Once again, I’m a bit late with my annual gift guide. The idea of which is, if you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related—or you are a map-obsessed person and would like your broad hints to have something to link to—this guide may give you some ideas.

This list is a long way from comprehensive. Be sure to check out gift guides from previous years: see, for example, the 2021, 2019, 2018 and 2017 gift guides (in 2020 I focused on map stationery). Much of what’s listed may still be available. And even more books are listed on the Map Books of 2022 page.

Please keep in mind that this is not a list of recommendations: what’s here is mainly what I’ve spotted online, and there’s probably a lot more out there. In many cases I haven’t even seen what’s listed here, much less reviewed it: these are simply things that look like they might be fit for gift giving. (Anyone who tries to parlay this into “recommended by The Map Room” is going to get a very sad look from me.)

Finally, this post contains affiliate links; I receive a cut of the purchase price if you make a purchase via these links.

The Quarantine Atlas

The Quarantine Atlas (Black Dog & Leventhal): edited by Laura Biss, this is a book-length distillation of CityLab’s COVID-19 mapping project that includes 65 maps submitted by readers, plus essays by divers hands. Given the subject matter, probably something to be gifted with care. See previous entry. $32
Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

The Cartographers

Peng Shepherd’s novel The Cartographers (William Morrow/Orion) is both a murder mystery and a fantasy novel that incorporates all kinds of map tropes. As I said in my review for Strange Horizons, “I have encountered many works of fiction that incorporate maps and map tropes into their storytelling, whether as paratexts or as plot elements, and I have never encountered a story, at any length, as thoroughly encompassed by maps as The Cartographers.” See previous entry. $28/£15
Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

The LEGO Globe

While there have been third-party LEGO globes before, LEGO’s own globe, which came out early this year, has 2,585 pieces and is 40 cm (16 inches) tall when assembled. See previous entry. $230/£200/230€
Amazon (Canada, UK) | LEGO.com

For the Coffee Table

The term of art for books like these is “lavishly illustrated”: books with pages and pages of beautiful maps. At least two were published this year: The Atlas of Atlases (Ivy), in which Philip Parker explores the most important atlases in history; and Maps That Made History (Lannoo), in which Martijn Storms presents 100 maps, covering a thousand years of history, from the collections of Leiden University Libraries.

• The Atlas of Atlases ($40/£28): Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• Maps That Made History (79€): Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

For the Cartographer

Kenneth Field’s Thematic Mapping 101 (Esri), published in ebook in 2021, came out in a paper edition earlier this year. $72: Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

The 6th volume of NACIS’s biennial Atlas of Design has just come out. I’ve been sent a review copy, and a review is forthcoming; let me say right now that the examples of mapmaking in these pages are both diverse and stunning. See previous entry. Order here. $25

The GeoHipster Calendar is back for another year as well: order at Lulu.

(Be sure that the cartographer in your life doesn’t already have these: chances are good.)

For the Correspondent

I ordered map stationery from Pepin Press when one of my favourite pen stores got it in stock. I haven’t had a chance to review it or use it yet—I’m kind of reluctant to spoil it, I guess—but look for something along those lines in the future. See the 2020 guide to map stationery for more information and other options.

• Historical Maps A4 Notepad ($22.50/17.50€): Amazon (Canada, UK)
• Historical Maps A5 Notepad ($15/13€): Amazon (Canada, UK)
• Historical Maps: Labels, Stickers and Tapes ($15/13€): Amazon (Canada, UK)
• Maps Letter Writing Set ($34/25€): Amazon (Canada, UK)

(C6 and DL-sized envelopes are also available separately.)

For the Transit Geek

The Toronto Transit Commission gift shop has a number of transit-map tchotchkes, including laptop skins, pillows, a puzzle, an umbrella, a cap—and, get this, subway map skateboard decks. Also, don’t miss Cameron Booth’s gift guide at Transit Maps.

To Put Up on the Wall

When it comes to map prints, globes, puzzles, art, swag and other tangible materials, it’s often best to buy directly from the artist. Evan Applegate has assembled a very comprehensive gift guide linking to many artists’ stores.

World Atlases

While the Oxford Atlas of the World saw its usual annual update, and some of the not-quite-flagship atlas lines saw new editions, such as the National Geographic Concise and the Collins World Atlas: Essential Edition, this is the first time in years that there hasn’t been an update to the Times Atlas line, which is kind of concerning. See the 2021 gift guide for links to the various Times atlases, plus a guide to other flagship atlases that didn’t necessarily get new editions this year.

• Oxford Atlas of the World, 29th edition ($90): Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World ($30): Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• Collins World Atlas: Essential Edition ($18): Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

(Actually no, check that, this year I’m late; and last year I didn’t post one at all except for this stationery guide.)

—I post a gift guide that lists some of the noteworthy books about maps that have been published this year.

(Actually . . . this year not very many books were published. Thanks, pandemic. I’ve had to expand my scope a bit this year.)

If you have a map-obsessed person in your life and would like to give them something map-related—or you are a map-obsessed person and would like your broad hints to have something to link to—this guide may give you some ideas.

