Charting the Past: Antique Maps & Atlases

St. Jacobs Market
Oct 3
2 min read

Maps are more than just tools for navigation — they are snapshots of how people once understood the world. Antique maps and atlases capture changing borders, forgotten place names, and artistic flourishes that make them fascinating to study and collect. This month, we’re exploring the beauty and history behind these timeless treasures.

What are Antique Maps & Atlases?

Antique maps are printed or hand-drawn depictions of geography created in earlier centuries, often used for navigation, exploration, education, or display. Atlases are bound collections of maps, sometimes focusing on the whole world, sometimes on specific regions, and occasionally on thematic subjects like trade routes or astronomy.

While some maps were purely practical — guiding travelers, sailors, or settlers — others were works of art, richly decorated with sea monsters, compass roses, and ornate borders. Each reflects not only geography but also the culture and knowledge of the time..

A Glimpse into History

Maps have been made since ancient times, but the production of printed maps flourished in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries with the invention of the printing press. Early cartographers like Mercator and Ortelius revolutionized how the world was charted, producing atlases that were as much about prestige as practicality.

Over the centuries, maps documented discoveries, charted colonial ambitions, and reflected shifting political boundaries. They reveal how people imagined distant lands, from mythical creatures at the edge of the known world to speculative coastlines based on rumor and hearsay.

Atlases became a symbol of learning and status in many households by the 18th and 19th centuries, often displayed in libraries or parlors. Today, antique maps and atlases are valued not only for their cartographic information but also for their artistry and the stories they preserve about exploration, trade, and human curiosity.

Why Collect Picnic & Outdoor Entertaining Ware?

Collecting maps and atlases is a way of holding history in your hands. Each piece reflects a particular moment in time — a country’s old borders, a city that has since changed, or even places that no longer exist. Many are visually stunning, with hand-coloring and intricate detail that make them works of art as much as records of geography. Collectors are drawn to maps for different reasons: some seek local history, tracing how their own region appeared centuries ago; others admire the craftsmanship of early cartographers; and many simply enjoy the stories and imagination embedded in these pages. Whether framed on a wall, stored carefully in a collection, or paged through with curiosity, antique maps and atlases offer endless opportunities for discovery.