{"id":1788091,"date":"2019-11-27T13:33:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T18:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1788091"},"modified":"2019-12-30T13:24:41","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T18:24:41","slug":"2019-holiday-gift-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/11\/2019-holiday-gift-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Holiday Gift Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"charles-booth-london-poverty-maps-oblique\" <\/div>
\"a-z-history-london\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"national-geographic-atlas-11th\" <\/div>
\"Airline <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Every year at about this time I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year. If you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related\u2014or you are<\/em> a map-obsessed person and would like your broad hints to have something to link to\u2014this guide may give you some ideas.<\/p>\n

As before, this guide is organized loosely by theme. Its focus is on books of interest to the general reader: even though a lot of good academic work was published this year, it\u2019s not the sort of thing to put under the tree. I\u2019ve been maintaining a somewhat more complete list of books published over the year at the Map Books of 2019<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Also, this is not<\/em> a list of recommendations: I haven\u2019t even seen<\/em> most of the books on this list, much less reviewed them (this has not been a good year for my reviewing). These are simply books that, based on the information available, seem fit for giving as gifts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Travel and Tourism<\/h4>\n
\"airline-maps-cover\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"the-map-tour\" <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Two books published this year explore the ways in which maps have been used to promote travel and tourism, and in the process collect a number of stunning examples. Airline Maps: A Century of Art and Design<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Particular Books<\/a>\/Penguin<\/a>), Mark Ovenden and Maxwell Roberts\u2019s book about the history of the airline map, collects many examples of network maps as advertising (see blog post<\/a>). In The Map Tour: A History of Tourism Told through Rare Maps<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Andr\u00e9 Deutsch<\/a>), Hugh Thomson explores the evolution of tourism through maps dating from the late 1600s to the present day.<\/p>\n

Historical Maps of Cities<\/h4>\n
\"charles-booth-london-poverty-maps\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"a-z-history-london\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"atlas-boston-history\" <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Three books explore the history of London and Boston through maps. Charles Booth\u2019s London Poverty Maps<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Thames & Hudson<\/a>) bundles Charles Booth\u2019s detailed maps of poverty and social class in late 19th-century London with a ton of additional contemporary and modern material (see blog post<\/a>). In The A to Z History of London<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Collins<\/a>), Philip Parker looks at the last century of maps in London (see blog post<\/a>). And The Atlas of Boston History<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (University of Chicago Press<\/a>), edited by Boston historian Nancy Seasholes, is a modern historical atlas that traces the city\u2019s history from the post-glacial period to the present day (see blog post<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Unusual and Nonexistent Places<\/h4>\n
\"Phantom <\/div> <\/div>
\"atlas-unusual-borders\" <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Over the past few years, books collecting unusual and nonexistent places have been making regular appearances: the 2017 gift guide<\/a> listed four<\/em> such books. For 2019 we have two more examples of the genre, and some overlap in remit is inevitable. Dirk Liesemer\u2019s Phantom Islands<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Haus<\/a>), now translated into English, explores thirty islands that turned out not to exist. It\u2019s in the same vein as Alastair Bonnett\u2019s Beyond the Map<\/em><\/a> or Edward Brooke-Hitching\u2019s Phantom Atlas<\/em><\/a>. And The Atlas of Unusual Borders<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Collins<\/a>), Zoran Nikolic\u2019s compendium of anomalous borders, enclaves and other illogical frontiers, mines the same vein as Malachy Tallack\u2019s 2016 book, The Un-Discovered Islands<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Celestial Maps<\/h4>\n
\"the-sky-atlas\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"celestial-atlas\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"kanas-star-maps-3rd\" <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

I love astronomy. I love old maps. Three books this year cover both those obsessions with heavily illustrated collections of celestial cartography from across the centuries. Let\u2019s start with Edward Brooke-Hitching\u2019s latest, The <\/em>Sky Atlas<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Simon & Schuster UK<\/a>): it\u2019s out in the U.K. only for now; the North American edition will be released in February 2020. There\u2019s also Elena Percivaldi\u2019s Celestial Atlas<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (White Star<\/a>), which covers celestial cartography from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The third edition of Nick Kanas\u2019s Star Maps: History, Artistry and Cartography<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Springer Praxis<\/a>) was also released this year (I have the first edition).<\/p>\n

