping of Caribbean Granada, organized by the Banco de la República and the Universidad Externado de Colombia, is the first time that these charts, preserved at the Naval Museum in Madrid, will be displayed in Colombia. The exhibit is on display at Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango - Sala de Exposiciones Bibliográficas, alle 11 # 4-14.

March 25, 2012 - June 17, 2012 – Antwerp
In honor of the 500th anniversary of Gerard Mercator (1512-1594), the Museum Plantin-Moretus/Prentenkabinet, Vrijdagmarkt 22-23, has an exhibit Mercator: Reizen in het onbekende [Mercator: Exploring New Horizons]. The exhibition illustrates the fascinating interaction between travel behavior and the development of cartography by means of travel reports, books, letters, maps and atlases, scientific instruments and prints. The worldview of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th century significantly expanded and opened a new world. Explorers, traders and diplomats write down their travel experiences in journals and reports. Travel literature is an important source of information for the mapping industry, which is growing fast.

April 13, 2012 - June 17, 2012 - Concord, Massachusetts
What is the meaning of historical objects? Why are they preserved, and why have they survived? Are they valued for their associations, aesthetic appeal, oddity or simply the stories that they tell? Such questions will be the focus of a special exhibition at the Concord Museum, The Object of History: Colonial Treasures from the Massachusetts Historical Society. The exhibition will explore more than 70 objects, including portraits, needlework, maps, firearms, swords, furniture, clothing, scientific instruments and silver from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Included is John Foster's map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first map published in America. The Museum is located at 53 Cambridge Turnpike.

March 1, 2012 – June 23, 2012 – Vancouver
Surveying instruments that helped lay out one of the Northwest’s most historic properties - Vancouver Barracks - will be part of a new display at the Clark County Historical Museum, 511 Main St. The Mapping Clark County exhibit will feature maps and aerial photographs of the county from 1854 to 2000. Instruments used by C.C. Redman to survey the Vancouver Barracks site a job he completed in 1851 include a transit and a compass. The exhibit will include a tribute to Phil Arnold, the longtime Vancouver mapmaker who died on Jan. 14 at age 96. His family has lended several maps and items from his upstairs office in the Arnolds’ home.

January 12, 2012 - June 29, 2012 – Singapore
The Raffles Town Plan depicting the urban plan of Singapore according to the instructions of Sir Stamford Raffles, a video on unusual street names, legal documents and maps are among the items featured in an exhibition at the National Library, 100 Victoria Street. The Stories Behind Singapore Streets exhibition, which traces street naming conventions from the pre-colonial era to modern Singapore, aims to create a greater awareness of the Republic's early history, nation-building process and multicultural heritage. In total, more than 100 street names are featured, such as those during the 14th and 15th century, pre-Raffles Singapore and the post-colonial period after Singapore's independence in 1965. Other highlights include the National Library's legal documents and maps from the Koh Seow Chuan collection, PictureSG1's photographs of street scenes of early Singapore from the Lee Kip Lin collection, and a video on 10 unusual street names such as Kay Poh Road, Rotan Lane and One Tree Hill.

March 23, 2012 - June 30, 2012 - Beaufort, South Carolina
The remains of Fort Fremont on St. Helena Island are quite easy to find - but it's not easy to make much sense of the barren concrete structures and a fort that long ago lost most of its buildings. But a new exhibit at the Verdier House, at 801 Bay Street, seeks to reignite interest and offer education on the site and its historical significance. The Fort Fremont: Homeland Security c. 1898 exhibit features many documents, maps, relics, and more on the fort that was built in the run-up to the Spanish American War.

April 10, 2012 - June 30, 2012 - Briarcliff Manor, New York
It's a blast from the past as the Briarcliff Manor Scarborough Historical Society gives residents a chance to see what Briarcliff Manor looked like more than 200 years ago. The historical society is showcasing maps, drawings and illustrative materials of early Briarcliff Manor, Westchester and surrounding areas that date to 1806 in an exhibit that includes archival items that relate to early life in the community and surroundings. The exhibit is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through June 30 at the historical society, located below the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. The exhibit is also open by appointment by calling 914-941-4393.

June 20-30, 2012 – Jakarta
The exhibition History of Islam at the National Museum, Jl. Merdeka Barat No. 12 Center Jakarta, features over 20 maps from the collection of Giovanni de Agostini, Jr. The maps begin to tell the story of the world’s situation at Muhammad’s birth. Viewers can then look at later events, such as the Prophet’s journey from Medina to Mecca where he and his followers spread Islam from 632 to 661 A.D. during the period of the four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman and Ali. The cartographic journey continues with the period of Arab conquest in lands such as Syria and Mesopotamia from 632 to 714, the period of the Mongol Empire founded by Gengis Khan, the series of wars termed the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire’s rise to power and its decline, as well as the spread of Islam in Indonesia. The History of Islam exhibition is sponsored by the Embassy of Italy and The Italian Institute of Culture Jakarta, in collaboration with L’Antica Cartografia and the National Museum.

