New members and visitors are always welcome to attend these
events.
Please submit your meeting notices to John W. Docktor
<phillymaps(at)gmail(dot)com>
To learn more about
non-current maps see Map
History / History of Cartography.
Exhibition announcements
can be found at Cartography
- Calendar of Exhibitions.
Click here
for archive of past events.
September 2, 2024 - London (Hybrid) Over the last fifty years, scholars, collectors, and curators revolutionized and invigorated the practice of map history. Theoretically informed studies, grounded in new archives and shaped by new technologies, have globalized both the subject and the community of map history. As a new generation of map historians emerges, as the last of the six volumes of The History of Cartography approaches completion, and as “Imago Mundi”, the leading journal in the field, anticipates its second century of publication, the International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap), in collaboration with the editors of “Imago Mundi” are organizing a small, one-day symposium. Where Does Map History Go Now? invites reflection on the series and its intellectual significance, and provides an opportunity to brainstorm and imagine what comes next for the field with interventions attending to the global and digital contexts of our work. The symposium will take place at the Royal Geographical Society. Although in-person space is closed, ISHMap members in good standing by August 31 may participate virtually. To attend virtually, please complete this registration form.
September 4-5, 2024 - London The British Cartographic Society annual conference and geodata visualisation hack day will be held in partnership with University College London at the Jeffrey Hall, 20 Bedford Way. There is an informal dinner arranged for those who might be interested. Located close by Stanfords, it should suit those who plan to be at the Networking Event and would like to eat beforehand. Register here.
September 4-7, 2024 – Oldenberg The 21. Kartographiehistorisches Colloquium will be held. Program can be viewed online.
September 6-7, 2024 – Amsterdam The first international Amsterdam Map Fair will be held on Saturday, 7 November at the Maritime Museum from 11.00-18.00. There are extras for members of both International Map Collectors' Society (IMCoS) and The Brussels Map Circle. These include a boat trip and a lunch on the day. There is also an optional concert that evening. Our much-esteemed previous IMCoS Chair, Hans Kok, will be giving an address at the Fair in the afternoon. On Friday, 6 November, there will be a guided tour of the Maritime Museum and a pre-Mapfair cocktail reception on a classic boat cruising the Amsterdam canals. Make your reservation now.
September 7, 2024 - Amsterdam The Brussels Map Circle is pleased to announce its next excursion to Amsterdam, in conjunction with the Map Fair. The programme will follow.
September 7, 2024 - Shrewsbury, Shropshire The Shropshire Archives, Castle Gates, invites you to drop in and view some stunning maps of Shropshire from 1pm-3pm. Archivists gathered together a selection of our favourite maps from across the centuries.
September 10, 2024 - Boston (Hybrid) Join the Leventhal Map & Education Center, 700 Boylston Street, for a lecture from 7:00-8:00 pm. Learn about the changing land tenure systems of eighteenth-century Canada as seen through maps. The 1774 Quebec Act is primarily known for partially provoking the American Revolution. But it also formalized the continuation of French, and by extension, Indigenous land tenures in British-controlled Quebec. In this program, Julia Lewandoski (Assistant Professor of History, University of California San Diego) will explore how cartographers struggled to express and accommodate distinctive French and Indigenous forms of landholding on maps meant to assert British dominance over the province. Registration is not required, but we will send a calendar invitation and reminder to registered attendees.
September 11-13, 2024 - Cartagena de Indias, Columbia The First Colombian Symposium on the History of Geography and Cartography is an initiative of Razón Cartográfica: Network of History of the Geographies and Cartographies of Colombia, the History Program of the University of Cartagena and the Geography Program of the National University of Colombia (La Paz Campus).
September 17, 2024 - Denver The Rocky Mountain Map Society will have two presentations by Professor Imre Demhardt at the History Colorado, 1200 Broadway. At 4:00 PM in the Research Center of the History Colorado building, Demhardt will lead a workshop on Weiland & Happel’s Atlas von Amerika (1823-29). At 5:30 in the Martin Room of the History Center, Demhardt will give his lecture on Alexander von Humboldt. The latter presentation can be attended in person or viewed on Zoom. Click here to register to attend in person or click here to view on Zoom.