Please keep in mind that this is not a list of recommendations: what’s here is mainly what I’ve spotted online, and there’s probably a lot more out there. Also, I haven’t so much as seen most of what’s here, much less reviewed it: these are simply things that, based on what information I have available, seem fit for giving as gifts. (Anyone who tries to parlay this into “recommended by The Map Room” is going to get a very sad look from me.)

This post contains affiliate links; I receive a cut of the purchase price if you make a purchase via these links.

Books

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the publishing industry, and the effects of paper shortages are clear to see on both the publishing schedule and the availability of already published books. The fall publishing season is the season for general-interest map books, and in particular coffee-table map books, which tend to make rather good gifts for the map obsessed. But as far as I can see, books of that sort that have been published in 2021 are few to none—and I can’t say I’m surprised.

That said, the most interesting-looking book to come out this year that would be fit for these purposes is James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti’s Atlas of the Invisible (Particular, £25; W. W. Norton, $40); see my earlier post about the book for more information and links.
Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

Though I haven’t seen it, or much about it, another book that looks to have some potential is Matt Brown and Rhys B. Davies’s Atlas of Imagined Places (Batsford, £25); trouble is, it appears to be out of stock in most places at the moment.
Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

For a list of map books published in 2021 that is as complete as I can make it, see the Map Books of 2021 page. Or see the page for 2020’s books, since for various reasons I wasn’t able to manage a gift guide last year.

World Atlases

World atlases make fine if large gifts, and there are atlases for every price point. The main atlas lines are the National Geographic, the Oxford, and the Times.

The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World (Collins, £150) is the more or less undisputed king of atlases, but the Times Atlas line comes in smaller and more affordable editions: from largest to smallest, they are the Comprehensive, the Concise, the Universal, the Reference, the Desktop and the (diminutive!) Mini. Each of these is updated every four years or so: in 2021 it was the turn of the Reference and the Mini; in 2020 it was the Concise; in 2019 it was the Desktop and the Universal; in 2018 it was the Comprehensive. I would have expected to see a new Comprehensive next year, but this year the publisher put out an updated reprint of the 15th edition (changes are outlined here), so who knows. I reviewed the 15th edition three years ago.

The Oxford Atlas of the World (Oxford University Press, $90) which is roughly equivalent in size and price to the Times Concise, is updated every single year—that’s its unique selling proposition. I note too that Oxford University Press also has smaller atlases in its line: the New Concise and Essential atlases were updated in 2021.

• Oxford Atlas of the World, 28th ed. (2021), $90:
  Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• Oxford New Concise World Atlas, 6th ed. (2021), $40:
  Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• Oxford Essential World Atlas, 8th ed. (2021), $25:
  Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

The National Geographic Atlas of the World ($215) comes in one size—large—and its maps are the in the style you expect from National Geographic: if you prefer those to the usual relief maps, this is your atlas. Its most recent edition, the 11th, came out in 2019 (see previous entry). (National Geographic does have other atlases at other price points.)
Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

Children’s Books

Two children’s atlases were published this year, both with a list price of $15:

• Children’s World Atlas from Arcturus
  Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop
• National Geographic Kids World Atlas, 6th ed.
  Amazon (Canada, UK) | Bookshop

Last year two children’s books about Marie Tharp were published: see this post from July 2020 for details and links.

The GeoHipster Calendar

The GeoHipster 2022 Calendar ($16) features 14 maps solicited through a call for contributions earlier this year. “Complete with quirky ‘holidays’ and other historical notes designed to pique your geo-curiosity, this is more than your everyday average map calendar!” Lulu

A Swiss Jigsaw Puzzle

Thanks to this tweet from Tom Patterson, I stumbled across this 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a relief map of Switzerland (40 CHF). Carta-Media

The LEGO World Map

The LEGO World Map ($250/€250/£230/C$350), in all its 11,695-piece glory, appears to be available at some retailers after being awfully hard to find on launch earlier this year.
Amazon (Canada, UK) | LEGO Store

Wall Prints

For the past year or so Anton Thomas has been working on Wild World, a pictorial map of the natural world (previously). The whole map is expected to be completed next year, but right now Anton is selling limited-edition prints of the map’s Australasian corner in A2 and A3 sizes.

Stationery

If map-themed postcards, notecards and sets of paper and envelopes are your thing—and they certainly are mine—last year I posted a guide to map stationery.

The Leventhal Map Center Has an Online Store

Finally, the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Information Center at the Boston Public Library finally has an online store. Selection is limited—a few catalogues, a map print, coasters and some map stationery—and shipping isn’t quite available yet: you have to pick up your purchases at the Leventhal. But it’s a start.

Previously: A Guide to Map Stationery.

This post is a roundup of what map-themed stationery for correspondence I’ve been able to find. It can serve as a gift guide, if map-themed stationery strikes you as a good gift; the holidays, after all, are coming up. As usual, I link to stores selling the stuff; I get a small cut of the income from qualifying purchases.