March 8, 2012 - July 3, 2012 - Cambridge, Massachusetts
In 1828, the United States and Great Britain agreed to let the King of the Netherlands settle the long-standing dispute over the Northeast Boundary (Maine’s borders with New Brunswick and Quebec). To support American territorial claims with topographical evidence, Albert Gallatin (who represented the US government’s interests) requested the loan of 22 maps from the Harvard College Library, and these maps accompanied Gallatin’s retinue to the Hague. When arbitration failed, the maps made their second transatlantic voyage, but this was only the first stage in a journey that spanned more than two decades. Long after the boundary was settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, Harvard continued to press for the return of its cartographic loan. A Border Line Case: Harvard's Maps and the Northeast Boundary Dispute explores the complex history of this unusual transaction—why these particular maps were chosen, how they were used to support American claims, and why it took 25 years for Harvard to get its maps back. Among the cast of characters who played roles in this story were: three Harvard presidents (Quincy, Everett, and Sparks), several Secretaries of State (including Daniel Webster and James Buchanan), and President Millard Fillmore. Exhibit can be seen in the Map Gallery Hall, Pusey Library, Harvard University. For further information, contact Joseph Garver at 617-496-3670.

June 12, 2012 - July 12, 2012 - Astana, Kazakhstan
Nigel Gould-Davies, a British oilman, has lived in Kazakhstan for the past 2 years. He has exhibited his collection of ancient geographic maps called Maps and Traveling: Introducing Kazakhstan to Europe, from Alexander the Great to Queen Victoria. The exhibition contains 13 ancient maps that constitute a large part of the collection. According to Gould-Davies, he collected the maps in many cities of Western Europe, especially in Great Britain and Holland, as these countries had big map-making centers in 16-17 centuries. The exhibition is held in Nazarbayev Center.

June 13, 2012 - July 12, 2012 - New York
The American Irish Historical Society in collaboration with Mayo County Council’s Jackie Clarke Collection: Ireland’s Memory, Linen Hall Library, and The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library presents an exhibition Island: Drawing Conclusions Mapping the Irish. This exhibition is open to the public Monday-Friday 10- 5 at the American Irish Historical Society, 991 Fifth Avenue.

December 6, 2011 - July 15, 2012 - New York
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, the foundational document that established Manhattan’s famous street grid. Featuring an original hand-drawn map of New York's planned streets and avenues prepared by the Commission in 1811, as well as other rare historic maps, photographs and prints of the evolution of the city's streets, and original manuscripts and publications that document the city’s physical growth, the exhibition examines the grid’s initial design, implementation, and evolution. The Greatest Grid traces the enduring influence of the 1811 plan as the grid has become a defining feature of the city, shaping its institutions and public life. The exhibition can be seen at Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue. The exhibit is accompanied by a book of the same name, edited by Hilary Ballon of NYU, who also curated the exhibition, and co-published by the Museum and Columbia University Press.

June 14, 2012 - July 15, 2012 - Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts
The Historical Society of Old Yarmouth opened an exhibit of nearly 50 old maps at the Bangs Hallet House Museum in Yarmouth Port that illustrate how Cape Cod has been represented on maps for 400 years. The maps, provided by Robert E. Zaremba and Danielle R. Jeanloz of Maps of Antiquity in Chatham for an exhibit called Mapping Cape Cod – Both Land and Sea are displayed throughout the first floor of the museum on Strawberry Lane. They are displayed in four categories: maps from the 17th and 18th centuries, nautical charts and government maps, 19th century Cape Cod town maps and 20th century maps. Additional maps belonging to the museum and friends of the museum are in upstairs rooms. Open Thursdays through Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m.

April 21, 2012 - July 23, 2012 - San Marino, California
Drawing on the unparalleled manuscripts collection on the topic held by The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, a major exhibition illuminates the remarkable changes wrought in the United States by the planning, construction, and completion of the transcontinental railroad. Visions of Empire: The Quest for a Railroad Across America, 1840–1880, on view in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act, which led to the rail connection between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean. The exhibition features some 200 items, the vast majority from The Huntington - including maps, photographs, illustrations, newspapers, magazines, letters, and diaries, most of which have never before been on public display.

June 23, 2012 - July 31, 2012 – Manila
Several old maps of the Philippines during the Spanish colonization period of the country will be on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, next to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Roxas Blvd. This exhibition, Three Hundred Years of Philippine Maps 1598-1898, includes 134 original Philippine Maps dating from the Spanish colonial period to early American time. The show features maps of Petrus Kaerius, J.N. Metellus, Wytfliet, Bertius and Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde's 18th century Mapa de las Islas Filipinas.

