{"id":3557,"date":"2016-12-06T09:22:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T14:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2016-12-06T09:25:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T14:25:08","slug":"review-treasures-from-the-map-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/12\/review-treasures-from-the-map-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Treasures from the Map Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"treasures-map-room-oblique\"<\/a>If all maps must necessarily be selective, choosing what to show and what to leave out, surely map books must do the same. That thought came to mind as I perused\u00a0Treasures from the Map Room<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u2014no relation\u2014a\u00a0book that presents maps from Oxford University’s Bodleian Library<\/a>,\u00a0collected and curated by the Bodleian Map Room’s senior\u00a0library assistant, Debbie Hall.<\/p>\n

“Although maps have formed part of the Bodleian’s collections from early on, they have been collected actively only since around 1800,” Hall writes in the introduction. Broadly speaking, the Bodleian’s map holdings come from a combination of bequests and legal deposit requirements. The latter in particular means that the Bodleian’s holdings of British maps\u2014including virtually every Ordnance Survey map and a\u00a0large number of commercially published maps\u2014are very extensive.\u00a0The bequests are sometimes much better known: maps named\u00a0for their owners and donors rather than their creators\u2014the Gough Map<\/a>, the Selden Map<\/a>\u2014falling into the Bodleian’s hands.<\/p>\n

Hall organizes her selection\u2014some 75 maps\u2014into seven\u00a0chapters organized by theme: Travel and Exploration, Knowledge and Science, Pride and Ownership, Maps of War, The City in Maps, Maps for Fun, and Imaginary Lands. Sometimes those themes make for unlikely juxtapositions: Hall mentions the Tabula Peutingeriana<\/em><\/a> and American highway maps in very nearly the same breath; and Maps for Fun, a chapter dealing with tourism, recreation and travel, includes a 15th-century Holy Land pilgrimage map\u2014Reuwich<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam\u2014<\/i>alongside the MountMaps 3D Navigator Map<\/a>. But apart from that the\u00a0chapters present us with some very interesting maps indeed: Travel and Exploration gives us the Gough and Selden maps; Knowledge and Science discusses Mercator, Ortelius and early astronomical maps,\u00a0John Speed, Christopher Saxton and the Ordnance Survey; Maps of War gives us fortifications and plans, siege and trench maps, but also silk\u00a0escape maps of World War II;\u00a0Imaginary Lands ranges from Hole’s\u00a0Poly-Olbion<\/em><\/a> maps to\u00a0Leo Belgicus<\/a>, Tolkien and Lewis, and the art of Layla Curtis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We get, in other words, a taste of just about everything\u2014but only a taste. The breadth of\u00a0Treasures of the Map Room<\/em> is both a blessing and a curse. We’re made aware of the volume and diversity of the Bodleian’s map holdings, but we never get a chance to drill down beyond the most cursory of examinations, never more than one example of something. On the other hand, Hall’s approach\u00a0brings to the fore maps that might not otherwise be included in books like this\u2014books\u00a0that can privilege the rare and the ancient over the more mundane but more significant. For example, the map I found myself staring at the most was the 1864\u00a0Ordnance Plan of the Crystal Palace and its Environs<\/em>, a 1:2,500 map of incredible detail and delicacy. You might find yourself lingering over some other map. Discoveries like this are, I suspect, the whole point of\u00a0book that is, after all, about a library’s hidden treasures.<\/p>\n

I received a\u00a0review copy from the North American distributor for this book, the University of Chicago Press.<\/p>\n

Treasures of the Map Room<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0edited by Debbie Hall (Oxford: Bodleian Library<\/a>, 2016).\u00a0Hardcover, 224 pp., \u00a335\/$60.\u00a0ISBN 978-1-85124-2504.\u00a0Buy at Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Previously: Treasures from the Map Room<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If all maps must necessarily be selective, choosing what to show and what to leave out, surely map books must do the same. That thought came to mind as I perused\u00a0Treasures from the Map Room\u2014no… 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":[10,2],"tags":[538,184,30,48,550],"class_list":["post-3557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antique-maps","category-book-reviews","tag-bodleian","tag-bodleian-library","tag-books","tag-libraries","tag-oxford"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/09\/treasures-from-the-map-room\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":0},"title":"Treasures from the Map Room","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 September 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"A new book,\u00a0Treasures from the Map Room,\u00a0\"explores the stories behind seventy-five extraordinary maps\" held at the Bodleian Library, including the Gough Map, the Selden Map, and maps by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Edited by Debbie Hall, it's out now in the U.K. and next month in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"treasures-map-room-oblique","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/treasures-map-room-oblique-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787490,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/07\/talking-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":1},"title":"Talking Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 July 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Talking Maps, opening today at the Bodleian Libraries, is a major new map exhibition featuring maps from the Bodleian's collections. Highlights on show include the Gough Map, the earliest surviving map showing Great Britain in a recognizable form, the Selden Map, a late Ming map of the South China Sea,\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\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1834120,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/09\/two-map-books-from-the-bodleian\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":2},"title":"Two Map Books from the Bodleian","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 September 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Some coverage of two map books published earlier this year by Bodleian Library. First, Atlas Obscura interviews Kris Butler, whose Drink Maps in Victorian Britain looks at how the temperance movement used maps to fight excessive alcohol consumption. They were, apparently, directly inspired by John Snow\u2019s cholera map. From 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\/2024\/09\/bodleian-books-2024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/bodleian-books-2024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/bodleian-books-2024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/bodleian-books-2024.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/bodleian-books-2024.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787513,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/07\/sheldon-tapestry-map-of-oxfordshire-on-display\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":3},"title":"Sheldon Tapestry Map of Oxfordshire on Display","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 July 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"In case the Talking Maps exhibition (previously) was insufficient cause for you to visit the Bodleian Library in Oxford this year, here's another. The Sheldon Tapestry Map of Oxfordshire, one of four tapestry maps\u00a0of English counties commissioned in the late 16th century by Ralph Sheldon, is on display at 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\/2019\/07\/sheldon-oxford-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/sheldon-oxford-detail.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/sheldon-oxford-detail.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/sheldon-oxford-detail.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4105,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/03\/more-book-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":4},"title":"More Book Reviews","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"30 March 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Last December\u00a0Atlas Obscura reviewed\u00a0Treasures of the Map Room (Bodleian, September 2016), a book\u00a0that presents maps from Oxford's Bodleian Library; I also reviewed it in December. [WMS] Britain's Tudor Maps (Batsford, October 2016), a collection of maps from John Speed\u2019s 1611\u00a0Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine,\u00a0was reviewed recently in\u00a0Geographical magazine.","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":1806515,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/03\/a-video-about-the-oxfordshire-tapestry-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":3557,"position":5},"title":"A Video About the Oxfordshire Tapestry Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 March 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xU4X9rIkNKs A short video from the Bodleian Libraries on the Sheldon Tapestry Maps\u2014the Oxfordshire map in particular. Previously: Sheldon Tapestry Map of Oxfordshire on Display.","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\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/xU4X9rIkNKs\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557","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=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3567,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions\/3567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}