A-Z – The Map Room

Out Next Week: The A-Z History of London

Published on 26 September 2019 by Jonathan Crowe

Out next week from Collins: The A-Z History of London, a coffee table book by Philip Parker that looks at the last century of maps of London. Londonist has some examples. Ollie O’Brien’s review at Mapping London explains what the book is about: “What the book is not, is (just) a history of the A to Z map. Rather, it is a book about the history and geography of London, with A to Z maps used to frame the narrative.” [Amazon, Apple Books]

Parker is also the author of History of Britain in Maps (Collins, 2017); his History of Britain in 12 Maps (Michael Joseph) has apparently been pushed back to June 2020. (I need to update the Map Books of 2019 page.)

A-Z at 80

Published on 18 July 2016 by Jonathan Crowe

The Geographers’ A-Z Map Company, which produces the iconic A-Z Maps line, is marking its 80th anniversary this year by posting a series of photos of company memorabilia—they plan 80 photos over 80 days. So far I’m particularly fascinated by the mapmaking tools and processes, like this scribing tool, this type layer and these negatives—all from the time when maps were photo typeset (only three decades ago!). [WMS]

A-Z Adventure Atlas Series

Published on 2 June 2016 by Jonathan Crowe

az-adventure-atlas London Hiker reviews the A-Z Adventure Atlas series of maps. “They contain 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey maps, but in a book format, like the A-Z street map books you’re probably used to. […] Many of the new A-Z style map books are extremely convenient and are fast becoming a favourite with me, depending on the circumstances.”

More: A-Z Maps blog post from 2013, Amazon UK.

A-Z Maps Colouring Book

Published on 25 May 2016 by Jonathan Crowe

There are more map colouring books out there than I realized (I’m going to have to compile a list). For example, A-Z Maps’ Maps: A Colouring Book, which came out last October. From the publisher: “This adult colouring book includes a number of street maps from around Great Britain including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Manchester, together with some more unusual designs—contour lines around Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and some fascinating map mandalas (intricate patterns created by repeating sections of mapping around a central point).” Buy at Amazon. [A-Z Maps]

Previously: Albion’s Glorious Ile: A 400-Year-Old Map Colouring Book; City Maps: An Adult Colouring Book.

Greater London A-Z Street Map

Published on 18 May 201618 May 2016 by Jonathan Crowe

It shouldn’t surprise me that there’s a mobile version of the London A-Z Street Atlas. There are, in fact, several, the most recent of which is the Greater London A-Z Street Map, which covers some 3,743 km² of territory and stores all its maps—the same maps you’d get in the paper edition—on the device. (Which makes it a fairly significant download: 603 MB on iOS, 382 MB on Android.) The iOS version costs £5 and is compatible with both the iPhone and iPad. The Android version is available on Google Play and costs about the same.