Qiong Jun di yu quan tu (Hainan Island) - 1836 - from Linda Rui Feng
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Qiong Jun di yu quan tu (Hainan Island) - 1836 - from Linda Rui Feng
This vibrant pictorial map is oriented southward to look across the sea toward Hainan Island off the southern coast of China. It contains detailed ethnographic descriptions of the indigenous Li people and shows that, even by the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911), this island was still very much culturally distinct and seemingly "beyond the pale." Linda Rui Feng
Created by Johann Baptist Homann, a renowned German cartographer, around 1716.
Part two of this story. As we were relocating here in early 2024, our daughter knew my room had an adjacent bathroom with tub, so she decided to search online for a map-themed shower curtain. When I opened the gift, I was overjoyed to find the curtain’s map was the same Regni Mexicani map that hung on the wall outside the bathroom. It was pure serendipity for her to choose a curtain with THIS special map; she did not look earlier to see what maps I had chosen for the room. I smile every time I point out these two maps to visitors.
Willem Blaeu’s vignette maps of four continents, first created in 1617.
I am drawn to maps that combine scientific, historical and educational content with artistic and decorative features
My favorites are vignette maps from Blaeu, Speed, Jansson and others
At a time way before National Geographic and other magazines, and now web-based search engines providing educational information, etc. vignettes augmented the geographical details available to the viewer of a map in the 17th century, at least in terms of the appearance and dress of the inhabitants of the regions included on the map, as well as miniature maps of prominent cities in the region. They also include depictions of animals frequently found in their typical habitats.
My favorite vignette maps:
Blaeu’s vignette maps of 4 continents 1st created in 1617
North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia
Of these, Blaeu’s map of the Americas “Americae Nova Tabula” is my favorite
I love a challenging hunt for a difficult acquisition (particularly when it’s successful) and Blaeu’s map of the Americas was the most difficult for me to acquire. I don’t yet own Blaeu’s vignette map of the world, but if I did, it would become my favorite
Interesting to see what was known and not known in the 17th century about the region with which I am most familiar and what was made-up
Display of inaccuracies and imaginary features
The artistic embellishments such as sea monsters and sailing ships flying the flags of various contemporary naval powers, as well as the pleasing artistic composition and colors enhance the viewer’s interest and appreciation of the map
Miriam Sweeney's Pride of San Francisco Map - David Kageyama
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Miriam Sweeney's Pride of San Francisco Map - David Kageyama
Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, Sweeney's work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control.
“This map stood out to me because it has a very detailed key that highlights the locations that were relevant to Manhattan at the time. It also shows the detailed ferry routes, which were likely a more important form of transportation in comparison to today.“ Jack Gerwe 8/17/25
Qiong Jun di yu quan tu (Hainan Island) - 1836 - from Linda Rui Feng
This vibrant pictorial map is oriented southward to look across the sea toward Hainan Island off the southern coast of China. It contains detailed ethnographic descriptions of the indigenous Li people and shows that, even by the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911), this island was still very much culturally distinct and seemingly "beyond the pale." Linda Rui Feng
Created by Johann Baptist Homann, a renowned German cartographer, around 1716.
Part two of this story. As we were relocating here in early 2024, our daughter knew my room had an adjacent bathroom with tub, so she decided to search online for a map-themed shower curtain. When I opened the gift, I was overjoyed to find the curtain’s map was the same Regni Mexicani map that hung on the wall outside the bathroom. It was pure serendipity for her to choose a curtain with THIS special map; she did not look earlier to see what maps I had chosen for the room. I smile every time I point out these two maps to visitors.
Willem Blaeu’s vignette maps of four continents, first created in 1617.
I am drawn to maps that combine scientific, historical and educational content with artistic and decorative features
My favorites are vignette maps from Blaeu, Speed, Jansson and others
At a time way before National Geographic and other magazines, and now web-based search engines providing educational information, etc. vignettes augmented the geographical details available to the viewer of a map in the 17th century, at least in terms of the appearance and dress of the inhabitants of the regions included on the map, as well as miniature maps of prominent cities in the region. They also include depictions of animals frequently found in their typical habitats.
My favorite vignette maps:
Blaeu’s vignette maps of 4 continents 1st created in 1617
North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia
Of these, Blaeu’s map of the Americas “Americae Nova Tabula” is my favorite
I love a challenging hunt for a difficult acquisition (particularly when it’s successful) and Blaeu’s map of the Americas was the most difficult for me to acquire. I don’t yet own Blaeu’s vignette map of the world, but if I did, it would become my favorite
Interesting to see what was known and not known in the 17th century about the region with which I am most familiar and what was made-up
Display of inaccuracies and imaginary features
The artistic embellishments such as sea monsters and sailing ships flying the flags of various contemporary naval powers, as well as the pleasing artistic composition and colors enhance the viewer’s interest and appreciation of the map
Miriam Sweeney's Pride of San Francisco Map - David Kageyama
Drawing inspiration from city aerial views, Sweeney's work explores the urban landscape that sits somewhere between order and chaos, structure and collapse, expression and control.
“This map stood out to me because it has a very detailed key that highlights the locations that were relevant to Manhattan at the time. It also shows the detailed ferry routes, which were likely a more important form of transportation in comparison to today.“ Jack Gerwe 8/17/25
As a map collector and student of Spanish history and literature, I’d say one of my focus areas is maps of Spain and Spanish exploration during the Age of Discovery, a space where geography and storytelling often meet.
This map holds special meaning for me. I studied Don Quijote at the University of Madrid, and later worked in Spain advising the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language on expanding the Instituto Cervantes, a cultural and language institute with over 75 locations around the world. Its headquarters in Alcalá de Henares, Cervantes’s birthplace, reflects the deep cultural connection between the author and Spain’s literary legacy.
