Nicholas Crane
What's Your Map? Live
What's Your Map? Live at the British Library with Nicholas Crane
Available soon on all major podcast platforms. Stay tuned for this live episode and a recording of the conversation filmed at the British Library on Saturday 25 October.
In this episode, celebrated geographer, author, broadcaster and former president of the Royal Geographical Society, Nicholas Crane will be in conversation with our host Jerry.
They will discuss the discreet War Department takeover of a Wiltshire parish and James Wyld's 1872 map of Salisbury Plain. We will also hear about Nicholas' own epic walking journey across the UK from coast to coast following the line of latitude, two degrees to the west of the Prime Meridian: from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, to the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.
To view the maps featured in Nicholas' episode, see the images below:
© From the British Library collection - Maps 5710.(1).
This is James Wyld's "Map of Salisbury Plain showing the Country to be Occupied for the Military Manoeuvres during the Autumn of 1872, including the camps". Dated 8 August 1872, it was produced by esteemed English cartographer Wyld (1812–1887), who at the time was Geographer to the Queen.
Along their cartographic journey, Jerry and Nicholas will be discussing different projections and the revolutionary design by 16th century cartographer, Gerard Mercator.
Public Domain, via Wilhelm Krücken on Wikimedia Commons
This is a facsimile of Gerard Mercator's famed world map of 1569. Titled 'Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigantium Emendate Accommodata' which was Latin for 'New and more complete representation of the terrestrial globe properly adapted for navigation': it marked a significant turning point in the advancement of mapmaking "since the time of Ptolemy".
There are only 4 copies of the original 16th century map that are known to have survived. This composite image shows the example held by the library of the University of Basel. It is a facsimile that was created in 2011 by scholar Wilhelm Krücken.
©The Sunderland Collection
This map of England and Wales, with parts of Scotland, Ireland and north-western Europe is also by Mercator. It derives from his stunning 1595 atlas which is celebrated for being one of most important European cartographic works produced during the Renaissance. It is the ‘first complete edition of the first truly modern scientific atlas’, and also the first to ever use the term 'Atlas' in a title for a collection of maps.
The projection created by Mercator allowed places like England and Wales to be mapped in considerable detail.
Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 scale Map of Salisbury Plain - Landranger 184 ©Ordnance Survey
This image shows Ordnance Survey's 1:50 000 scale 'Landranger' map of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire (OS 184).
Ordnance Survey are the UK's national mapping agency. Established in 1791, the OS has been mapping and making innovations in mapping for over 230 years!
About Nicholas Crane
Nicholas Crane is an author, geographer, cartographic expert.
He is the recipient of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s prestigious Mungo Park Medal in recognition of outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge, and of the Royal Geographical Society’s Ness Award for popularising geography and the understanding of Britain.
Between 2015 and 2018, Nicholas served as the elected President of the Royal Geographical Society.
Nicholas has been the lead presenter on more than 80 BBC films - presenting many acclaimed TV series’ on BBC2, including: Map Man, Great British Journeys, Town, Britannia and Coast.
An an author, his books include Clear Waters Rising: A Mountain Walk Across Europe (Penguin, 1996), which describes his solo, 10,000-kilometre walk along the continent’s mountain watershed and was called ‘One of the liveliest and most enthralling travel books I have read for years’ by Miranda Seymour in the Sunday Times.
Two Degrees West: An English Journey (Viking, 1999), described as ‘An elegant and moving snapshot of England, a beautifully written book…very funny’ by The Times, is the account of a walk from one end to the other of England, following the prime meridian.
In 2002, Nicholas wrote the cartographic bestseller Mercator: The Man Who Mapped the Planet (Orion), which was praised by the great Lisa Jardine as ‘A gripping and densely informative biography’.
Published in 2016, The Making of the British Landscape from the Ice Age to the Present (W&N, 2016), was described by The Times as ‘Storytelling at its best’ and by the Guardian as ‘Ambitious, magnificent’. You Are Here, A Brief Guide to the World (W&N, 2018), was celebrated in the New Statesman as ‘a lifetime of thought and travel … a hymn to geography.’ Latitude (Penguin) was published by Michael Joseph in 2021 and described in the Spectator as ‘terrific’.
This live podcast will be released on Oculi Mundi following the event, and available on our YouTube page. Subscribe to WHAT'S YOUR MAP? - available on all major platforms.
Sign up to our newsletter to be alerted when these live episodes become available!
Why not continue your exploration of the wonderful world of maps by subscribing to the podcast? That way you will never miss an episode.
Feel free to let us know - What's YOUR Map?!