April 25, 2012 - July 29, 2012 – Brussels
The Royal Library of Belgium, Keizerslaan, 4, will stage two exhibits simultaneously. The Maps and Plans section will exhibit the 1595 Atlas of Mercator. This atlas constitutes one of the most important contributions of Mercator to modern cartography. This atlas was in fact part of a wider project of cosmographic dimension, which was interrupted by Mercator's death. The successive steps of that project will be presented as 'focus' in the Librarium, the permanent exhibition area of the Library. Several cartographic sources have been used by Mercator for his Atlas. One of them is the magnificent manuscript atlas of Christian Sgrooten, the “Atlas Bruxellensis” from ca. 1573. This unique source was hidden during centuries among the treasures of the Spanish court. In 1859, it was bought by the Royal Library and restored in 2007. The second exhibition, Une source royale pour Mercator [A Royal Source for Mercator], in the Nassau Chapel, will present the relationship between this masterpiece and Mercator's Atlas; the public will discover the maps from Sgrooten which directly inspired Mercator.

June 20, 2012 - August 5, 2012 - Freeport, Illinois
The changes and growth in Freeport and Stephenson County will be highlighted in a new exhibit at the Stephenson County Historical Museum - A Century of Maps: Freeport and Stephenson County, 1870s to 1970s. Plat books of Stephenson County from 1871, 1894 and 1913 will be on display, along with a set of 1899 Illinois Central Railroad maps of Freeport. Highly detailed maps of Freeport, created by the Sanborn Map Company of Chicago will be available for examination. These maps were used by insurance underwriters. Other early maps of Freeport are also included in the exhibition. Early tools by surveyors, including a Gunther’s Chain are part of the exhibit. The Stephenson County Museum, 1440 S. Carroll Ave., is open from noon to 4 p.m., Wednesdays to Sundays.

May 15, 2012 - August 23, 2012 - Portland, Maine
The Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, at the University of Southern Maine, is pleased to announce its new exhibition: The Triumph of the Passenger Ship: Highlights from the Norman H. Morse Ocean Liner Collection, 1870-2010, curated by maritime historian Lincoln Paine. The exhibition presents the experience of life aboard these grand vessels through a selection of the Morse Collection of ocean liner ephemera. Norman H. Morse assembled his collection of almost 3,000 pieces over eight decades, and gave it to the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education in 2009.

March 4, 2012 - August 26, 2012 - Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
The 500th anniversary of the birth of Mercator in Sint-Niklaas is being recognized by an exhibition, Mercator Digitaal, in the Stedelijke Musea, Zwijgershoek 14. Seven kiosks highlight various aspects of Mercator's work and life. Mercator Digitaall is an interactive exhibition with use of modern computer and projection techniques.

August 7-31, 2012 – Trier, Germany
The University Library of Trier and the National Library Centre of Rhineland-Palatinate (Koblenz) have organized an exhibition 100 Years’ Lifetime Collection - 500 Years of Map Treasures at the University Library of Trier. The exhibition celebrates the 100th birthday of Fritz Hellwig, a major benefactor of the Trier University Library. Additional information from Tel: 00 49(0)651-201-2420.

June 16, 2012 - September 1, 2012 – Toronto
The TD Gallery, in the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, main floor, has an exhibit featuring maps and other artifacts collected by Toronto's first chief librarian, James Bain. A Passion for History: The Legacy of James Bain features rare historical maps, books, manuscripts and prints from Bain's own extensive private collection. Bain was an avid collector of maps and he was also a publisher and books collector.

May 11, 2012 – September 9, 2012 – Oxford
A stellar selection of books, globes and instruments have been brought together from across the UK for the summer special exhibition, The Renaissance in Astronomy, at the Museum of the History of Science, Broad Street. The exhibition marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of cartographer Gerard Mercator, whose world map projection we use to this day. Mercator was famed for his globes and a pair of his splendid terrestrial and celestial globes, lent by Royal Museums Greenwich, are featured in the exhibition. Also on show is Mercator’s own annotated copy of Copernicus’s ground-breaking book “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium,” and Johannes Schöner's magnificent celestial globe.

June 22, 2012 - September 14, 2012 - Dunedin, New Zealand
The exhibition Charting the Land on the Ocean: Pacific Exploration, 1520-1876 can be seen in the de Beer Gallery, Special Collections, University of Otago, 65 Albany Street. It will feature rare books and maps from the Hocken Collections, the Science Library, Special Collections, University of Otago, and the Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library. Aside from works on Cook, Bougainville, Kotzebue, Freycinet, Duperrey, and Dumont d’Urville, etc., three wonderful associational items will be on display: tapa cloth specimens collected by Cook, an original Rose Freycinet letter (courtesy of the Heritage Collection, Dunedin Public Library), and a ‘Resolution’ Medal, found on a beach in Dunedin back in 1863 (courtesy of the Otago Museum). An online version of this exhibition can be seen at http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/exhibitions/charting-the-land-on-the-ocean/index.php.

