The Library of Lost Maps: An Archive of a World in Progress

This exquisite volume from geographer Cheshire (Atlas of Finance) shares hidden treasures contained within the University College London’s Map Library. On a research trip, Cheshire discovered “thousands of maps and hundreds of atlases” among the dusty shelves and overstuffed drawers of the little-perused archive. They include a 19th-century map of Italy carried by influential geologist George Bellas Greenough on his travels, and one of the last maps of Hiroshima printed before the city’s decimation by the atomic bomb. More obscure finds include a pile of maps by the aptly named Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, a 19th-century group committed to “creating maps of the highest quality at the lowest price.” Cheshire not only shares his joy at digging through the archives, but also astutely charts how maps offer a new angle on historical events. For example, a tightly folded tourist map of Madrid, originally from 1929 but stamped with a swastika from 1940, reveals how such maps were frequently collected by military cartographers “to copy for operational charts.” Elsewhere, he touches on prominent figures in the history of cartography, among them Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp, a couple who mapped the ocean floor and also fought furiously, resulting in maps “being torn up.” It amounts to an enlightening and lovingly presented tribute to the necessity and wonder of libraries and archives. (Oct.)