Postcards

We’ll start with postcards. Cavallini’s vintage map postcards, which came out in 2012 and were reviewed here in 2016, come in a stylish metal tin that contains 18 cards, two each of nine designs. They’re printed on heavy, non-glossy card stock that foxes around the edges a bit, and on a per-card basis they’re comparatively expensive ($12.50). Amazon (Canada, UK)

Notecards

Next up are notecards, which are basically blank greeting cards that come either flat or folded. They give you a bit more space to write than a postcard does, but you’re not escalating things to an Actual Letter. Notecards are great and I use them a lot, though they can sometimes be a challenge to find. Most of these came out a few years ago and may not necessarily be in stock where you shop.

Another thing to keep in mind that some notecards are too small to be mailed: they’re meant to be enclosed or attached. Some are large enough for mail in the U.S. but not elsewhere, because the minimum width standards are different: five inches (127 mm) wide in the U.S. and 140 mm elsewhere in the world.

California artist Wendy Gold uses maps and globes as her canvas; she’s licensed her work to appear on various products, including the Maps of the Imagination notecards ($13.99), which came out in 2014. They come 16 to a box, in four designs where wildlife and other vibrant elements explode from ordinary world maps. They’re large enough for mailing, and the envelopes are classy as heck: I’ve used these cards myself. Amazon (Canada, UK), Bookshop

teNeues has two sets of vintage maps themed notecards: the QuickNotes ($13.95), which includes 20 cards in four designs based on a celestial atlas by Andreas Cellarias; and the GreenNotes ($10.95), which comes in eco-friendly packaging and includes 16 cards in eight designs based on Joan Blaeu’s maps. (QuickNotes are five inches wide and as such are a hair too small for mailing outside the United States; I don’t know if the same goes for the GreenNotes.)

• teNeues Vintage Maps GreenNotes: Amazon (Canada, UK)
• teNeues Vintage Maps QuickNotes: Amazon (Canada, UK)

A set of boxed notecards featuring MacDonald Gill’s Wonderground Map of London came out in 2018 and appears to be hard to find; a video from one bookseller describing the set is here.

Searching Etsy for map notecards turns up several other possibilities.

Correspondence Sets: Paper and Envelopes

Dutch publisher Pepin Press has a number of historical map themed stationery products. They include notepads, envelopes, and a complete letter-writing set. The notepads come in both A5 (€9.95) and A4 (€17.50) sizes; each contains 64 sheets of 120gsm paper that is backed with a reproduction of a historical map; half the sheets are lined and half are blank. The envelopes are DL-sized—suitable for A4- and letter-sized paper folded into thirds—and come in packs of 25 (€12.95). The letter-writing set (€19.95) comes with 40 sheets of A5 paper, 40 C6 envelopes, plus stickers and labels.

• Historical Maps A4 Notepad: Amazon (Canada, UK)
• Historical Maps A5 Notepad: Amazon (Canada, UK)
• Historical Maps DL Envelopes: Amazon (UK)
• Maps Letter Writing Set: Amazon (Canada, UK)

Finally, JAM Paper produces paper and envelopes made from recycled paper maps. Paper is available in letter (8½×11) size; the map is on the back. Envelopes come in various sizes; #10, A6 and 6×9 are in stock at the moment. A stationery set ($17.50) includes 12 sheets of map paper and 12 envelopes, the latter either #10 or 9×12).

• JAM Paper Map Stationery: Amazon
• JAM Paper Map Design Paper: Amazon

Updates

• Map notecards and A5 notepads from San Lorenzo Design (25 Jan 2021)

Cavallini and Company is a stationery and gifts company that uses vintage imagery from the 19th and 20th centuries in its products, including botanical drawings, travel posters—and maps. There are map calendars, file folders, pencil cases, notebooks, magnets and wrapping papers, among many other items. You’ll often find them in stationery and map stores.

This month I decided to participate (at least a little) in A Month of Letters, and for that I needed to restock my stationery supply. Since I’m known to have a thing about maps, I figured I’d try out two of Cavallini’s products: their vintage map postcards and their vintage map stickers. Both come in metal tins that feel retro in and of themselves.

The postcards come eighteen to a tin, two each of nine designs. Four are maps of the world (two Mercators, a Van der Grinten and a Herschel—which seems to be a variant of the Lambert conformal conic). The remaining maps are of Italy, Great Britain and Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, and Europe. Most of the maps date from the interwar period (i.e., between the First and Second World Wars), though one of the world maps is pre-World War I and the map of Italy uses post-World War II boundaries.

The postcards are printed on heavy card stock, which seems durable enough, but a couple of them had some slight foxing around the edges. The finish is non-glossy, which means ink will at least stick to the card: I had very little smudging when I wrote on them with a fountain pen this afternoon.

The stickers are of similar design and origin. They’re self-adhesive. One tin contains twenty-four sheets, three of each kind, with anywhere from two to twenty stickers per sheet. City and country insets are a recurring theme, as though each sticker is meant to highlight a specific location. Which suggests their intended use.

Both products have a thoroughly retro affect, but then again so does sending correspondence by post. It’s a good fit.

Buy Vintage Map Postcards at Amazon (Canada, U.K.)
Buy Vintage Map Stickers at Amazon (Canada, U.K.)
Search for Cavallini & Co. map products at Amazon (Canada, U.K.)