February 15, 2012 – September 15, 2012 - Astoria, Oregon
An exhibition titled Envisioning the World: The First Printed Maps, 1472-1700 can be seen at Columbia River Maritime Museum, 1792 Marine Drive. The exhibition will feature approximately 30 rare world maps drawn from the collection of Henry Wendt, and will explore the major trends in intellectual history from the early Renaissance through the scientific era of the Enlightenment. Through the language of cartography, the maps in the exhibition illustrate the way in which scientists, mathematicians, explorers and cartographers came to grips with the shape, size and nature of the Earth as a whole and its place in the universe. Highlighted in the exhibition are the important contributions to this evolving cosmography of: Ptolemy (c. 90-168 ); Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543); Galileo Galilei (1564-1642); Johannes Kepler (1571-1630); and Edmond Halley (1656-1742). Works featured in the exhibition include: the first printed map (1472), a schematic concept of the continents in the form of a "T" encircled by an "O" of ocean; the first printed road map (1598), showing the cursus publicus, the postal system of the Roman Empire, in eight sections totaling 14 linear feet; highly decorative exemplars from the golden age of Dutch mapmaking (17th century); and elaborate hand-colored celestial views (1700), representing the constellations with figures from Greek mythology. A concurrent exhibition, Mapping the Pacific Coast: Coronado to Lewis and Clark. The Quivira Collection, is a world class exhibition showcasing 45 magnificent maps, books and illustrations, dated 1544 through 1802, of the west coast of North America. It invites viewers on a voyage of exploration from the first tentative probing by European explorers through Thomas Jefferson’s commission of the Corps of Discovery.

May 18, 2012 - September 23, 2012 - New York
Featuring some seventy masterpieces of drawings, books, maps, and letters from the Morgan Library's rich holdings, the exhibition Renaissance Venice: Drawings from the Morgan chronicles the artistic production of the city of Venice and its territories during the republic's Golden Age, the sixteenth century. The exhibition features striking examples by great masters of the period, including Paris Bordone, Vittore Carpaccio, Lorenzo Lotto, Jacopo Tintoretto, Titian, and Paolo Veronese. Offering compelling insights into contemporary art, religion, and culture, Renaissance Venice addresses topics such as the portrait in Venetian art, Venice and the landscape tradition, religious and civic life, artistic innovations in printmaking and drawing, book publishing and cartography, and the role of foreign artists in the city. Exhibition can be viewed at Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue.

June 22, 2012 - September 23, 2012 – Brussels
The Centre for fine Arts, Rue Ravenstein 23, has organised an exhibition to mark the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union. Mapping Cyprus 1191-2012: Crusaders, Traders, and Explorers recounts the island’s eventful history. A crossroads for the major commercial and political exchanges between West and East, Cyprus was long coveted by competing civilisations and was occupied by a succession of them. The exhibition opens with the period of Frankish (i.e. Western) domination inaugurated by Richard the Lionheart in 1191. Richard sold Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan, who founded an independent kingdom that lasted for nearly three centuries (1192-1489). Venice was the next owner, before the island was seized by the Ottomans in 1571. They, in turn, ceded it in 1878 to the British, who recognised its independence in 1960.The exhibition reflects this exceptional cultural interchange, which radiated throughout Europe and saw the interpenetration of Byzantine, Western, and Venetian art. It includes some fifty icons, geographical maps, and paintings belonging to the last queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, and to the Venetian period, as well as two special thematic rooms devoted to Shakespeare’s Othello and to the music of the Lusignan court.

April 19, 2012 - September 26, 2012 – Washington
The 500th anniversary of Armenian printing this year provides an opportunity to highlight the prominent early role Armenians, who at that time already had lost statehood and had their homeland come under foreign rule, played in the Near East in this field. It also is an opportunity to present some of the fruits of centuries of Armenian literary and cultural work. The Library of Congress, thanks to the efforts of curator Dr. Levon Avdoyan and a team of staff members, inaugurated a beautifully designed exhibit in the South Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building titled To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress.” It will remain on display Monday-Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is no charge for access to this exhibit. The exhibit includes 76 items from as early as the 14th century, and as late as 2010. The early manuscripts on display show that Armenia had a long and illustrious literary tradition which quickly was transformed by the adoption of printing. The exhibit includes the first complete Armenian-language printed bible from Amsterdam (1666), the first modern Armenian novel, the first transcription of the Armenian liturgy with European musical notation in the 19th century, an 18th-century phylactery or prayer scroll and various rare 19th-century publications. Maps, such as one of Yerevan in the early 20th century, sheet music and modern diasporan, Ottoman, Soviet and post-Soviet Armenian books and periodicals show the vitality and range of Armenian printing. Non-printed items such as manuscript illuminations, elaborately embroidered fabrics, musical recordings and photographs highlight the richness and range of the Library of Congress collection. The exhibit may also be viewed online.

March 12, 2012 - September 29, 2012 - New York
Google Maps may be the cutting edge way to navigate one's surroundings, but to create it tech whizzes relied on a centuries old formula developed by a Flemish geographer and cartographer named Gerard Mercator. With 2012 marking the 500th anniversary of Mercator’s birth, the New York Public Library will display several of Mercator’s expertly drawn maps, drafted with ancient technology that is still being used today. Mercator at 500 can be seen at at the New York Public Library, Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

July 10, 2012 - September 29, 2012 - Sanford, Florida
The Museum of Seminole County History, 300 Bush Boulevard, will display this summer Historic Maps of Seminole County. Trace the history and development of Central Florida through historical maps from our collection. Over 50 maps include maps of the State of Florida in the Spanish occupation, survey, topographical maps, and land use maps for towns in the county and maps of the St. Johns River. Open Tuesday-Friday 1:00PM to 5:00PM and Saturday 9:00AM to 1:00PM.

