Beyond Cartography: safeguarding our historic maps and plans Event
For more information regarding this event, please telephone the Archives and Special Collections Division on 02380 592721 or email archives@soton.ac.uk .
Event details
This exhibition showcases maps from the University of Southampton Library’s Special Collections, illustrating the challenges that these objects bring to conservators before conservation or long-term preservation takes place.
Conservation of maps and plans is affected by various factors. They come in differing formats and sizes, ranging from large rolled maps, with or without rollers, to small sketches, or folded into books. They may be printed or hand drawn, with inks, pencils and watercolours as main media or as annotations, on supports of paper, parchment, tracing papers and tracing linens. All these factors present individual challenges to the conservator, whether this be the physical size of a large-scale map, fugitive pigments and inks, or the loss of dimensional stability of the support, which is of particular significance to maps made up of many sections joined together and can affect the accuracy of measurement in those drawn to scale.
The maps and plans displayed in this exhibition were chosen not for their content but for their materiality and the challenges they pose to conservators.
The exhibition runs from 20 February – 28 April during which time the gallery is open weekdays 10am to 4pm.
Private view - all are welcome to attend!
A private view will take place in the Level 4 Gallery on Tuesday, 28 February, 5pm - 8pm.
The private view will be held jointly with the exhibition Cartographic Operations in the Level 4 Gallery.
Please note that during the private view the Special Collections Gallery will open from 5.30pm - 7pm. Visitors may be asked for proof of identity at the Library reception.