Where to See Antique Maps in Washington, DC
(and around the world)

The Washington Map Society receives numerous inquiries as to where visitors can go to see maps when they are visiting Washington. Of course there are always the short exhibitions, and we will try to post them onto this page as they occur. On a more permanent basis, the following locations contain some of the antique map treasures in Washington DC:

The Geography and Map (G&M) Division Reading Room, Library of Congress. 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC. They can pull any maps you ask to see. They have over four million. There is no exhibit of maps, but come ready to ask for your favorites, or ready to do some serious research. Open 8:30am until 5pm Monday through Friday.

The Kiplinger Research Library of the Historical Society of Washington has a large collection of maps of the city, including an extensive collection of real estate atlases that patrons can browse. 801 K Street NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington, DC. Open 10:00am until 5:00pm Wednesday through Saturday. Telephone 202.383.1800.

Exploring the Early Americas is an exhibition featuring the 1507 Waldseemüller "World Map," the first map to use the name America; and rotating items from the Jay I. Kislak Collection, which includes rare books, manuscripts, historic documents, maps and art of the Americas. Also on display is Waldseemüller's "Carta Marina" or Navigators' Chart; and the Schöner Sammelbund, a portfolio that contained two world maps and other cartographic materials. The exhibition is in the Northwest Gallery of the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. The exhibit is free and open to the public, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Currently scheduled events/short exhibitions include:

Indefinite closing: The Library of Congress presents Maps in Our Lives, an exhibition in recognition of a thirty-year partnership between the Library's Geography and Map Division and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), the nation's primary professional organization dedicated to the nation's surveying and mapping activities. This exhibition explores four constituent professions represented by the ACSM -- surveying, cartography, geodesy, and geographic information systems, and draws on both the Library's historic map collections and the ACSM collection in the Library of Congress. The exhibit is in the foyer of the Geography and Map Division in the basement of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue.

Baltimore, a 45 minute drive from Washington, will be holding The Baltimore Festival of Maps. More than 20 area arts and cultural organizations present activities exploring the rich history and contemporary interpretations of maps and the mapping process. See the web page for more details. Some of the activities planned include:

• February 2, 2008 - July 27, 2008 Mapping the Cosmos is scheduled to coincide with Maps: Finding Our Place in the World in the Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street. This exhibit will present images of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble images have been instrumental in discovering new facts about the cosmos and in tracking its evolutionary history over billions of years. These panoramas of time and space are "maps" of scientific data, but they are also aesthetic objects of striking power and beauty.
• March 1, 2008 - June 8, 2008 Working with Baltimore community organizations, schools, and artists, Art on Purpose participants will use a selection of maps from the Walters Art Museum to inspire mapping projects in Baltimore city neighborhoods. The product of the Art on Purpose project will be an exhibit entitled Maps on Purpose. This exhibit will run concurrently with Maps: Finding Our Place in the World in the Special Exhibition Gallery of the Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street.
• March 14, 2008 - June 17, 2008 Beautiful first editions of rare architectural treatises, hand-colored maps and original prints from the 15th through the 19th centuries are displayed in the exhibition Harmony to the Eyes: Charting Palladio's Architecture from Rome to Baltimore at the George Peabody Library Exhibition Gallery, 17 East Mt. Vernon Place. The exhibit commemorates Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio's birth in 1508. The exhibition may be viewed Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sunday, Noon-5pm.
• March 15, 2008 - June 30, 2008 The Central Library of Enoch Pratt Library system, 400 Cathedral Street, is participating with a wonderful new exhibit called: Mapping Maryland and the World. This exhibition gives our patrons a rare opportunity to enjoy the Pratt's extensive map collection. The items on display will include maps from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, as well as maps relating to the history of Maryland and Baltimore City.
• March 16, 2008 - June 8, 2008 A special exhibition at the Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, titled Maps, will display some of the rarest and most historically valuable maps from many periods, in many media, from across the globe. Included will be maps of historic importance and may include the Plan of Nippur from approximately 1500 b.c., a papyrus itinerary map from a.d.100, the Ptolemy world map in a Greek manuscript from the 13th century a.d., the 1492 Behaim globe (the oldest terrestrial globe in existence), and Mercator's original projection from 1569. Also included will be modern maps that changed the world, such as those made during Lewis and Clark's expedition and the chart used by Lindbergh on his historic transcontinental flight, as well as maps created using contemporary techniques, such as GIS, GPS, and satellite imagery. Also included will be maps from non-European cultures-including Native Americans and those of Africa, China, Australia, and the Marshall Islands-and recreations of maps that cannot be transported, such as maps painted on the walls of Renaissance palaces or prehistoric maps carved onto boulders. There will also be an interactive component. The exhibit is organized by The Field Museum, Chicago, and will feature many maps exhibited earlier in the year at the Field Museum.
• March 25, 2008 - June 29, 2008 Borders and Boundaries: The Mason-Dixon Line exhibition at the Maryland Historical Society, 201 West Monument Street will show the Society's original Mason-Dixon Map along with historic documents from the eighty-year Maryland-Pennsylvania colonial boundary dispute, and surveying instruments from the time of Mason and Dixon.
• March 26, 2008 - August 18, 2008 Baltimore City's straight-line boundaries, vertical orientation and variety of water features are the perfect elements for great graphical presentation. Baltimore: A Cartographer's Delight features maps from the Sheridan Libraries' extensive collection of more than 215,000 maps. The exhibit is in the M-Level of Homewood's Milton S. Eisenhower Library, 3400 North Charles Street. On display are maps dating from the mid-19th to the 20th century, highlighting the city's growth and development and its rail and trolley systems. Also featured are early design plans for Johns Hopkins University's East Baltimore and Homewood campuses.

Future exhibitions:

None scheduled.

Map Exhibitions and Map Meetings around the world: As you travel, first visit www.docktor.com - it is a great source of information concerning coming cartographic events and also ongoing map exhibitions worldwide. It is maintained by one of our members.