September 18-19, 2024 – London (Online) Canceled: The Map Curators’ Group of the British Cartographic Society has canceled its Annual Workshop. Additional information from Paula Williams <P.Williams(at)NLS.UK>.
September 19, 2024 - Albuquerque The University of New Mexico Libraries presents the 2024 Willard Lecture, Borders and Other Imagined Spaces: How Maps Define Understanding. The panel presentation will take place from 4 - 5:30 p.m. in the historic West Wing of Zimmerman Library. Light refreshments will be served.
September 19, 2024 – Chicago (Hybrid) The Chicago Map Society will meet at 5:30 pm CT (Social Time) in The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St. At 6:00 pm CT Richard Pegg will talk about Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China. Register in advance for the webinar.
September 19, 2024 – Washington (Hybrid) The Library of Congress Philip Lee Phillips Society will be sponsoring two presentations about Mapping in the Islamic Tradition in the Jefferson building, 10 First Street, First Floor, LJ119 (Mahogany Row). There will be a meet and greet at 12:30 with first speaker at 1:00: Dr. Shah Hanifi (Professor of History, James Madison University) is a historian with research interests in the Middle East, Islamic urbanism, migration, diasporas, and cartography. Second speaker at 3:00: Dr. Karen C. Pinto (Associate Scholar, Religious Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder) is author of “Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration” (University of Chicago, 2016). In addition, G&M staff will give a short talk on related acquisitions at 2:00 and a display of collection items from the Geography and Map Division and the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room. Registration required. Click here to attend in person or click here to join the program on Zoom.
September 26, 2024 – Edinburgh Join Map Curator Paula Williams (Curator of Maps, Mountaineering and Polar Collections at the National Library of Scotland) from 17:30 - 18:30 BST as she delves into the fascinating stories of two maps and two men from the northern Renaissance. Her presentation, Stories, surveys, and spies in Renaissance map-making, will explore the maps created by John Geddy and Nicolas de Nicolay, contrasting their careers and our knowledge of them. Reserve a spot at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge.
October 2, 2024 – Boston (Online) The Leventhal Map & Education Center invites you to learn about the changing land tenure systems of eighteenth-century Canada as seen through maps. Martin Brückner will present For the Love of Maps: Material Passion and Power in Eighteenth-Century America from 7:00-8:00 pm. Register here.
October 3-5, 2024 - Kansas City The Road Map Collectors Association will have MapCon 2024 at the Hilton Kansas City Airport Hotel, 8801 NW 112th St.
October 4-5, 2024 – Arlington The theme of the 14th Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures in the History of Cartography is Celestial Charts. Further details to be announced.
October 8, 2024 - Paris The idea of geography being the “eye of history” is a common expression in the early modern period, but it is articulated in a specific way if we take the cartographic object as the point of observation. The map as the “eye of history” (16th-18th centuries) is a study day which will re-investigate the relationship between maps and history in the chronological span from the 16th to the 18th century, in Europe and its imperial extensions, from three angles: the analysis of the place of maps in the teaching and reading of history, an investigation into history on and through maps, and a reflection on the porosity between the producers of historical and cartographic knowledge. With the support of the Centre Alexandre-Koyré (CAK) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), the study day will take place in the conference room of the Maps and Plans Department of the BnF on the Richelieu site. Additional inforamtion from <oeildelhistoire2024(at)gmail.com>.
October 8, 2024 – Washington (Online) Join Library of Congress reference librarians from 3:00-4:00 pm (Eastern) for an introduction to the Geography and Map Division collections. This orientation session, aimed at the general public, will highlight a wide range of cartographic formats and subject matter. The focus of the session will be on maps and online resources available to all patrons any time or place in the world. Topics covered will also include search tips and tricks, research and collection guides, ways to engage with the collections online, and how to prepare for a future trip to the reading room. After the presentation, staff look forward to answering additional questions from attendees. Register for this session.
