@BLMaps

The British Library's Map Library, bringing you 4.5 million maps & views produced between 15CE and 2026

 London, UK
bit.ly/BLSecretMaps
Joined October 2011
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  • Followers14.3K
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Who shapes your world? Our new exhibition Secret Maps opens today – discover some of history’s most mysterious maps, from medieval manuscripts to military codes 🤫 🗺️ Book now: bit.ly/BLSecretMaps

Secret Maps now open | British Library

Until 18 January 2026

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Calling mid-career library and archive professionals 📣 Looking to advance your career and connect with international peers? Join our International Library Leaders Programme for behind-the-scenes access and valuable insights. Apply by 6 February 2025: bit.ly/BL-International
A view of the spiral staircase at the British Library, with two visitors standing on the platform looking out at the space below.

ALT A view of the spiral staircase at the British Library, with two visitors standing on the platform looking out at the space below.

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We are looking to recruit a new Curator of Digital Mapping here at the British Library. For details and to apply please see ce0752li.webitrent.com/ce075…
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The J.B. Harley Research Fellowships in the History of Cartography is a funding opportunity for anyone who wishes to work with historical map collections in the UK. Deadline for applications is 1 November maphistory.info/harley.html
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A reminder that the deadline for applications to the Harley fellowships is 1 November
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The J.B. Harley Research Fellowships in the History of Cartography. Applications are invited from students of any discipline looking to do post grad-level work in UK historical map collections (deadline 1 November). For more information see maphistory.info/application.…
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Map Library retweeted
matthew edney@mhedney5 Jul 2023
CARTOGRAPHY IN THE EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT = volume 4 of The History of Cartography series is now, as of today, FREELY AVAILABLE !!!!! Goto press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC… and click the link for volume 4. WOW WOW WOW The prettiest of all the volumes, if I say so myself.
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Biscuits flavoured with Earl Grey and Yorkshire Lavender (because research is fuelled by tea). All designs painted by hand using food colouring gels, edible lustres, and vodka. Find out more about the history of the collection items featured in this set: blogs.bl.uk/living-knowledge…
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It’s the @BritishLibrary’s 50th birthday! This biscuit (cookie) set is inspired by the British Library’s wonderful collections. Each biscuit depicts an item from one of their six core collection areas: stamps, newspapers, manuscripts, printed materials, maps, and sounds. 🍪
A set of 7 biscuits arranged in a square. In the top left is a biscuit version of the 1918 ‘inverted Jenny’ stamp. The royal icing has a scalloped edge, and the words ‘U.S. POSTAGE … 24 CENTS’ frame a navy-blue, upside-down image of a biplane. The top-right biscuit reads ‘The Lady’s Newspaper’ in ornate black lettering above a cameo of Queen Victoria. Below that is a biscuit depicting the title page of ‘The Tempest’ from Shakespeare’s First Folio. The bottom-right biscuit is inspired by a wax cylinder label: it reads ‘Genuine Edison Bell Gold Moulded Record’ in a vintage typeface. To the left is a large biscuit painted to look like a section of the Cotton Mappa Mundi, with patchy blue seas, red rivers, and turquoise mountain ranges. In the centre-left is a biscuit based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures Under Ground’. ‘Chapter 1’ is written in a Gothic font above a hand-drawn illustration of Alice and her sister. The central biscuit features the British Library at 50 logo in gold.

ALT A set of 7 biscuits arranged in a square. In the top left is a biscuit version of the 1918 ‘inverted Jenny’ stamp. The royal icing has a scalloped edge, and the words ‘U.S. POSTAGE … 24 CENTS’ frame a navy-blue, upside-down image of a biplane. The top-right biscuit reads ‘The Lady’s Newspaper’ in ornate black lettering above a cameo of Queen Victoria. Below that is a biscuit depicting the title page of ‘The Tempest’ from Shakespeare’s First Folio. The bottom-right biscuit is inspired by a wax cylinder label: it reads ‘Genuine Edison Bell Gold Moulded Record’ in a vintage typeface. To the left is a large biscuit painted to look like a section of the Cotton Mappa Mundi, with patchy blue seas, red rivers, and turquoise mountain ranges. In the centre-left is a biscuit based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures Under Ground’. ‘Chapter 1’ is written in a Gothic font above a hand-drawn illustration of Alice and her sister. The central biscuit features the British Library at 50 logo in gold.

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Make Maps Not War Wednesday, 21st June 2023. 18:00–20:00 Pushkin House, Live and online pushkinhouse.org/events/make… @livingmaps @Pushkin_House
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Latest @livingmaps event @Pushkin_House: Mapping Armageddon 1945- 2045: Out of the nuclear bunker into the fire next time With Timothy Barney and Bradley Garrett, Chaired by Phil Cohen   May 17th Online Webinar. 6.00 pm – 8.00pm (UK BST)   Tickets : mapping-armageddon.eventbrit…
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British Antarctic Survey data is now available on the @Britishlibrary onsite digital maps viewer blogs.bl.uk/magnificentmaps/…
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Applications are invited for the Helen Wallis Fellowship, open to scholars using the @Britishlibrary map collection in historical investigation. Deadline is 1 May bl.uk/projects/helen-wallis-…
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Tomorrow (Tuesday 21 March): The War Map as Spectacle: Cartographies of Terror and Conflict in Contemporary News Media @Pushkin_House @livingmaps pushkinhouse.org/events/maps…
LIVINGMAPS@livingmaps14 Mar 2023
There are still tickets available for our next event, in partnership with @Pushkin_House – Join Livingmaps director Peter Vujakovic for The War Map as Spectacle: Cartographies of Terror and Conflict in Contemporary News Media pushkinhouse.org/events/maps…
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Looking forward to this @AmerTrustBL online event on Blaeu’s giant world map held by @ransomcenter. Here’s the @BritishLibrary copy for comparison bl.uk/picturing-places/artic…
The American Trust for the British Library@AmerTrustBL8 Feb 2023
Grappling with a Monumental Map: Joan Blaeu's Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula (1648). A FREE, virtual program with the ATBL & @ransomcenter March 8, 2023! Register: conta.cc/3DNKktB @bscmaps @illinoismaps @cartoguild @cartosoc @cdncarto @blmaps #maps @winterthurmuse
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The British Library has collaborated with Escape Studios’ School of Interactive and Real Time to create an interactive version of the Ebstorf map. Made c. 1300, the Ebstorf map was the largest known medieval world map, made up of 30 parchment sheets. blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscr…
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The J.B. Harley Fellowship Trust Awards for 2023 (thirtieth series), offering support to assist research on the history of cartography in the map collections of the UK. Awards have been made to:
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There were nine applications, four from the USA and one each from France, India, Peru, the Philippines and the UK. Disciplines: art history, comparative literature, history, political science, environmental science and physics.
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For details of past awards, numbers of applicants, and extracts from previous fellows’ reports, see maphistory.info/harlflws.htm… [part of the 'Map History' gateway site]. This also contains information about applying for a Fellowship (closing date 1st November each year).
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