June 5, 2012 - September 30, 2012 – Washington
Over the course of two centuries, London changed from the capital of England, secure within its medieval walls, to a metropolitan seat of empire. Its population grew tenfold. Some urban developments were spurred by the dissolution of the monasteries, a royal decree that was both politically and religiously motivated. Also reshaping the city were natural tragedies, like repeated bouts of the plague or the Great Fire of 1666 that destroyed more than 13,000 homes, 86 churches, and over 400 acres in the heart of the city. Such events had a significant impact on the built environment, opening up spaces for repurposing. Open City: London, 1500-1700 explores activities and pressures that altered Londoners’ sense of community, focusing especially on three types of institutions that touched everyday lives: church, theater, and market. Drawing on materials as disparate as deeds, diaries, engravings, and maps, Open City illustrates the impact of new ideas, new products, and new people in this rapidly growing capital city. Exhibit can be seen at Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE.

July 3, 2012 - September 30, 2012 - The Hague
Leiden University Library, Museum Meermanno and the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus present the exhibition Cyprus Insula: Maps of Cyprus from the Low Countries in Museum Meermanno, Prinsessegracht 30. The exhibition is organised by the Special Collections of Leiden University, Museum Meermanno and the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus on the occasion of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2012. In this small exhibition in the 19th century book room of Museum Meermanno you can see the most important maps of Cyprus from Dutch and Flemish atlases and travel accounts and some of the rare Venetian examples on which these maps were based. This exhibition shows the history of the mapping of Cyprus, as well as the history of Dutch map production, especially the history of atlas publishing in the Southern and Northern Netherlands. Beside the famous atlases of Ortelius, Hondius and Blaeu, some rare works are exposed like a small woodcut atlas of Zacharias Heyns, the first atlas published in Holland in 1598. The Low Countries played an important role in the mapping of the island of Cyprus, because Antwerp and later Amsterdam were the main centres of map and atlas production in the 16th and 17th century.

October 6, 2012 – Sacramento
In celebration of National Archives Month this October, archives and special collections libraries from throughout the region will showcase their rarely-seen holdings during the 2nd Annual Sacramento Archives Crawl. Free and open to the public, the theme for the event this year is “Building Sacramento, Building Communities” and crawl participants can expect to see a wide range of historic materials documenting the growth of the region. Showcasing historic treasures from twenty Northern California institutions, special artifacts will be on display at four host locations including the California State Archives, the California State Library, the Center for Sacramento History, and the Sacramento Public Library. Due to the popularity of the first-year effort in 2011, Sacramento Archives Crawl event hours are expanded this year to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In the Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library, 828 I Street, will be historic maps showing the growth of Sacramento from pre-Gold Rush to the late 20th century.

September 29, 2012 – October 12, 2012 – London
The Royal Geographical Society has an exhibition of globes crafted by London globemakers Bellerby & Co. The exhibits offer a rare glimpse into the art of globemaking.

September 11, 2012 - October 15, 2012 – Lisbon
Maps Readers: Two Centuries of Cartographic History in Portugal is the title of an exhibition on show at the National Library of Portugal, exhibition room - 3rd floor, Campo Grande, 83, in connection with the 4th Iberian-American Conference on the History of Cartography. This exhibition presents an ample retrospective of the work of cartographic historians in Portugal during the last 200 years. It highlights the work of about a dozen Portuguese researchers including the founder of the discipline, the Viscount of Santarém, and other internationally recognized personalities such as Duarte Leite, Abel Fontoura da Costa, Jaime e Armando Cortesão, Luís de Albuquerque and Avelino Teixeira da Mota. The exhibition shows a selection of about 80 objects pertaining to various funds at the National Library of Portugal including books, articles, manuscripts, photographs, engravings, atlases and maps. It highlights the contribution made by Portuguese researchers to a discipline that has made much progress since its founding days in the early 19th century. The materials are grouped in four sections concentrating on specific cultural, scientific and political-diplomatic contexts in which the history of cartography developed.

May 18, 2012 - October 28, 2012 – London
A new exhibition about the inspiration, history and creativity behind London transport maps opens at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza. Mind the Map: inspiring art, design and cartography will draw on the Museum’s outstanding map collection to explore the themes of journeys, identity and publicity. The exhibition will be the largest of its kind and will include previously unseen historic material and exciting new artworks by leading artists including Simon Patterson, Stephen Walter, Susan Stockwell, Jeremy Wood, Claire Brewster, and Agnes Poitevin-Navarre. The displays will explore geographical, diagrammatic and decorative transport maps, as well as the influence of the iconic London Tube map on cartography, art and the public imagination. The Underground, London Transport, and its successor Transport for London, have produced outstanding maps for over 100 years. These have not only shaped the city, they have inspired the world. Looking in particular at the relationship between identity and place, Mind the Map will explore the impact maps have had on our understanding of London and how they influence the way we navigate and engage with our surroundings.