World Atlases<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>A nice world atlas can make an awfully<\/em> nice gift, and there\u2019s usually a new atlas published just in time for that.<\/p>\n

This year, that new atlas is the eleventh edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. I\u2019m fond of the National Geographic<\/em>, and own two editions of it myself: the National Geographic<\/em> house style is at the very least unique among world atlases. It\u2019s also the biggest and the most expensive ($215\/\u00a3170) of the atlases out there, topping even the Times Comprehensive<\/em><\/a>, ($200\/\u00a3150), whose latest edition came out last year (see my review<\/a>) and is still an option.<\/p>\n

\"oxford-atlas-2019\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"times-desktop-5th\" <\/div> <\/div>
\"times-universal-4th\" <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Other than that, the Oxford Atlas of the World<\/em><\/strong> ($90) has its annual update<\/a>, and two smaller and more affordable members of the Times<\/em> line of atlases got updated this year: the Universal<\/em><\/strong><\/a> ($50\/\u00a380) and the Desktop<\/em><\/strong><\/a> ($35\/\u00a320). (See blog post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Something Else<\/h4>\n

If you\u2019re looking for something more academic or specialized, check out the \u00a0Map Books of 2019<\/a> page. Or take a look at the 2018<\/a> or 2017<\/a> guides: just because something came out more than a year ago doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not viable as a gift.<\/p>\n

(Note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn income from qualifying purchases made via these links.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year at about this time I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year. If you have a map-obsessed person in your life… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[736],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-1788091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gift-guides","tag-books"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6123,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/11\/2017-holiday-gift-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":0},"title":"2017 Holiday Gift Guide","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year at about this time I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year. If you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related\u2014or\u00a0you\u00a0are\u00a0a map-obsessed person and would your broad hints\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/red-atlas-115x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/red-atlas-115x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/red-atlas-115x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/red-atlas-115x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5942,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2014\/11\/gift-guide-map-books-of-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":1},"title":"Gift Guide: 10 Map Books of 2014","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 November 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year, at about this time of year, I assemble a gift guide listing some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published over the previous year. This list is by no means comprehensive, but if you have a map-obsessed person in your life and you'd like to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1805575,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/12\/2021-holiday-gift-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":2},"title":"2021 Holiday Gift Guide","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 December 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year at about this time\u2014 (Actually no, check that, this year I\u2019m late; and last year I didn\u2019t post one at all except for this stationery guide.) \u2014I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year. (Actually .\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/gift-guide-2021.001.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1810344,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/12\/2022-holiday-gift-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":3},"title":"2022 Holiday Gift Guide","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"6 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Once again, I\u2019m a bit late with my annual gift guide. The idea of which is, if you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related\u2014or you are a map-obsessed person and would like your broad hints to have something to link to\u2014this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/the-cartographers-99x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3460,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/11\/2016-holiday-gift-guide-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":4},"title":"2016 Holiday Gift Guide: Books","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"28 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year at about this time I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year. If you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related\u2014or\u00a0you\u00a0are\u00a0a map-obsessed person\u2014this guide may give you some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atlas of Improbable Places","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atlas-improbable-places-1-108x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1821821,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/12\/2023-holiday-gift-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788091,"position":5},"title":"2023 Holiday Gift Guide","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"8 December 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s the 2023 iteration of my annual gift guide. The idea of which is, if you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related\u2014or you are a map-obsessed person and would like your broad hints to have something to link to\u2014this guide may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gift Guides"","block_context":{"text":"Gift Guides","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/gift-guides\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/globemakers-bellerby-103x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/globemakers-bellerby-103x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/globemakers-bellerby-103x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788091"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788112,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788091\/revisions\/1788112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}