Tag Archives: maps

BOOK REVIEW: Map: Exploring the World

Map: Exploring the World

Phaidon Editors with an introduction by John Hessler and contributors including Daniel Crouch, Susan Schulten and Kenneth Field

Published by Phaidon (£39.95)
ISBN: 9780714869445

MAP flat cover

This truly is a book that celebrates the idea of maps for it looks at them in many contexts whether real or imagined such as Columbus’s line drawing of the coast of the New World or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island map. There are also maps by contemporary artists, including Grayson Perry and Ai Weiwei.

Daylight Map, 2005, Olafur Eliasson Neon, sintra box, transformers, controllers, sequencer, timers, 122 x 254 x 15.2 cm / 48 x 100 x 6 in., private collection Courtesy of the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / photo: Tanya Bonakdar Galler

Daylight Map, 2005, Olafur Eliasson Neon,
sintra box, transformers, controllers, sequencer, timers, 122 x 254 x 15.2 cm / 48 x 100 x 6 in., private collection
Courtesy of the artist, neugerriemschneider, Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / photo: Tanya Bonakdar Galler

 

Tweetping, 2013, Franck Ernewein Digital, dimensions variable Credit: Tweetping.ne

Tweetping, 2013, Franck Ernewein
Digital, dimensions variable
Credit: Tweetping.ne

The maps are arranged in specially curated pairings of common themes which may be complementary or contrasting.  It adds to the excitement and draws you in to look closely at them.  For example a recent digital map of Africa, using mobile phone data, to predict the spread of Ebola is foiled by an 1854 map of London by John Snow that shows the spread of cholera.

Map of the River Nile from its Estuary South to Cairo, 1525, Piri Reis Ink and pigments on paper, 34 x 24 cm / 13 3⁄8 x 9 3⁄8 in., Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Credit: The Walters Art Museum

Map of the River Nile from its Estuary South to Cairo, 1525, Piri Reis
Ink and pigments on paper, 34 x 24 cm / 13 3⁄8 x 9 3⁄8 in., Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Credit: The Walters Art Museum

 

Willamette River, Oregon, 2013, Daniel Coe Printed on paper, 43 x 96.5 cm / 17 x 38 in., private collection Credit: Daniel E. Coe, courtesy of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries

Willamette River, Oregon, 2013, Daniel Coe
Printed on paper, 43 x 96.5 cm / 17 x 38 in., private collection
Credit: Daniel E. Coe, courtesy of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries

The book chart’s five thousand years of cartographic development in the world, reflecting changing boundaries, religions, geography and technology.  It relates the story and aspirations of mankind and is a book which you will definitely want to explore time and time again – and you won’t have to leave your armchair!

 

Panoramic View of Wutaishan, 1846, Gelong Lhündrup Hand-coloured woodcut, 144 x 194.6 cm / 4 ft 10 3/4 in x 6 ft 4 3/4 in. Rubin Museum of Art, New York Credit: Rubin Museum of Art

Panoramic View of Wutaishan, 1846, Gelong Lhündrup
Hand-coloured woodcut, 144 x 194.6 cm / 4 ft 10 3/4 in x 6 ft 4 3/4 in. Rubin Museum of Art, New York
Credit: Rubin Museum of Art

 

Come All the Way! (Caminos Santiago), 2011, Cinta Arribas Printed paper, 70 x 87 cm / 27 1/2 x 34 1/4 in., private collection Credit: Cinta Arribas

Come All the Way! (Caminos Santiago), 2011, Cinta Arribas
Printed paper, 70 x 87 cm / 27 1/2 x 34 1/4 in., private collection
Credit: Cinta Arribas

http://www.phaidon.com/mapbook/

‘Mapping London’

‘Mapping London’, Daniel Crouch Rare Books, at gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London, SE1 until 14th September 2014.

Braun and Hogenberg - The Earliest Extant Plan of London, 1574. £9500

Braun and Hogenberg – The Earliest Extant Plan of London, 1574. £9500

It is totally appropriate that Daniel should hold this pop-up selling exhibition at the Oxo Tower gallery as part of Totally Thames, which runs until the end of the month.

Benjamin Baker -Trade Card of Islington, c. 1798-1800, 115 x 75mm, £2400.

Benjamin Baker -Trade Card of Islington, c. 1798-1800, 115 x 75mm, £2400.

Featuring large-scale maps of London it includes Braun and Hogenberg’s 1574 map of London which was the very first printed map, an extremely rare example from the 1650s by Thomas Porter and a Contemporary map by Stephen Walter. This show is a real must for all interested in the story of London!

Thomas Porter- The Newest and Exactest Mapp of the most Famous Citties London and Westminster with their Suburbs. London, c.1655. £28,000.00.

Thomas Porter- The Newest and Exactest Mapp of the most Famous Citties London and Westminster with their Suburbs. London, c.1655. £28,000.00.

www.crouchrarebooks.com

Harry Beck- Map of London's Underground Railways, January 1933. 142 x 202mm (5.5 x 8 inches). £2,500

Harry Beck- Map of London’s Underground Railways, January 1933. 142 x 202mm (5.5 x 8 inches). £2,500

 totallythames.org