October 6-28, 2012 - Emsworth, Hampshire
Glimpses of Hampshire and Sussex in days gone by will be given in an exhibition of old maps and prints. The special exhibition is on at Emsworth Museum, 10b North Street.

March 21, 2012 – October, 2012 - Ithaca, New York
The Maps and Media Unit in the Research & Learning Services Department of Olin & Uris Libraries has prepared a new exhibit, Columbia or America: 500 Years of Controversy, displayed in the lower level lobby of Olin Library , Cornell University. The exhibit was inspired by the 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine explorer who gave his name to two continents. This exhibit consists of eight original maps depicting Columbus’s and Vespucci’s voyages, as well as four facsimiles of historically important maps from the early and mid-1500s, including the famous 1507 World map by Martin Waldseemuller, where the name, “America,” was mentioned for the first time.

September 20, 2012 - October 31, 2012 - Ann Arbor
Travel, an essential activity of human societies, has evolved into an industry with social, economic and environmental impacts. From pilgrimage and exploration to trade and tourism, advances in transportation have enabled new types of travel and created new places, some existing solely for the vacationer. Travel Through Maps and Narrative: An Exhibition on Travel and Tourism highlights changes in travel including information on early pilgrimages, exploration narratives, the grand tour of Europe, women travellers, World’s Fairs, the birth of the family vacation and specialized tourism using maps and narratives from the Library collections. Exhibit can be seen at Hatcher Graduate Library, Clark Library, Second Floor, University of Michigan.

October 2010 – November 2012 - Newton, Massachusetts
Historic Newton's Jackson Homestead and Museum, 527 Washington Street, has opened its newest exhibit, Mapping A New Town: 1714-1874. The exhibit traces the evolution of map development in the city. Newton's earliest map, begun in 1714, shows details that are not clearly understood, but over time, the maps become more descriptive and show elements of the physical landscape that give shape and character to the emerging town. With each map and in each era, there is a unique sense of place as Newton evolves from a rural farming community bounded by the Charles River to a lively suburb, stimulated by the opening of the first steam railroad in Massachusetts, and, by 1874, a new political entity celebrated as the "Garden City" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Newton takes shape on rare maps and is seen in prints, photographs, and a fine landscape painting, "The Great Curve on the Boston and Worcester Railroad at Newton Lower Falls," is on loan from a private collection. The Jackson Homestead and Museum, part of Historic Newton, is open from Tuesday to Friday from 11 am to 5 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 pm. For more information call 617-796-1450.

November 8, 2011 – November 4, 2012 - Los Angeles
Tracing the growth of Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest city, is the topic of the new exhibit, As the City Grew: Historical Maps of Los Angeles, on display at the Central Library, First Floor Galleries, 630 W. Fifth St., downtown. The 34 historical maps in the exhibition are from the Los Angeles Public Library’s 100-year-old map collection, which contains more than 100,000 items and represents local, national and international cartography. It is one of the largest collections owned by a public library in the U.S. and is noted for materials relating to Los Angeles and the West including historical topographical maps, road maps, street guides, and fire insurance atlases.

September 13, 2012 – November 5, 2012 – Paris
The Bibliothèque nationale de France / Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, Galerie Colbert, 2 rue Vivienne, will have an exhibition of Maps and Plans of Algeria from its collection. For additional information contact cartes.plans@bnf.fr.

April 12, 2012 - November 10, 2012 – Boston
America Votes: Mapping the Political Landscape is on display in the Norman B. Leavenworth Map Center Gallery on the ground floor of the Boston Public Library at Copley Square. It includes approximately 30 maps, political cartoons, photographs and other graphic images dating from the 1780s to the present. With each election Americans have become accustomed to seeing national maps colored red and blue signifying Republican and Democratic voting patterns. Presenting election results has long intrigued mapmakers as the maps and graphics in this exhibition reveal. Examples range from several early efforts to the most recent campaigns. The display also features the original Gerrymander cartoon published in the Boston Gazette, March 26, 1812, and includes maps illustrating the extension of the vote to non-property owners, blacks, and women. These issues are represented in several examples that also show the importance of the states as the proxy for the voice of the people they represented. Efforts to legislate behavior, such as prohibition, were another aspect of mapping the political landscape.

September 28, 2012 - November 11, 2012 - St. Wendel, Germany
Kartenausstellung Hellwig can be seen at Stadtmuseum St. Wendel / Stiftung Dr. Walter Bruch, Mia-Münster-Haus, In der Mott (Lieferanschrift: Wilhelmstraße 11). A set of maps and plans from the Fritz Hellwig collection. Fritz Hellwig was a member of the Bundestag and a top international official. The collection covers the Lotharingian space (Lorraine, Alsace, Rhineland, Palatinate). You can see the Lorraine and the Saar, which were part of the Kingdom of France (enclave of Saarlouis, Provost Wallerfangen) and of the French Empire (departments of Moselle and Sarre), from 1513 to 1919.

