This listing started November 2005 - see also the latest news about map thefts
Because newspapers tend to move articles to an archive quite soon, the web
addresses below are given as text rather than as active links. There will be enough
information to find the article afterwards in the archive, but that often requires registration
and perhaps payment of a subscription
The source is acknowledged, except in the great majority of cases where a Google Alert provided the lead
For further details of current, forthcoming and past exhibitions and events, see John Docktor's Calendars. Postings to the MapHist list, whose headings can be browsed by non-
members via its Archive, are usually not
repeated here. To keep up with the news, you need to join that list.
NB. Most of these news posts are NOT sent to
MapHist.
Disclaimer note: I do not take any responsibility for the quoted opinions, with some of which I may disagree
2011
Maps from the Anglo-Indian wars of the 1840s
November 30 [seen December 2]. <
http://www.sikhnet.com/news/anglo-sikh-war-maps-discovered-irish-castle > 'Anglo-Sikh war maps discovered in
Irish castle' (in the SikhNet). 'Rare maps used by the British Army for their
winter campaign in Anglo-Sikh wars of 1845 have been discovered in an Irish Castle.'
'The maps formerly belonged to 1st Viscount Hugh Gough who was commander-in-chief of the British army in India
for that campaign which took place during the regency of Maharajah Duleep Singh. The find was made by British
born writer Bobby Singh Bansal who was visiting Ireland to conduct research for his next project when he was
shown the maps that had lay undetected in the castle attic for over 100 years. After further examination he
realized that the rare maps were in a very frail condition and required urgent restoration. The unique maps
reveal a wealth of information for any passionate military historian or private collector.
'One of the maps depict the Battle of Sobraon which was fought on the 10 February 1846, between General Hugh
Gough with 10,000 troops of the East India Company’s Bengal Regiment versus the mighty Khalsa Army of the
‘Lahore Durbar’ with 20,000 troops under the command of General Sham Singh Attariwala. Other maps include the
Battle of Mudki, Battle of Maharajpore (1843) and the Battle of Chillianwalah fought under the leadership of
Rajah Shere Singh Attariwala where the Khalsa army won a decisive victory over the British in 1849. After
serving in the British Army, General Gough retired to a quiet life back home in Dublin, receiving a generous
pension from the British government for services rendered. The maps remained within the Gough family in Ireland
and Scotland but for reasons unknown were abandoned in one of the Gough estates in Galway until now.
'Bansal has previously published ‘The Lion’s Firanghis: Europeans at the Court of Lahore’ in 2010, published by
Coronet House and available on Amazon.com. He is currently completing his next volume on ‘British Colonial
Administrators of the East India Company’ and also a television documentary on the plight of Hindu & Sikh
families of Kabul.'
Maps feature strongly in new Taiwanese museum
October 25. <
http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=178702&ctNode=445 > 'Taiwan history museum to open
in Tainan City ' (by June Tsai in Taiwan Today). 'The National Museum of Taiwan History will hold its grand opening in Tainan City Oct. 29, following 12 years of preparation,
museum authorities announced ... Of particular note is the collection of historic maps,
charts and documents that the museum has obtained from foreign collectors. “They will
provide us with different viewpoints from which to look at Taiwan’s history.”
'The museum presents “both history and Taiwan in one museum,” Lu said, distinguishing it from
the National Taiwan Museum and the National Museum of History, both in Taipei. The NTM
focuses on natural history while the NMH highlight Chinese culture in Taiwan, he explained.
'The Tainan museum is located in the Annan District—historically an estuary and foreign
trading hub until the river silted up in the 18th century.'
New home for Boston's Leventhal Map Center to open shortly
October 6. <
http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=5314 > 'Boston Public Library to Open New Space for
the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center' (News Release from the City of Boston).
'The Boston Public Library will open a new space for the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center on Saturday,
October 22. The opening ceremony and ribbon cutting will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Central Library in
Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street. Under construction since April of this year, the renovation
of 5,760 square feet of space is a City of Boston capital project.
'The Leventhal Map Center will be located on the first floor of the library’s historic McKim Building in
Copley Square. The renovated space features a new exhibitions gallery, a public learning center, and a
reading room for rare map research. Other elements include a custom stained glass reproduction of a 1775
map of Boston, exploration areas designed for children, and a world globe three feet in diameter ...'
