{"id":1845090,"date":"2025-10-26T09:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T13:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1845090"},"modified":"2025-10-31T17:55:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T21:55:52","slug":"new-british-library-exhibition-secret-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/10\/new-british-library-exhibition-secret-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"New British Library Exhibition: Secret Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Banner<\/a>
British Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new exhibition opened at the British Library this weekend: Secret Maps<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Maps have always been more than just tools for navigation \u2013 in the hand of governments, groups and individuals, maps create and control knowledge. In Secret Maps<\/em>, we trace the levels of power, coercion and secrecy that lie behind maps from the 14th century to the present day, and uncover the invisible forces that draw and distort the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the maps on display reveal hidden landscapes, offering insight into places long forgotten or erased from official histories. Others are purposefully deceptive, designed to protect treasures, mask strategic locations, or reshape the way we see the world. This exhibition uncovers each of their individual secrets, revealing their hidden purposes and power.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition runs until 18 January 2016. Tickets cost \u00a320. There are also a number of talks, tours, workshops and other events affiliated with the exhibition; they\u2019re listed at the bottom of the exhibition\u2019s web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update<\/em>: There\u2019s also a book<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update #2<\/em>: Strike action by British Library workers may affect opening hours. See this page<\/a> for information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new exhibition opened at the British Library this weekend: Secret Maps. Maps have always been more than just tools for navigation \u2013 in the hand of governments, groups and individuals, maps create and control… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo","date":"2025-10-26T13:04:21+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3m43xpxnwt72l","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:hhxrnk4vub7jtlcl3ve26kjo\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3m43xpxnwt72l\",\"cid\":\"bafyreifofa7zofl3z2rytkumfzqsgjyiuw57z6746eez3ozny2ignds7x4\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreigi7tanyezviugphiwuji6gun23565dlj7kozj7notdmecbkhsh34\",\"rev\":\"3m43xpxo4op2l\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[109,50,48],"class_list":["post-1845090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-antique-maps","tag-british-library","tag-exhibitions","tag-libraries","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1788760,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/british-library-exhibitions-and-tv-programs-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":0},"title":"British Library Exhibitions and TV Programs Revisited","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"BBC Four is rebroadcasting The Beauty of Maps, a four-episode series that coincided with the 2010 Magnificent Maps exhibition at the British Library. Two episodes broadcast so far, with the third this evening and the fourth tomorrow. They\u2019ll be on iPlayer for the next month. Meanwhile, the British Library\u2019s 2016\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1845097,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-the-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":1},"title":"Secret Maps, the Book","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"31 October 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"I didn\u2019t put two and two together. Secret Maps, the British Library exhibition (previously), has an accompanying book, because British Library exhibitions invariably come with books. And that book was already listed on my Map Books of 2025 page: Secret Maps: How they Conceal and Reveal the World by Tom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/secret-maps-both-covers.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1788848,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/05\/maps-of-antarctica-at-the-british-library\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":2},"title":"Maps of Antarctica at the British Library","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"26 May 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Two recent posts at the British Library\u2019s Maps and Views Blog provide \u201ca whistle-stop tour through maps held in the British Library that chart Antarctica\u2019s gradual emergence from obscurity into light.\u201d The first covers maps of Antarctica through the nineteenth century, when the continent went from unknown to unexplored; the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/bl-antarctica-150x134.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1845119,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/11\/more-on-secret-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":3},"title":"More on Secret Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 November 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Doug Specht has a piece about the British Library\u2019s exhibition Secret Maps in The Conversation. \u201cThe exhibition does not shy away from difficult topics. Maps tracing the infrastructure of apartheid, or those produced to facilitate war or surveillance, sit alongside playful artefacts such as the iconic Where\u2019s Wally? books. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789609,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/11\/british-library-makes-18000-of-george-iiis-maps-and-ephemera-freely-available\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":4},"title":"British Library Makes 18,000 of George III\u2019s Maps and Ephemera Freely Available","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 November 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"At his death, King George III had a collection of some 50,000 maps, plans, illustrations and related ephemera. The military maps were kept by his son George IV; earlier this year more than 2,000 of those maps were posted online by the Royal Collection Trust. But the vast majority went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/dixon-plymouth-ktop-1024x711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/dixon-plymouth-ktop-1024x711.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/dixon-plymouth-ktop-1024x711.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/dixon-plymouth-ktop-1024x711.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1786626,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/11\/atlas-a-world-of-maps-from-the-british-library\/","url_meta":{"origin":1845090,"position":5},"title":"Atlas: A World of Maps from the British Library","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"13 November 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year, at about this time of year, gorgeous hardcover collections of maps start appearing in bookstores. 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