February 13, 2012
Fantasy Maps
In this article on The Awl, Victoria Johnson presents a collection of fascinating maps of fictional places that serve as gateways to imaginary lands. One of the maps in the collection was taken from L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Baum drew forty individual maps for this novel. This is the major one that shows the entire land the story takes place in:
“The Emerald City, in the center, is surrounded by four distinct countries. The countries are bordered by deserts (Great Sandy Waste is the obvious winner here and a great potential new name for the litterbox). Beyond the deserts like a number of intriguing countries that make at best a passing appearance in the story, such as Merryland and the Country of Gargoyles. ‘Kansas’ of course appears nowhere.”
Click here to view more fictional maps. Inspired? Check out this article on Boing Boing that refers to more sources with fantasy maps.