@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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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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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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Map Library retweeted
Ljiljana@EditorIMCoS13 Dec 2022
Read about Finnish game maps in the December issue of the IMCoS Map Journal.
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📢 Calling all library professionals: applications to our International Library Leaders Programme are now open. Apply to join us in July 2023: bit.ly/3Ffcg9E
Composite image of a woman with short black hair looking into a display case. Applications now open at www.bl.uk/ILLP

ALT Composite image of a woman with short black hair looking into a display case. Applications now open at www.bl.uk/ILLP

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Map Library retweeted
LIVINGMAPS@livingmaps5 Dec 2022
BEHIND THE LINES: FRONTLINE MAPPING, SPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SURVEYING FIRST WORLD WAR LANDSCAPES Wednesday, 14 December 2022 18:30 20:30 eventbrite.com/e/frontline-m…

Frontline Mapping, Spatial Technologies & Surveying WWI landscapes

An online presentation from Keith Lilley on using modern spatial technologies to analyse the cartography of the Western Front.

eventbrite.com
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Map Library retweeted
BRICMICS@_BRICMICS18 Nov 2022
Today, the @_BRICMICS committee meets in #Belfast , to share ideas & develop strategies for contemporary #map collections Thanks for hosting us @PRONI_DFC
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On London Underground at the moment. Always good to be in the same company as the Beatles ! ⁦@MapsintheWild⁩ ⁦@BLMaps⁩
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More big map content for everyone! @BLMaps @britishlibrary
Carmem M. Rodrigues 🇧🇷@CarmemMarx5 Oct 2022
Unrolling Faden's South America number 04 - 1820. #maps #BritishLibrary #MapDivision #JBHarleyFellowship #London #WillianFaden
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Replying to @katieparker18th @BLMaps @britishlibrary
I'll be there next week to unroll some bigs Faden's maps!🗺️
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And this is why we need the big, flat tables @BLMaps! Thanks goodness for the Maps Room @britishlibrary! Big sister and little sister, Arrowsmith’s Chart of the Pacific (additions to 1808) and reduced version (additions to 1809). #maps #Pacifichistory
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How it started How it's going
Chinese manuscript depicting a Chinese star chart

ALT Chinese manuscript depicting a Chinese star chart

A galaxy cluster with a bright star shining at its centre

ALT A galaxy cluster with a bright star shining at its centre

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We are loving this #Map of Ireland and England, titled ‘A general description of England and Ireland with the costes adjoyning’, by Laurence Nowell, c. 1564. Ink and coloured wash on parchment. (Add MS 62540) On display in our #ElizabethAndMary exhibition #ManuscriptMonday
‘A general description of England and Ireland with the costes adjoyning’, by Laurence Nowell, c. 1564. Ink and coloured wash on parchment. (Add MS 62540)

ALT ‘A general description of England and Ireland with the costes adjoyning’, by Laurence Nowell, c. 1564. Ink and coloured wash on parchment. (Add MS 62540)

‘A general description of England and Ireland with the costes adjoyning’, by Laurence Nowell, c. 1564. Ink and coloured wash on parchment. (Add MS 62540)

ALT ‘A general description of England and Ireland with the costes adjoyning’, by Laurence Nowell, c. 1564. Ink and coloured wash on parchment. (Add MS 62540)

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Phillip Jagessar, ‘Orienting Imperialism: The Royal Asiatic Society’s Miscellany of Maps’. Free Zoom talk hosted by the Warburg Institute, University of London, Thursday 27 January (17.00 GMT). Register: warburg.sas.ac.uk/whats-on/m…. Imago: Town of Madras.
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Can you help us interpret historic maps? We are looking for volunteers to help with three new collaborative projects to transcribe features and text from maps. Help us trace footpaths and historic placenames to create open datasets for researchers. maps_transcription_nls.mailc…
detail showing Aberdour from manuscript map, Roy Military Survey of Scotland circa 1750

ALT detail showing Aberdour from manuscript map, Roy Military Survey of Scotland circa 1750

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Happy New Year! Welcome back to the British Library from #ReferenceServices. We wish you an enjoyable and productive year of #research
Photograph of the spines of three books. The covers are black with a gold pattern and slightly tattered. The three books read 'Welcome to 2022', 'At the BL' and 'Happy Researching'.

ALT Photograph of the spines of three books. The covers are black with a gold pattern and slightly tattered. The three books read 'Welcome to 2022', 'At the BL' and 'Happy Researching'.

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“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to." J.R.R. Tolkien's map of Middle Earth 🗺️ 🔗 bit.ly/3J8kW2F #OTD
‘Map of the Middle Earth’ from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

ALT ‘Map of the Middle Earth’ from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

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