Baltimore Cartography

This post is going to be mostly pictures because I am having a hard time finding information about these maps. I found a bunch of really interesting historic maps of the City of Baltimore. Some of these maps are almost 200 years old. I live right outside of Baltimore and I really like seeing places I've been to being depicted by someone who was living here a century before I was.

This one is from 1872 and was published by John F. Weishampel Jr.

This is from 1954 and published by The Savings Bank of Baltimore. It is depicting Baltimore as it was a century before the map was published. I recently came across a very similar map of Baltimore County hanging in the Towson Public Library. Here is a link to a higher quality version: http://www.library.jhu.edu/bin/f/h/SavingsBankHistoricalMap1854.jpg Also, here is a link to the Baltimore County map I came across: http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls3irnG3Bn1r2baauo1_r1_400.jpg I took the picture with my phone so the quality isn't great. Sorry.

This is the oldest map of Baltimore I could find even though I'm sure there are ones even older. It is dated as 1792 and just labels Baltimore City as "The Town of Baltimore" and the Harbor is simply labeled as "Basin".

I was unable to find a smaller size but I really enjoyed this map of Baltimore. It is a 1905 map of the Harbor area. The city looks very similar to what it looks like today.

This is a modern map of Baltimore City who those who are unfamiliar with its layout.

"Upside Down" Maps

Who says North has to be up and South has to be down?

In 1970, a twelve year old Australian drew a map for school with his home, Australia, being at the top of the map. Nine years later, in 1979, Stuart McArthur published his map as "McArthur's Corrective Map of the World". Today this map has sold over a third of a million copies.

Higher quality: http://www.quodlibetica.com/wordpress/wp-content/files_flutter/1285878153McA-23x35-LT.jpg
The "Wizard of New Zealand" produced a "New World Map" that also has his home, New Zealand, at the top of the world. The map uses the Hobo-Dryer Projection which is a cylindrical equal-area projection.

Higher quality: http://flourish.org/upsidedownmap/hobodyer-large.jpg
Finally, for a more history example of upside down cartography we turn to Nicolas Desliens. In 1566, Desliens was living in Dieppe, France which was something of a cartographic hotspot during that period. He decided to map his map with North at the bottom in order to draw attention to his map.

Cool Maps of the United States

Today I just wanted to highlight a few cool U.S. maps I found recently while browsing the internet instead of focusing on the historical side of cartography.

Since Halloween is practically upon us this map here shows what is supposedly the scariest thing for each state. I live in Maryland and according to this map politicians are the scariest thing in my state. I cannot say that I agree with this but still the map is pretty awesome and definitely appropriate for this time of the year. Also, I love how Invading Canadians are the scariest thing for the people of North Dakota.

This map here uses no lines to show state boundaries but instead just uses typography to show the area of each state. The map is showing a famous movie shot or at least about in the respective state. The movie for Maryland appears to be "Pecker". I have never heard of this movie let alone seen it so I guess I am a bad Marylander. Still, I am familiar with a lot of the movies on the map and I think this is a great way to present the information in a way that is visually pleasing.

This map is very overwhelming to look at at first. Each state's area is shown with a famous work of art that is from the state. I am not a huge art fan but I found this very interesting. This map is another way to learn an interesting fact about your state's art history.

This final map I found at a site called Visualizing Data. It shows the political affiliation of the U.S. Red represents conservatives and blue shows liberals. This map is really a great way to show something that could have been explained in a paragraph but this way is so much more attractive. I found it really interesting so see how the country was divided pretty much north and south on the eastern portion of the country. I will most likely get back to discussing historical maps on Monday but it is the weekend so I thought we should have a little fun. Let me know if you enjoy this type of post more than the ones I normally do. Any feedback to help me improve this blog would be appreciated. Thanks for the read and Happy Halloween!

Fra Mauro

Fra Mauro was a 15th century Italian monk who created a map that is called by some the first modern world map.

As you might be able to tell from looking at this map it is upside down compared to most contemporary maps. The map was one of the first to include the discoveries made by Marco Polo as well as the amount of Africa shown. Mauro used several sources for the creation of his map including: Marco Polo's book of travels, Arab sources, and the geographic information that was brought to Rome in 1430 by the Ethiopian Embassy. This map is a circular planisphere. It is drawn on parchment and framed. The map is about two meters in diameter. King Alfonso V of Portugal commissioned a copy of this map that was completed in 1459. The map was found in the monastery in San Michel. Today it can be found The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana (National Library of St. Mark's) in Venice, Italy.

600 B.C. Babylonian Map

This map was unearthed before many maps we use today were even thought of.

It was found in a southern area of Iraq, Sippar, in 1899. The map was found on the bank of the Euphrates River. It is unclear as to what the map is of but it has been speculated that it of mythological realm. There are several words that have been able to be translated including: Mountain, City, Swamp, and Canal. Today the map lies in the British Museum in London. Here is a sketch of what is etched in the clay tablet.

Diego Ribero

The date Diego Ribero was born is unknown.  The earliest records of him were when we worked as a cartography in Seville in 1518.

His biggest contribution can in the form of this map. It was a Spanish royal census. It was the first world map to show the expansiveness of the Pacific Ocean. Also, North America's eastern coast had never been so clearly defined. Clearly, Ribero did not include several key features to this map including: India, Australia, and the Americas' western coast. Today there are still several copies of Ribero's map intact. There is one located in the Vatican Library.  The Age of Exploration was still in it's earliest stages but this map by Diego Ribero is amazing given the knowledge and technology present for him to work with.

William Smith and his Revolutionary Map

Born in 1769, William Smith would eventually be hailed as "the Father of English Geology". He made the first geologic map that included all of England and he had a life full of hardship that led to this map's creation.

Smith was unemployed and was able to travel throughout the country because he had no responsibilities.  He was able to study the entire island of England. From 1801 to 1817 he published maps and books about his findings on his travels.  This maps were so incredible that many were plagiarized and sold for prices well below their value. He went into debt because of the cost of his travels and publishing his maps. For the next about 15 years he lived without credit for his work in poverty. Eventually in 1831 he was awarded the Wollaston Medal for his map. He died in 1839 but his legacy lives on. He paved the way for all geological surveys and has a crater on Mars named after him.

First Post

This is my first post ever on Blogger.com. I am just trying to figure out the basics of the site. I would like to be able to write long post about maps and cartography techniques that I find interesting or useful.  I am a Geography major at The University of  Maryland, Baltimore County and I am also trying to get my Geographic Information Systems certificate.  I recently started an internship with the Citizens Housing and Planning Association in Baltimore City.  I have a real passion for maps. I am fascinated with all aspects of them. From their earliest forms when they where more of an art than a science to today with all the applications mapping has in today's interconnected world.  Through this blog I hope that I will be able to spread my passion for cartography with others and interact with individuals with similar interests as me.