Comparative Mountains and Rivers

Continuing last week's theme of comparative maps, here are a few examples of a genre of map that compares mountain heights and river lengths.

This map was originally published by Henry Tanner (1836) and modified by S, Augustus Mitchell (1846), both of Philadelphia.  Like last week's map, the geography is arranged to fit the space with the shortest rivers cleverly positioned atop the tallest mountains.

The peaks are numbered. On this and the other maps from this period the highest known peak was Dhaulagiri in the Himalayas, now the seventh highest. In addition to mountains, the heights of cities and lakes are shown. Below Quito, Ecuador is shown beneath Pambamarca.

Down at the bottom are some of the Pyramids of Egypt, the "Falls of Niagara" and lakes such as Ontario (42), Erie (36) and Superioir (32). Above that is Caracas and the limit (this is a guess) of where bananas grow. Also along the bottom are various cities and landmakes such as the mines of Huancavilica and the Philadelphia Shot Tower. More of this map can be seen on the David Rumsey Map Collection page here.

Here are a couple more variations on this theme You can click them to see enlarged views from the Rumsey collection. This one published in London by William Darton in 1823 has everything arranged on one side.

I like the treatment of the rivers here.

This one (Joseph Thomas, London, 1835) has the rivers at the bottom and the mountains in several rows.

Finally, for a local view, here are the rivers of Scotland.

Many more examples of this theme can be seen on this excellent blog post from the Rumsey collection.

Papercraft Maps

Carla Eráusquin Bayona, a Peruvian artist makes 3D "papercraft" maps - made from cards or heavy stock paper. This map highlighting Colombia's attempted rebranding as a technology hub appears in the June issue of Fast Company. 

 Here are some details from her Behance page. You can also see some of her process there.

For an older map of Peru see here.

Google Pac Man Cartography

The Google Maps Pac Man April Fool's map has been up for a while now and has been mentioned all over the web. They have transformed the world into a giant Pac-Man maze. I decided to take a look at some of the more interesting and/or well-known places on earth to play. Some of them look fantastic even if the street patterns are a bit vague at that close a zoom level. Enjoy!

I have always been really bad at Pac-Man. Here I am about to get eaten by Pac-Man bullies on the suburban Rochester, New York street where I spent much of my formative youth.

Getting mugged in Queens Park, Toronto, Canada.

The Battery, Manhattan, NYC

 Chased by Putin's thugs outside of Red Square, Moscow

Climbing up the mountain to get to Machu Picchu in Peru.

The Ginza area, Tokyo, Japan

Stupidly chasing my tormentors in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

 Circling the Arc de Triomphe, Place de L'Etiole , Paris

Finally, getting a measure of revenge near the Royal Residence in Central Marrakesh, Morocco.