New blog!

The Map Library here at the University of Michigan has fused with Government Documents and the Spacial and Numeric Data Labs to reveal their ultimate final form: the Stephen S. Clark Library.

We're excited about the new blog, all integrated and shiny! Please follow along!

Of course, we will still try to whet your appetite for pure map-related goodness here, but the Clark Library blog will have all sorts of data visualizations and the like that you might also find interesting.

http://clark-library.blogspot.com/

The United States of Pig

W.E. Baker was a pure-food proponent who lived in Massachusetts. He believed that unsanitary conditions in food production led to disease-- therefore, he opened his very own Sanitary Piggery to show the rest of the world how swine ought to be raised. In July of 1875, he threw a grand party both to celebrate and raise awareness for his new Sanitary Piggery and to commemorate a battle that had been fought nearby.

You can't have a fancy party without fancy party favors (at least, not if you're doing it right), so Baker distributed these maps as ‘good cheer souvenirs’ to his guests, who numbered in the thousands:

 


The map’s full title is: THIS PORCINEOGRAPH is copied from the Census Surveys of 1870, adding only 3 feet of territory (?) resting on Cuba, Mexico and Sandwich Islands, and the Hydro-Cephalus from Canada. Congressional Legislation is required to PERFECT this GEHOGRAPHY.

It seems as though Baker might have been in a rush to get these piggy maps ready for his guests, because there are a few typos, some reversed text, and what seem to be notes to improve future drafts of the map.

Around the map are pigs representing each state, next to a banner with a pork recipe for each state. Michigan's is "Superior White Fish and Larded Sweetbreads."
(It's impossible to read while it's this size but this page has a wonderful detailed version of the map that you can zoom in on.)

Read more about the map here.

Side note: We have an actual print of the Porcineograph at U of M's very own Clements Library!

The last Third Thursday of the semester!

It is that time again, and this time we will be showing off Mediterranean area maps, from one of our stronger collections.


Come check out our amazing collection tomorrow, April 21st, between 4 and 7.

Congratulations! University of Michigan Team wins Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition

The University of Michigan had not one but two groups that ended up in the finals of this Urban Design competition with one coming out champion, a project called Houses.

The winning project proposal reads:

The Mount Baker station, at the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is surrounded by property that is currently being used for large parking lots, two heavily-traveled thoroughfares, and single-family detached residential properties. The competition challenge: devising a scheme that would transform and brand the neighborhood with an identity, and serve as a benchmark for future development in the Greater Seattle region.

Check out this site to read up more on how they did it, and to see the results!

Third Thursday!

Mapping Sci
Thursday March 17, 4:00-7:00 pm

Third Thursday at the Map Library, Open House

University of Michigan, Hatcher Graduate Library, Library Gallery, First Floor

Please join us for this special Third Thursday in the Library Gallery. Our theme for March is “Mapping Science” in conjunction with the current Library Gallery exhibit Places & Spaces: Mapping Science, a traveling exhibit created by Dr. Katy Borner of Indiana University. The exhibit was created to demonstrate the power of maps to navigate and manage physical places but also abstract topic spaces. It introduces knowledge mapping techniques to the general public. It is meant to inspire cross-disciplinary discussion on how to best track and communicate human activity and scientific progress on a global scale. Please join us, students, faculty and the public are welcome!

Come and check out a new Exhibit tomorrow!

Tomorrow , March 10th our new exhibit, Places & Spaces- Mapping Science, opens up. The opening reception is from 4-6 p.m. with speakers Dr. Katy Borner and Dr. Mark E.J. Newman. This exhibit has been featured in Wired, Data as Art: 10 Striking Science Maps, which shows a few of the fabulous maps that have been featured in the past and are being featured now.

This exhibit will be featured until May 24th in the Hatcher Graduate building in the Gallery, room 100.

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink...

But plenty to look at in our upcoming Third Thursday! In support of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Winter Theme Semester on Water we have pulled out our finest mapped examples of water.

Some of the items that we will be featuring are early charts of the Great Lakes, a 25 ft. long scroll map for navigating the Colorado River, a World War II pilot’s cloth emergency map showing ocean currents, 17th century nautical charts, and some remarkable maps of the Mediterranean Sea . As a special feature we will be previewing MFA student Collin McRae’s short animation “Stitch”. Please join us for this special event in the Hatcher Gallery Thursday February 17, 4:00-7:00 pm. Dont forget this is in the Gallery, not in the Map Library itself, hope to see you!

The Third Thursday of the month is upon us!

This month we are following a library wide theme and are featuring biblical maps.

After stopping by the 8th floor to view the exhibit stop on by the Audubon Room to view the current exhibit "Celebrating 400 Years of the King James Bible: Its Origins in Manuscript and Print".

Hope to see you there!

Third Thursday, Tomorrow!

Its that time again! The Map Library is having its monthly exhibit tomorrow from 4 to 7, displaying maps of and about Indigenous Cultures!
And we are still doing our Travel and Road map sale tomorrow as well, get some fascinating maps for pocket change!

New Map Aquisition!

The Map library has recently been gifted a wonderful addition to our French map collection. The generous William Heidrich has purchased for us the rare and exceptional 18th century Claude Roussel Nouveau Plan de Paris.

"The Roussel piece is a magnificent wall plan of Paris that thoroughly maps the city and provides visual depictions of its iconic structures. The 37 vignettes that surround the map illustrate the city’s well- and lesser-known architectural triumphs, including palaces, major administrative buildings, gardens, and arches. Also among the vignettes are a small panoramic view of the city, and another of the Pont Royal."

For more information click here.

Map sale and Third Thursday event tomorrow!

Everyone is invited to check out this months Third Thursday Event, City Maps!
Tomorrow evening from 4-7 pm the Hatcher Graduate Map Library, on the 8th floor, will be featuring our unique city maps for all to see, Student, Faculty and Public alike. After you have wandered through our display ( or before, the map sale is all day long!) , pick up a few maps next door from our Map Sale! Due to a sudden surplus of duplicate maps we have many to sell, from local maps of the area to maps from all over the world. We even will have a couple globes for sale too! Most maps will be only a dollar so stock up a couple for your car, one for your bare wall in your new space and another of lands you one day would like to see first hand. Not only will we have maps and atlas's for sale, but this time we will also have language tapes as well!

Map Sale and the first Third Thursday of the Semester!

All Maps one dollar unless marked with globes and atlas's for sale as well. All duplicates from a recent donation. Perfect for a wall hanging a collage, or any other projects to enhance your life.

Did you just move in and have an empty space on your wall? A map is the perfect filler of space, filled with information and appealing to the eye as well. Do you need to refresh your furniture? Perhaps a few maps for decoupaging is just what the doctor ordered like this chair done by Bombus Designs


or maybe a few fancy envelopes like RingAroundTheMoon has made?


So wander by this evening and ask about our duplicates and stay to check out the maps!

Hello!

Welcome to the University of Michigan's Map Library Blog.

From here on out regular updates will be made of events happening in the area, interesting articles, images, and updates to our collection.

To start off currently in the Audubon Room from now until September 20th from 8:30- 7 there is an exhibit entitled " Tour de France: Travel & Topography in France 1700-1900". This exhibit allows us to shows off some of our more interesting and rare French maps to the public over a long time frame, a collection that most who visit the map library would not know about.

Come and visit today!