Maps | Finding Our Place in the World

Mapping Imaginary Worlds

All maps are in some sense a product of the cartographer's imagination, requiring leaps of creativity to conceptualize the world as a sphere, or discern geological formations. But some maps push the limits of imagination, representing realms that exist only in our minds. Fantastical maps created for literary works are a clever twist on the mapmaking process: instead of using imagination to visualize physical places, these maps use practical techniques to represent imaginary places.

Object Highlights:

	Sir Thomas More's map of Utopia, from his 1516 work of the same name
	Several maps created by the author J.R.R. Tolkien, including a map of Minas Tirith and Thror's Map from The Hobbit
	A map of A.A. Milne's Hundred Acre Wood from 1926

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Detail at top: Courtesy of The Newberry Library, Chicago