Visualizing Place Maps from The Bancroft Library

This exhibition highlights The Bancroft Library’s diverse and extensive map holdings. Selected from across Bancroft’s collections, these works chart the evolution of cartography from the early printed atlas born during the period of European contact to contemporary maps displaying cultural, social, and imaginary narratives—from those that show California as an island to those that help us examine a place, be it a city, a region, or a nation. Whether printed, hand drawn, or digitally produced, maps help us understand our own neighborhoods, our broader region, and our global environment. There is no right way to look at a place in time, but, together, these map selections allow us to visualize the familiar through a different lens.