The Library of Lost Maps

A magnificent book that sings of the romance and mystery that only old maps possess. Wandering The Library of Lost Maps, I didn't want to find my way back -- Edward Brooke-Hitching, author of THE PHANTOM ATLAS
Digging into the dusty archives of an old map library at UCL, James Cheshire unearths stories of explorers and imagined landscapes, WWII intrigue, geopolitics and social change - in this astonishingly fresh and insightful perspective into history and biography. A triumph -- Professor Alice Roberts, broadcaster and author of CRYPT
This exquisite volume from geographer Cheshire shares hidden treasures contained within the University College London’s Map Library…an enlightening and lovingly presented tribute to the necessity and wonder of libraries and archives * Publishers Weekly *
Beautifully illustrated … The Library of Lost Maps collects and presents some of the great maps of the past for leisurely perusal -- Michael O'Donnell * Wall Street Journal *
[A] handsomely illustrated study of mapmaking ... [Cheshire] is an infectious guide, tracing how maps evolved from hand-tinted curiosities to instruments of science, propaganda and power ... A concise and engrossing study of cartographers’ urge to make the world behave * Kirkus Reviews *
From great discoveries to terrible atrocities, maps are responsible for more than you might think. This book, based on an overlooked archive of incredible maps, brings history and cartography together in a wonderful way * All About History *
A great map library can be a wondrous thing to behold, as James Cheshire’s engaging, deeply satisfying and elegantly designed book relates…Wisely, Cheshire avoids nostalgia in his enthusiastic trawl through this half-forgotten collection … Instead, writing as a consummate educator, he either tells stories specifically relevant to a sheet that he finds -- Simon Winchester * Spectator *
The Library of Lost Maps is in one sense an act of remembrance—a rage against the dying of the light, as map libraries are shuttered and their holdings discarded or deaccessioned. It’s certainly a compelling argument against their closure. It also happens to be an absolute delight, one of the best general-interest map books I’ve read in a long while * The Maproom Blog *
I finished it feeling pride in my work as a cartographer... and inspired to create visuals that someone may someday want to add to a library of their own. Readers should approach The Library of Lost Maps with the expectation and anticipation of great maps ahead. * North American Cartographic Society *
An exquisite homage to the charts that plot the way ... The Library of Lost Maps is a beautiful book filled with vivid renderings of the maps Cheshire discusses * Washington Independent Review of Books *
A timely, enlightening and hugely entertaining volume about the inexorable vitality and importance of libraries as sociopolitical memory keepers ... Cheshire transports us back through time and place, reminding us of our past while guiding us toward our future ... An exquisiterecord of the curiosities Cheshire discovered, and an apt homage to the analogue ways of the world as well as the importance of cartography * The Art Newspaper *