Map Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

09/07/2023

OTD in 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi entered Naples, Italy’s largest city, where he proclaimed himself “Dictator of the Two Sicilies” (the name of the territories of the king of Naples, comprising Sicily and most of southern Italy).
With 30,000 men under his command, he then fought the biggest battle of his career, on the Volturno River north of Naples. After his victory, he held elections in Sicily and Naples, which allowed him to hand over the whole of southern Italy to King Victor Emmanuel."
These two maps from our collection depict Naples in 1835 and 1850 respectively!
(Foot, John and Smith, Denis Mack. "Giuseppe Garibaldi". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Giuseppe-Garibaldi. Accessed 7 September 2023.)

08/29/2023

Can you hear the marching band playing, smell the cut grass and popcorn? It's college football season! Stop by the Map Library in person to see our new exhibit which features this 1938 edition of the Albert Richard football map!

08/22/2023

Welcome to the Fall 2023 semester! Let us know how we can work together!

08/02/2023

"Let me tell you a story all about how..."..but in the case of this map, published in the year 2000 by Oxford Cartographers, it was through use of the Hobo-Dyer projection!

07/24/2023

Welcome to microcosm Monday! Today we present,
"An Anglo-centric, circular, pictorial ethnographic map of the world. With Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the center, the peoples of the world surround them, forming a globe," published by Edward King in 1849.

07/07/2023

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Serendipity as, "The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident", a concept embraced here at the Map Library! A recent sojourn through our maps of California produced some fascinating maps that we just had to share!

06/22/2023

Now that it's officially summer, it's the perfect time for the Great American Road Trip! When you're out there on the road, feel free to stop by the Map Library and check out the exhibit in person!

05/31/2023

It's not officially summer here in Urbana, Illinois, though concert season is well underway and we couldn't resist posting this recent acquisition:
The original Grateful Dead wall map & tour guide, volume 1, published in 1994 by Rand McNally!

05/12/2023

05/01/2023

The Map Library is hosting a 5th grade class today and we've installed a flash exhibit: Maps Are Fun! The exhibit includes this map of Folklore and Legends in the United States! How many can you name, post your answers to the comments below for a chance to revel in knowing the most!

04/25/2023

Today is National Library Worker's Day and here at the Map Library, we are celebrating with the Dewey Decimal Map of the United States! Just about everything in this Map has been provided a Dewey number and each state contains something that it was known for back in 1950 - for Illinois, it's MEAT!

04/25/2023

This week is National Park Week, thus we submit two USDA Maps of National Forests! The first, published in 1951, shows National Forests and Parks, State Forests, National Monuments, and Native American Reservations.
The second, published in 1911, shows routes to the parks via train!