October 10, 2024 – Oxford (Hybrid) Save the date: Maps are too exciting! / digital innovations in mapping is a Sunderland Collection Symposium, hosted by ARCHiOx Project. The symposium will be held 9.30am – 4pm in Lecture Theatre, Weston Library, Broad Street.
October 10, 2024 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Dr. Catherine Gibson (Lecturer in East European Studies, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia) will talk about Mapmakers in Action: Drawing Borders in the Baltic, 1919-1920. This meeting was arranged with the assistance of the New York Map Society.
October 10, 2024 – Williamsburg Professor Francesca Fiorani will be speaking to the Williamsburg Map Circle at 5:00 in the Williamsburg Landing. The title of her talk is The Shadow Drawing. How Science Taught Leonardo How to Paint. She describes her talk as "an entirely new account of Leonardo the artist and Leonardo the scientist, and why they were one and the same man." She will also talk about some maps associated with Da Vinci. Additional information from Ellen Spore <ellen.spore(at)gmail.com>.
October 11, 2024 - Chicago The Chicago Map Society will meet at 5:30 pm CT (Social Time) in The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St. At 6:00 pm CT Mimi Cheng will discuss Charting Modernity in Late-Qing Maps.
October 12, 2024 - Taunton, England The British Association for Local History are delighted to present this one-day conference, Maps and Buildings, on the complementary topics of maps and buildings in local history. Both topics offer a tangible and accessible route into the study of local history and enrich our understanding of the past. Conference will be 10:00am - 4:00pm at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Kingston Road. Booking is required.
October 14-15, 2024 - Prague The workshop Ethnolinguistic cartography (18th–21st centuries) in comparative perspective: genre, political conflicts, memory, organised by the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences with the support of the Strategy AV21: Research programme Identities in the World of Wars and Crises, will take place at the Institute of History. The theme of the workshop will be to analyse the development of ethnolinguistic maps in Europe and other regions of the world from different perspectives from the 18th to the 21st century. Additional information from dr. Stanislav Holubec <sholubec(at)gmail.com> or dr. Jitka Močičková <mocickova(at)hiu.cas.cz>.
October 16-19, 2024 - Valletta, Malta The 41st International Map Collectors' Society annual symposium, Imago Melitae 2024, will feature six lectures by well-known figures in the cartographic world will be given along with visits to the National Library, MUZA and Lascaris War Rooms in Valletta, the Maritime Museum and the Inquisitors Palace in Vittoriosa, and the National and Ecclesiastical Archives in Rabat and Mdina. On October 20 there will be a post symposium tour to the sister island of Gozo where we will visit the Ġgantija Archaeological Park – a Unesco World Heritage site, the Citadel of Rabat, the Ħaġar Museum and other interesting historical places.
October 17, 2024 - Chicago (Online) Take a deep dive into the process of creating the many multifaceted and interactive maps for the Newberry Library’s “Indigenous Chicago” project, with scholars who helped to conceptualize and build them. Mapping Indigenous Chicago is an introduction to several of the all-new interactive maps created for our "Indigenous Chicago" project. Scholars involved in development of the maps will speak to the maps they worked on and discuss the challenges they faced in deciding how to represent various cultural aspects. Click here to register for this program which will be on Zoom 6:00pm–7:30pm.
October 22, 2024 - Boston (Online) Join the Leventhal Map & Education Center for a virtual lecture from 7:00-8:00 pm. Learn how “cartifacts” circulated in the everydays spaces of the Revolutionary War era. In North America, the consumer revolution of the eighteenth century profoundly affected people’s material life and, as some argue, paved the way for other more momentous political revolutions. In this program, Martin Brückner (Professor of English and Director of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware) will discuss how maps became popular consumer goods and how their material transfer as “cartifacts” came to shape everyday and political life in early America. Click here to register.
