Maps, maps, maps and more maps

Those that follow this blog have probably already figured out I love maps. This week certainly had plenty.

George Orwell, in his essay Why I Write, says of the aesthetic desire to write that "above the level of a railway guide, no book is quite free from aesthetic considerations".

It looks like we'll have to include railway guides as well. TreeHugger has a slide show of alternative subway maps. Some of them are very beautiful.

Some of my favorites include a redesigned New York map that is much cleaner than what we have today.


Then there is the redesigned Tokyo map. I've bought a poster of this from Zero Per Zero.


Scientists have also recently found what may be the oldest known map. Check out the overlay of animal drawings.

Finally, from the always reliably interesting Strange Maps, we have a reversed view of Europe.