Ever curious about what lay beyond the horizon, explorers, merchants, and military forces have for centuries relied upon maps to help them describe and navigate our planet. Although historical maps were often skillfully drawn and meticulously plotted, their layout tells only part of the story. Using anecdotal evidence and sometimes scant geographical data for places they themselves may never have seen, cartographers frequently included fanciful or factual drawings to tease the imagination and the intellect—to wit, figureheads symbolizing the wind rose on a world map from Ptolemy’s Cosmographia. Explore the world of old with this calendar’s 12 antique maps from the British Library’s collection of cartographic material.
Published with The British Library