After years of searching, I acquired this version from an 1805 edition through an antique book dealer. Original copies from the 1780 Ibarra edition are rare and expensive, typically found only as part of a complete multi-volume set. I later wrote about this map in Califia, the journal of the California Map Society. You can read the article on my website.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Introduction to Don Quijote
Don Quijote was published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, and is widely regarded as the first (and most read) modern novel. Known simply as El Quijote in Spain, it is a cornerstone of Spanish identity and one of the most influential works in Western literature, translated into more than 145 languages.
Driven mad by his obsessive reading of chivalric tales, Don Quijote sets out as a self-declared knight-errant to defend the helpless and serve his imagined lady, Dulcinea. Accompanied by his loyal squire, Sancho Panza, he roams the countryside in a delusional state, seeing windmills as giants and inns as castles, guided more by fantasy than reality.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Decorative Cartouche Symbolism
In the map cartouche, a suit of knight’s armor stands, topped not with a helmet, but a barber’s shaving basin. While there’s no official explanation for this curious detail, it’s a fitting nod to Don Quijote’s mix of heroism and absurdity. The armor evokes his chivalric ideals, while the basin, mistaken by Quijote in the novel for the magical helmet of Mambrino, reminds us of the comic misunderstandings that define his journey.
Drawn by the king’s official cartographer, Tomás López, this map treats a fictional story with scientific seriousness. The cartouche, by contrast, adds a playful, self-aware touch. And the armor’s emptiness may suggest something deeper: the death of Don Quijote, or the fading of his imagined identity. By the end of the novel, Quijote renounces his delusions and dies soon after—a quiet end to a grand illusion.
Together, the armor and basin form a visual pun: the noble dream and the everyday object, the myth and the man, side by side.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Quijote's home
The location of Don Quijote's fictional hometown (and writing of the novel) has been the source of intense debate by Cervantes scholars, as the novel famously begins:
"Somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember..."
Many scholars originally placed the location as a small town in southern La Mancha, Argamasilla de Alba, where Cervantes spent time in prison for financial irregularities during his time as a tax collector. However, this has been largely dispelled due to a lack of documentary evidence, and the consensus point of view is that The Quijote was likely penned in Seville, where Cervantes was once again in prison.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Quijote's adventures
Perhaps the best-known adventure from the novel is when Quijote charges the windmills, believing they are threatening giants waving their arms from atop the hills of La Mancha. His attack fails, and he ends up badly bruised. This episode, marked on the key as "aventura de los molinos de viento," has come to symbolize quixotic idealism, fighting imagined enemies.
The windmills also reflect broader themes. In Cervantes’ time, they represented the growing mechanization of agriculture, signaling a shift from traditional rural life to a more industrialized economy. In this light, Quijote’s attack speaks to a deeper resistance to change and a nostalgic defense of the past.
In modern life, the windmills can symbolize impersonal systems—technology, bureaucracy, or globalization—that feel monolithic and inhuman. Quijote’s battle, then, remains relevant: a poignant image of the individual confronting forces beyond their control.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Quijote's end
Location #35, the last location on the map key, indicates the point from which a defeated Quijote "returned to his hometown and died."
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Cervantes' cartographic knowledge
Cervantes was well-traveled and possessed a very sophisticat- ed level of cartographic knowledge for his time. He was active when Ortelius published The Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in 1570, and it is likely he had first-hand knowledge of the text.
Cervantes traveled to Rome, where he worked as an aide to a Cardinal, served in the Spanish Armada, and battled the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto. On a return trip from Genoa, pirates kidnapped Cervantes and held him prisoner in Algiers for several years. References to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas frequently appear in Cervantes' writing. The Spanish countryside described in The Quijote is likely based on his extensive travels throughout Spain when he worked as a tax collector for the Crown.
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Christopher Hughes
(@chughes)
Aug 18 2025
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Geographic Detail
The base map for Quijote's route was another map by López, the Atlas General de España, which was the first effort to map the entire Peninsula at a detailed regional level. However, the map lacked local geographic detail in much of Spain.
To gather the geographic information for his atlas, López divided the provinces into circles with diameters of three leagues (16,718 m), and sent questionnaires to local priests with instructions to map local features with their town as the center-point of the circle. López would then compile the surveys and draw the map in consultation with other sources.
Member Favorite Maps - California Map Society (CMS)
Member Favorite Maps - California Map Society (CMS)
July 22, 2025
SPECIAL CALAFIA FEATURE
Calafia is going to try a new feature for the upcoming issue, in collaboration with Pixeum, the website. Our plan is to devote several pages in the upcoming issue to “Member Favorite Maps.” Send us an image or link to one of your favorite maps, along with your caption (maximum of three or four sentences) about why you like it, why it is special, and why you find it compelling. Perhaps it has special details you appreciate, or maybe there’s a story about how you discovered it or acquired it. You don’t have to own the map to submit a map. You just have to appreciate it. We will place a copy of your map on a page in Calafia, along with your name, caption, and a QR code linking to a high-resolution copy of the map on Pixeum.
If you own a map and don’t have or would like to have a high-res copy of your map, Tom Paper and Pixeum have volunteered to scan that map in his studio so that others can enjoy it online at Pixeum.
So, please email us an image or a link to your favorite map, along with your caption, and we will hopefully incorporate it into the upcoming issue of Calafia. The deadline for submissions is August 15, 2025. See below for a sample Calafia page of Member Favorite Maps. Scanning the QR code will take you directly to Pixeum. Or, on a computer, click on the following links:
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#38112
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