Rare Collection of Antique Maps Unveiled at Northwestern

Established in 1954, the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University in Chicago is said to have the largest collection of African art, history and literature in the world. Recently, it unveiled a collection of antique African maps created as far back as the 15th century.
David Easterbrook, the curator of the library, says that the early cartographers who created these maps based their data mainly on anecdotal information from travelers. They also used the limited literature of European scholars, and antiquities of Greek and Roman scholars who had written of, or traveled to, Africa.
“They were taking text and turning it into something visual," he said.
Easterbrook adds that the maps cover in particular North Africa and Algeria, Madagascar and other islands, and a few city plans.