May 19, 2012 – November 30, 2012 – Hanoi
An exhibition entitled Vietnam's Maritime Cultural Heritage, aims at introducing facets of the country's seas and islands and aspects of trade between East and West can be seen at the National Museum of History, 25 Tong Dan Street. The display is arranged into categories ranging from prehistoric times to the 10th century, from the 11th century BC to the 18th century and from the 19th century to the modern age. Documents, maps, photographs and artifacts displayed in the exhibit support and reaffirm Vietnam's sovereignty in the East Sea. The worldwide voyages of European overseas exploration and discovery vessels gave rise to a great "commercial revolution" in Western Europe. This led to the creation of new maritime trading networks linking the regions of the East Sea to other lands and continents. In this period, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French and other traders became directly involved in trade with Dai Viet. In response, the domains of the Trinh Lords (in the north of Vietnam) and the Nguyen Lords (in the south of Vietnam) were opened and integrated strongly into this system.

October 18, 2012 - December 1, 2012 - Makati City, Philippines
The Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza, Corner Ayala and Senator Gil J. Puyat Avenues, will open an exhibit on The British Occupation of Manila and Cavite 1762-1764, which marks the 250th anniversary of the British Occupation of Manila. This is the Philippine Map Collectors Society’s second exhibit at the Yuchengco Museum. Curated by Maria Isabel Ongpin and Jonathan Best, the exhibit features 18th-century maps, prints, and rare books relating to the British Occupation. The exhibit also explores the circumstances, the key players, and the legacy of this little-known event in Philippine history.

March 5, 2012 – December 2, 2012 – Duisburg
The Kultur- und Stadthistorisches Museum, Johannes-Corputius-Platz 1, will have a special exhibition on honor of the 500th birthday of Gerhard Mercator. Featured will be globes and a selection of maps and atlases by Gerhard Mercator, who was born in 1512 in Rupelmonde and lived in Duisburg from 1552.

June 6, 2012 - December 13, 2012 – Einsiedeln, Switzerland
Maps and Plans in the Einsiedeln Monastery Archive can be seen in the Einsiedeln Abbey Library. Public tours are 6 June, 7 July, 8 August 3, October, 3 November, 5 December - Meeting point: 14.00 and 15.00 clock in front of the monastery church. Guided group tours can be arranged on other days on the web page.

November 13, 2012 - December 14, 2012 - Gainesville, Florida
The George A. Smathers Libraries will present Imagining Jerusalem to coincide with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Imagining Jerusalem showcases antique maps, historic photographs and rare books depicting, idealizing and imagining the Holy City of Jerusalem. The exhibition, in Smathers Library (East) Gallery (second floor), is a collaborative effort between the Map and Imagery Library and the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica at the University of Florida. It marks the 20th anniversary of an important donation of antique Holy Land maps by James C. and Adina P. Simmons of Tel-Aviv, Israel, and Tallahassee, Florida.

September 14, 2012 - December 30, 2012 - Ilwaco, Washington
The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, like most historic collections, has many maps in its collection. The types of maps at the museum reflect the ways of life of the particular place. Few regions in the country have maps of shipwrecks and even fewer have maps of oyster beds and fish traps. Fire insurance maps are valuable historical documents that tell researchers where buildings and homes were located at the time the maps were drafted. The exhibition You Are Here! Maps from the Collection will highlight maps of all sorts, from the early plat maps of Whealdonburg (now Ilwaco) and Ocean Park to navigational charts of Baker Bay and the Columbia River and land maps of railways, roads and even hiking trails. In addition to local maps, the exhibition will include map-making and surveying tools that played an important role in mapping the region. The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum is located at 115 S.E. Lake St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays.

September 17, 2011 – December 31, 2012 - Rochetaillée-sur-Saône (near Lyon), France
Voyages à la Carte [Road map panorama] can be seen at Musée Henri Malartre, 645, rue du Musée. From the many facets of the road map world, the museum has chosen to present a general history of French road maps from when they were first published up to the present day. Also an illustration, by means of a chronological set of maps, of the development of infrastructure and of communication networks (road, rail, river, air) of the same geographical area.

December 1, 2011 − December 31, 2012 – Edinburgh
John Slezer was an ordnance engineer of German origin who came to Scotland in 1669 to survey fortifications and defences and draw up military plans for the Army. The government of that era took map-making very seriously: the documentation of the British Isles meant having the power to challenge rebellion or invasion. In fact, the Ordnance Survey maps so beloved of hill walkers today have their origins in those maps used by the military as tools of war, and formerly stored in the Tower of London. During a 20-year period Slezer created maps and drawings which were both visually and historically compelling. His book "Theatrum Scotiae" contains the earliest comprehensive mappings and views of Scotland. It is a fascinating and detailed record of the built landscape at that time. A Survey of Scotland is an exhibition of maps by John Slezer at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is five minutes’ walk from Princes Street on Queen Street (round the corner from Harvey Nichols).