October 24-26, 2024 - San Antonio The Society for History of Discoveries will be partnering with The Texas Map Society for our next annual conference. With its warm weather, beautiful riverwalk, and rich history, San Antonio offers another exciting venue that aligns with our society's broad interests. The conference will be a multiple-day affair that will be near the Alamo and will include an excursion to the nearby Missions. Located directly on Alamo Square, our venue for the annual meeting is the famed Menger Hotel, historic partner hotel of the Alamo.
October 26, 2024 – Richmond Save the date, the Washington Map Society is planing a field trip to Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street. Further details will be circulated in late September.
November 9, 2024 - Santa Barbara The California Map Society announces our fall Southern California Meeting, to be held on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, will be held from 10:30am - 5:00pm. Additional information, including recommended lodging, will be sent around October 1.
November 19, 2024 – Cambridge (Online) The Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography meets at 5.30pm UK time. Finnian O’Cionnaith (Dublin) will discuss 'A peculiar survey … for our peculiar purpose’: founding the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. All are welcome. Joining instructions for Zoom will be circulated nearer the time. Please send an email to <events(at)emma.cam.ac.uk> if you wish to join the mailing list. For any enquiries, please contact Sarah Bendall at <sarah.bendall(at)emma.cam.ac.uk>, tel. 01223 330476. The seminars are kindly supported by Emmanuel College Cambridge.
November 21, 2024 - Chicago (Hybrid) The Chicago Map Society will meet at 5:30 pm CT (Social Time) in The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St. The program Indigenous People and the Chicago Portage will be held in-person and livestreamed on Zoom. The online version of this event will be live captioned. In this edition of “Conversations at the Newberry,” historian John William Nelson discusses researching issues of land use and landscape change, focusing on the Indigenous history of Chicago waterways, with Tribal Historic Preservation Officers Eric Hemenway and Raphael Wahwassuck. Lecture will be 6:00pm–7:00pm in Ruggles Hall and Zoom. Advance registration is required.
November 21, 2024 – Washington The Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division will celebrate 25th Annual GIS Day: Mapping Our World. Presented as one of the Library of Congress’ Live at the Library series, this event will feature Dr. Vicki Ferrini (Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory) talking about Ocean Floor mapping and a display of related collection items. In addition, G&M staff will be hosting several interactive activities in the Great Hall involving maps and globes. Lecture will he in Jefferson Building, LJ119, 6:30 pm.
December 4, 2024 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Dr. Neal Asbury (rare map collector, CEO of Legacy Companies, and host of syndicated weekly radio talk show - Neal Asbury’s Made in America) and Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts (historian and professor emeritus, Fielding Graduate University) will speak about Mapping the Holy Land: An Illustrated Discussion. Their book "Mapping the Holy Land: An Illustrated Atlas" is available wherever books are sold.
December 6, 2024 - Paris Following on from the meeting organised on 25 November 2023 in Paris on the intersections between art and cartography, the History Commission of the Comité Français de Cartographie is organising a study day entitled Cartography and Cinema at the National Institut d'histoire de l'art, Galerie Colbert, 2 rue Vivienne. As we all know, cinema, the main medium of fiction developed during the 20th century, has from the outset been concerned with the representation of the most diverse spaces and landscapes on the surface of the planet. Cartography, in all its forms, has been used to transform geographical places and spaces into a range of narrative supports and focal points. The aim of the Study Day is to explore some of the ways in which cartography has been present in the history of fiction cinema and in cinematographic operations. Additional information from Catherine Hoffman <catherine.hofmann(at)bnf.fr>.
December 7, 2024 – Brussels The next annual conference of Brussels Map Circle will focus on Spanish cartography. More information to follow.
January 16, 2025 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Ian Spangler, Assistant Curator of Digital and Participatory Geography, and Emily Bowe, Assistant Director, both with the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center, Boston Public Library will discuss Processing Place: How Computers and Cartographers Redrew Our World.
