Globe Corner Blogs

Great News!!! Reif Larsen’s new book, The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, lets you in on the four things needed for an adventure: “Guns & Knives”, “A Magnifying Glass”, “A Map!”, and, of course, “Adventure Pants”! (Be sure to pick a good pair.)

I have recently finished reading The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet and was not disappointed in any way. In fact, I am able to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is packed with amazing illustrations and maps, as well as a great story. With my new found discovery of “The Hobo Hotline”, I am now able to travel across the country by train with the knowledge of where each specific car is going. I am also now aware of how to go about mapping a mustache and that a flashlight really has futuristic healing powers. His cross-country journey takes him on a great adventure filled with questions about the world that you should really be asking yourself.

This might sound like a bunch of nonsense, but it is truly spectacular nonsense! For example, I guess that every twelve year old boy knows that Winnebago’s have their own personal names, such as Valero, and can talk to you. In order to fully grasp the whole situation of young Mr. Spivet, I highly recommend this book to you and suggest you then pass it on to everyone you know. Not only for the read but also for the visual understanding of how car alarms can affect your brain.

Maps of the Imagination -by Peter Turchi

Maps of the Imagination has affirmed my long-held belief that every book should have pictures. With each turn of the page, new and fascinating maps, paintings, sketches, and diagrams are revealed. In some instances they directly support author Peter Turchi’s argument; in other cases, they’re shown just to captivate the reader (it usually works).

Peter Turchi has written a completely compelling discussion of how writers are in many ways the same as traditional geographic cartographers. When asked to name a cartographer, the names Blaeu, Mercator, Lewis, Clark, or Columbus might immediately come to mind. But what about Italo Calvino, Kate Chopin, Vladamir Nabokov, or James Joyce? According to Turchi, these writers are also cartographers – just as a geographic cartographer selects (and de-deselects) information to best achieve the purpose of the map, writers select only certain parts of reality to map a fictional, yet relatable, world.

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Blaeu's Atlas Maior of 1665

Here are some of what I would call “Hidden Treasures of the Store.” If I could, I would call every single map in the store a Hidden Treasure, but I will restrain myself for your sake.  These few things that I mention are not truly hidden, but do get overlooked once in a while.  So feel free to ask about them or come check them out.

Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior: This is an amazing atlas of the world from 1665 which contains some of the most beautiful maps I have ever seen.  The best part is if you do not want the whole world you don’t have to get it.  There are separate atlases from 1665 of France, Germany, Italy and other locations.

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Hidden Treasure, Glow-in-the-dark Map of the Universe

Each day, passersby wander into our store to admire our beautiful wooden bookshelves, our selection of floor and desk globes, or our most recent acquisition, the game of Bird-Opoly. Once inside, the more resilient shopper may notice two large map drawers – ostensibly, these drawers serve only as display surfaces but they actually house some of the greatest and most unique treasures in our store.

Here is a small list of some of my favorite “hidden treasures” that aren’t in plain view but deserve to be seen and written about:

Landforms of Asia hand-drawn map by Erwin Raisz: Pen and ink reproduction map of the earth’s physical surface including mountains, plateaus, rivers, and basins. Raisz’s Landforms maps are also available for other parts of the world, including the United States, Italy, Europe, and Mexico.

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Dan's Map Tattoo, Part I--photo by Llalan

I am a Legend!! The Map of Maps is here to stay forever!

My map tattoo has begun.  It started as an uncharted adventure with possible potential or disaster. The artist had never done a map tattoo before, and neither had his colleagues. He told me that it is easy to map out a tattoo on a person’s body, but this is tattooing a map. Furthermore, it is a map of maps: it’s not a map of a real place but of geographic forms and names. (It was inspired by a map in The Agile Rabbit Book, one of my favorites.) It was a challenge, with no one to go to for advice.

Needless to say, when I went for my first session he told me that he had practiced…by putting the stencil on his girlfriend for many hours the night before.  Apparently he couldn’t get it right.  We took the plunge anyway and on the first try he had the stencil on my arm correctly. I was happy, he was happy (and relieved), and we got started. Two and a half hours later I walked out with an outline of what was to come and a smile. Hooray!!

I recently have gone to my second session of the map tattoo (see next photo). Continue Reading »

Unmapped Boston

A wall map of Boston titled “Unmapped Boston,” which delineates every neighborhood, subway line, and major thoroughfare in the city, has been getting a lot of attention lately. …And we’ve got them!

In a Boston Globe article from July, the map is featured with a few other artistic interpretations of Boston in map form. Soon thereafter we had hordes of customers coming into the store, clutching crinkled clips of newspaper, putting in order after order for the map. Since it seemed so popular, we thought we ought to tell everybody why it was special.

Why then, you ask? For one, it’s the only wall map-like map of Boston we have or even know of. Secondly, it’s great for getting an idea of where the neighborhoods actually lay in relation to the transit systems and to each other. Lastly, it’s just cool looking; it is, after all, a work of art.

So, if you want something informative, stylish, and Boston-y for your wall that’s not about the Red Sox, come on in and take a closer look or visit the artist’s website.

Boston BikeMap by Rubel BikeMaps

Each day I bike a very modest distance to work: a straight shot down Mt. Auburn Street – no turns and few stops. Thanks to recently installed city bike racks, nine times out of ten I can “park” directly outside the store’s door, and there’s even a bike lane on our block to ease my transition from street to sidewalk. In short, no fuss, no muss.

So, while I admittedly do not have use for a bike map on a daily basis, I still find Boston’s BikeMap, published by Rubel BikeMaps, to be a useful and remarkably well researched guide to biking in and around Boston (i.e. Brookline, Watertown, Somerville, Lexington, and more).

Here’s a brief list of features I’ve found to be particularly handy:

- All area bike shops are starred in red on the map and then indexed with addresses and phone numbers.

- Contour lines based on USGS topographic maps show hilly areas (aka, areas to avoid when already tired).

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I have some very exciting news for all of you map connoisseurs out there!!  We have recently received a very cool new world map in the store.  It is called the Columbus Physical World Map, by Columbus Verlag Paul Oestergaard.   

This is not just any world map folks; this map comes with features.  If you cannot make up your mind about whether you want an antique look or a traditional blue ocean look you don’t have to… IT HAS BOTH.  Continue Reading »

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So we have good news and bad news for all you Michelin lovers out there.

Good news: The new 2008 Red Guide Paris is officially in and on the shelf.

Bad news: Michelin has chosen to discontinue the Sicily map from their regional Italy series.

The 2008 Red Guide France came in on Friday, 05/09/08, and the 2008 Red Guide Paris is on its way! This year’s updated maps for France also made it safe and sound to our squeaky, but beloved, Michelin spinner.