February 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012 – Plymouth, Massachusetts
Written, Printed and Drawn: Rarities from Plymouth's Past is a special exhibition of the archival documents, rare books and maps from the collections of Pilgrim Hall Museum, 75 Court St. Given the fragile nature of many pieces, they will only be displayed for a term of three and a half months before being replaced by other documents, rare books and maps. This is done for preservation purposes (reducing exposure to light) and to show some of the highlights from the library and archives collections. Over the course of the exhibit, 18 documents, five maps and 15 rare books will be displayed. For information call 508-746-1620. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. seven days a week.

September 13, 2012 -December 31, 2012 - Mafra, Portugal
Maps in the Palace: Printed Cartography in the Mafra Library is the title of the exhibition that will in the rooms adjacent to the Library of the Mafra Palace. This exhibit is organized in connection with the 4th Iberian-American Conference on the History of Cartography, an event held at the National Library of Portugal. About 40 maps taken from an exceptionally rich collection of 30.000 volumes have been selected to be put on display in the Baroque library rooms of the Mafra Palace, a unique setting representing the only library of this kind created in the 18th century that still remains in its original place today. The presented works have been taken from shelves dedicated to subjects such as Geography & Travels and Astronomy & Mathematical Treatises. They document the theoretical, technical and artistic progress underlying the cartographic representation of the world following the Iberian exploratory activities of the Early Modern period. Ranging from Lisbon to Japan, Africa and the Americas, we show maps of different scales representing city plans, views, topographic profiles and plans of fortifications included in books from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Special emphasis is placed on items documenting the improvements of printing techniques in the 18th century during the period of Enlightenment that saw the original establishment of the Mafra Library.

October 9, 2012 - December 31, 2012 - Auburn, New York
If you ever need to stop and ask for directions, head to the Cayuga Museum, 203 Cayuga St. Its new exhibit, You Are Here! Putting Auburn on the Map: Maps and Map Making in Cayuga County, is a centuries-spanning celebration of cartography, a sprawl of legends, quadrants and landmarks. The first gallery features North American maps from as early as the 1600s. The second gallery moves toward the post-Revolutionary War period, when veterans were compensated with land bounties across central and western New York. The museum is showcasing a 12-foot-tall map from one of the area's surveyors, Col. John L. Hardenbergh, whose survey book is also featured in "You Are Here!" A collection of specialized maps occupy the final gallery. A romance map depicts historical happenings in the Finger Lakes, an industrial map chronicles where airplanes, school buses and other items were manufactured locally, and climate and soil maps present a more scientific vision of the area.

November 6, 2012 - December 31, 2012 - Waco, Texas
If Jacob Raphael De Cordova had his way, the dateline for this story would be “Lamartine” and not “Waco.” But rather than being named for a French poet and statesman, the city on the Brazos is named for the Native American tribe that once dwelt here. De Cordova (1808-68), a Texas land agent and colonizer, was one of the men who laid out what later became known as Waco Village from 1848-49. Town lots of an acre sold for $5 to $10, and nearby agricultural holdings brought up to $3 per acre. At the urging of his wife, Rebecca, De Cordova reserved free sites for schools, churches and community commons. Mapping Waco: A Brief History, 1845-1913, presented by The Texas Collection and the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections, marks this heritage with a joint exhibit at the Carroll Library and online. Through the cartographers’ art, visitors can chart the changing landscape of the city from its earliest existence in the mid-1800s as a trading post to the boom years of the early 20th century, when the city “reached for the sky” in towers of concrete and steel. The maps are on display at The Texas Collection within Carroll Library, Baylor University, which is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

February 28, 2012 – December 2012 – Dublin
Powdered earthworms and lots of white wine: that’s the 17th century cure for piles on display, along with other science-related documents at Particles of the Past, an exhibition launched at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street. As part of the Dublin City of Science 2012, the exhibit brings together a set of unusual historical documents – carefully restored maps, a recipe for making ice cream in a bucket, a journal from the voyages of Captain Cook, among others – all tied together by the theme of science.

March, 2012 – December 2012 – Chicago
Chinatown Centennial 2012 is an exhibition of maps, photographs and artifacts that tell the story of the past century of the Chinese in Chicago. It is on display at the Chinese-American Museum of Chicago, 238 West 23rd Street.

April 30, 2012 - December 2012 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Louisiana State Bicentennial: Celebrating 200 Years in Maps can be seen at CARTE Museum, 2347 Christian St. The museum is a non-profit endeavor, which means there is no admission charged. The exhibits are from rare maps in Dave Morgan's (CARTE Museum founder and director) own personal collection. For the upcoming bicentennial exhibit, Morgan is mounting about 55 maps that tell the story of how Louisiana was formed from the original territory to the present. The Museum is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays and by appointment on other days. For additional information contact (225) 387-6119.