February 25, 2025 – Cambridge (Online) The Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography meets at 5.30pm UK time. Maurice Whitehead (Venerable English College, Rome) will discuss Maps, meridians and missions: Christopher Maire, SJ (1697–1767), an English cartographer in continental Europe. All are welcome. Joining instructions for Zoom will be circulated nearer the time. Please send an email to <events(at)emma.cam.ac.uk> if you wish to join the mailing list. For any enquiries, please contact Sarah Bendall at <sarah.bendall(at)emma.cam.ac.uk>, tel. 01223 330476. The seminars are kindly supported by Emmanuel College Cambridge.
March 19-22, 2025 - Seville The Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos/Instituto de Historia will have a “Mapping Frameworks” conference Cartografía y territorialidad en América [Cartography and territoriality in America]. The conference aims to open a rich dialogue among specialists in the history of maps, history of science, landscape archaeology, American culture, etc., which reflect on the way of understanding and interpreting spaces in the Americansbetween the 15th and 18th centuries.
April 17, 2026 - Chicago The Chicago Map Society will meet at 5:30 pm CT (Social Time) in The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton St. At 6:00 pm CT Daniel Block will discuss Finding Food: How We Map and Talk About Food Access in Chicago and Beyond.
May 6, 2025 – Cambridge (Online) The Cambridge Seminars in the History of Cartography meets at 5.30pm UK time. Onur Engin (University of Cambridge) will present Echoes on the map: unveiling the auditory history of late Ottoman Istanbul through digital cartography. All are welcome. Joining instructions for Zoom will be circulated nearer the time. Please send an email to <events(at)emma.cam.ac.uk> if you wish to join the mailing list. For any enquiries, please contact Sarah Bendall at <sarah.bendall(at)emma.cam.ac.uk>, tel. 01223 330476. The seminars are kindly supported by Emmanuel College Cambridge.
July 8-11, 2025 – Paris The International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap) will hold their annual conference at Campus Condorcet. The theme is Mapping the Cultural Crossroads. A two-day Workshop (8-9 July) for early career professionals (scholars, curators, archivists, and librarians) working in the history of cartography, will precede the Symposium (10-11 July). Post-event trip to Vincennes with guided tour through the cartographic treasures of the Historical Archives Center kept in the Château de Vincennes, a former fortress and royal residence dating back to 14th century is planned for 12 July. Additional details online.
August 26-29, 2025 - London The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Annual International Conference 2025 will be held. Additional details to be announced.
September 11-14, 2025 - Portland, Maine The 42nd International Map Collectors' Society annual symposium will be at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, 314 Forest Ave. We will also be working with the University of Southern Maine facilities. The conference title is New Perspectives on Mapping New England and Maritime Canada. The program opens with an evening reception and possible keynote lecture on Thursday. Friday and Saturday will be lectures during the day and dinner on your own. Sunday, the final day, will be a behind the scenes tour and "Treasures of the Collection" in the morning. Then lunch and a walking tour of Portland in the afternoon ending around 3:00 PM. Closing banquet that night. There will be a post-symposium three-day tour of Maine Monday through Wednesday, September 15-17th. Additional details to be announced. Contact Libby Bischof <elizabeth.bischof(at)maine.edu> for more information.
October 31-November 1, 2025 - Winston-Salem The Museum Of Early Southern Decorative Arts asks you to please save the date for a two day map seminar, Mapping America & Its Expansion, as we explore the American Century and America’s westward migration during the 18th and 19th centuries. Moderated by Margaret Pritchard, Former Curator of Prints, Maps, and Wallpaper at Colonial Williamsburg, lecturers will include JC McElveen, Wesley Brown, and Chet Van Duzer. The seminar will also include a map fair.
July 7-11, 2026 – Prague The 31st International Conference on the History of Cartography will have as its primary venue the main building of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6. The theme is Bridging the Past and Present in Cartography. Additional information from <ichc2026(at)hiu.cas.cz>.
November 8-14, 2026 - Tokyo and Kyoto The International Map Collectors' Society has been invited by the Japan Map Society to participate in a conference that they would host for international guests with most of the program in English. Date and program currently are tentative.
