Map Monsters

When it comes to map monsters, nobody beats Olaus Magnus. His 1539 Carta Marina, a map of Scandinavia and surrounding regions, has plenty of every sort. View the whole map here.

Maps of Africa, from Ancient Times

A great collection. Above, 1787.

Restoring a Map of New York

The Times has a nice article on a 1770 map of New York by British Lieutenant Bernard Ratzer, which the Brooklyn Museum discovered in its collection. It had lain unexamined for so long that they have no idea how they got it. The map was in terrible shape and had to be cut into strips before it could be unrolled, then extensively treated to remove a dark coat of varnish and other ills. But now, as you can see in this feature, it is revealed as an extraordinary work of eighteenth-century cartography.

Manhattan's Neighborhoods

Save this for the next time you're reading a novel or watching a movie set in New York, which will of course assume you know where all these places are. (click to enlarge) Now if only I could find one for Brooklyn. . . .