Unleash Your Inner Cartographer

Maps don’t always take you from A to B. They can spark the idea of a lifetime, unravel the mysteries of celestial bodies, take you to places you’ve never been, and bring the past to life in vivid detail.

For this reason, maps have been an object of fascination throughout the centuries. They’re often also a labour of love for the cartographers who carefully design them.

Whether you’re an orienteering expert or in a co-dependent relationship with your sat nav, it’s time to unleash your inner cartographer. We’ve curated a selection of beautiful and inspiring books on maps and atlases to help you fall in love with cartography of all stripes.

Maps to chart the constellations
Nothing captures the human imagination quite like astronomy. Celestial bodies and the constellations above have served as inspiration for religion, mythology and, of course, cartography. As early as the 18th century, cartographers were attempting to chart the cosmos, with Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr’s  landmark work Phaenomena (first published in 1742) proving a revelatory and spectacular resource.

Our ambition to understand our universe became reality in the 20th century, when President Kennedy set Project Apollo in motion. Over the next decade, a team of dedicated scientists created 44 superb charts – one for each named quadrangle on the Earthside of the Moon. In Lunar, publishing this month, you can see every beautifully hand-drawn and coloured chart for the first time, accompanied by expert analysis and interpretation by Smithsonian science curator Matthew Shindell.

The book goes beyond the practical geological atlas of the moon. Every mythical and cultural association of the Moon throughout history is explored in this sumptuous volume, from its influence on Ancient Greek and Roman Myth to the impact of the Moon on female healthcare and lunar cycles. It all culminates in the 1969 Moon landing, which heralded the beginning of a whole new scientific journey, offering a truly wondrous overview of our understanding of the Moon for astronomy lovers old and new.

Maps to spark creativity 
In everyday life, maps are often practical, allowing you to navigate from one place to another. But maps can also be an act of imagination. Many medieval and early modern maps are works of art, with their detailed depictions of monsters roaming the high seas and unusual coastlines that represent their perception of reality in that moment.

Maps can, and do, spark creativity in many writers and artists. The Writer’s Map by Huw Lewis-Jones examines the maps that writers love and use, and the ones that set them dreaming. For example, self-professed cartophiliac Robert Macfarlane reflected on the map that inspired Treasure Island, writing: ‘For as long as I can now remember, I have been set dreaming by story-maps both real and make-believe.’

Inspiration-seekers can also look to Hand-Drawn Maps by Helen Cann, which taps into the creative urge to sketch, doodle and play with ideas in a uniquely creative guide that invites you to use maps to unlock ideas. Featuring sections on map anatomy, maps of places and maps of ideas, it allows you to explore places, spaces, objects and concepts in all manner of styles.

Maps to understand worlds old and new 
Before humanity reached for the stars, adventurers focused their energy on understanding Earth itself. Whether sailing into open water or carefully following the British coastline, cartographers were fascinated by the earth beneath their feet.

STRATA offers an insight into the world of William Smith, the ‘father of English geology’, who created detailed stratigraphical county maps of England and Wales, alongside parts of Scotland. Winner of the 2021 Alice Award, STRATA opens with a foreword by Robert Macfarlane, then goes on to place Smith’s work in the context of earlier, concurrent and subsequent ideas regarding the structure and natural processes of the earth. The book is then organized into four geographical sections, offering original maps, fossil illustrations and essays by leading academics.

If you prefer escapism, there are maps that can help you explore new worlds. Videogame Atlas by Luke Caspar Pearson, Sandra Youkhana and Marie Foulston takes readers on a journey through videogame worlds via panoramic maps, intricate exploded diagrams and detailed illustrations. A playful spin on beloved virtual worlds such as Minecraft, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Final Fantasy VII, it also offers detailed commentary using the practices and academic rigour that underpins real-world architectural theory.

Maps to bring the past to life 
In the same way that a blue dot in a map app can ground you in physical space, maps can transport you into the past, bringing it to life in a variety of ways. For example, Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps provides a street-by-street record of London’s living conditions in the late 19th century, providing an incredibly human perspective on a societal issue through a unique format.

They also document significant moments, as demonstrated in such books as The London County Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939-1945 by Laurence Ward and The D-Day Atlas by Charles Messenger and James Holland, which chronicle the impact of the second World War on physical landscapes. But they don’t just chart destruction or strategy – they also tell stories, marking the loss and camaraderie, tragedy and heroism, of war.

If historical true crime is more your speed, Murder Maps by Dr Drew Grey is bound to pique your interest. Exploring gruesome tales and killer cartography, this disquieting volume re-examines the most intriguing 19th-century murders from around the world, from female killers such as Mary Pearcey, who stalked the streets of London to exact revenge on her lover’s wife, to a Parisian criminal who quite literally got away with murder.

Where will maps take you next?

Lunar: History of the Moon in Myths, Maps + Matter is out on 24 October 2024.