ATLAS HUGGED



Oslo, Norway of course, one of my favorite cities



I’ve loved maps since I was about 9 years old, and in the fourth grade. We had to draw a map of the old Lincoln Highway, section by section, taped one to the other, and learn all about the areas it traversed. I can still see those eight by eight inch squares, pasted one to the next, until I had a long, fan-folded map snaking from Times Square to San Francisco. I wish I’d save it.  I can remember our sixth-grade study of South America and the map we had to make of its countries and products. Making maps was one of the things I liked best about grade school.

As I’ve mentioned before, when I was around 10 years old I sensed a difference in Jamaicas. I was born in a hospital in Jamaica, New York, but I’d heard of an island called Jamaica. I needed to find out what was going on there. It was then that I became interested in more than just the Lincoln Highway, and was introduced to what has become one of my favorite references: a world atlas. I’ve had several updated versions of them over the years. An atlas is one of the few books I can’t order on line. I have to go to the books store and look at the latest selection to be sure it’s one I like. There’s no describing how I make my selection – one of the available editions will just ‘speak’ to me.

My latest atlas

A new, huge volume now sits leaning against a floor lamp right by my rocking chair and I refer to it frequently. It is especially helpful for finding answers to geographical clues in my favorite NY Times crossword puzzles.  Yes, if I’m really stumped I look up the answers – how else can you learn? My motto is “when in doubt check it out.” 

Unless they are rare volumes of historical maps, worthy of a high estimated value on Antiques Roadshow, old, outdated atlases don’t seem to have much value beyond filling bookshelves or being used as sinkers. Libraries certainly don’t want them. It just about killed me to have to trash my last atlas. Even the recyclers wouldn’t take it unless I ripped off the covers and recycled just the paper. If anyone has suggestions for what to do with old atlases I’d love to hear them.



Europe around 1595.  Not easy to read - then or now.



What does have value is a good, individual historic map.  Early in the 1980’s, an antique-dealer neighbor of friends of ours in England suggested that we invest in antique maps.  For one reason and another we never acted on his advice.  Would that we could have: lately, antique maps have become collectors’ darling$. 

When we go driving I’m the navigator.  I’ve navigated us all across this country – and England and other European countries as well.  I like to do the job because I love to read the maps.  Some maps I’ve used, like the Ordnance Survey maps of England loaned to us for our travels there, or the Michelin maps of France, are on a very large scale, something like 6 inches to a mile.  You can’t get lost using those – well, you can if the driver is going too fast (oh #@%&, turn around, we just missed the cut-off to Stonehenge!) or if you’re absorbed in studying other bits on the map and lose your place and objective on the map, or if you’re fascinated by the scenery and forget the map altogether.  Done that!



Nice Côte d'Azur Airport.  It's easy to get lost here if you don't have a map.
Been there - done that!



My latest navigating tool is Google Maps.  I crank it up before a trip and have an aerial look at where we’re going.  I even get down to ground level for a look at the critical turns and junctions. (I’ve also used Google Maps to look at places I used to live or have visited. 

Things have certainly changed in my old neighborhoods!)

I love my atlas, I love maps: celestial maps, world maps, country maps, road maps, subway maps, airport maps, tourist and visitor maps to streets and attractions, even our SCCL handy-dandy neighborhood maps.  It’s nice to know where I’m at.



The London Underground - The Tube.  I've an old map of this system in the form of a large, square scarf.
An earlier map of this system became the model for other cities' subway maps.