FUN WITH MAPS ISSUE 2026-082

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (May 18, 2026) – This edition of Fun with Maps is about exhibiting valuable and interesting collections.

Old Stuff

Today is International Museum Day.  The first one was observed in 1977.

Museums aim to educate, create wonder among those visiting and serve as repositories of the past: history, science, human history, art and culture.  Many Libraries intersect with these aims.

The largest museums, by size of their collections are: 1. The British Museum in London (about 8 million objects), 2. Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia (3 million), 3.  The Metropolitan Museum in New York (2 million).  By area, the largest museum is Louvre in Paris (nearly 700,000 square feet).

Now, for the fun stuff — the largest map collection is housed by the Library of Congress in Washington DC (5.5 million sheets), followed by the Palace Museum in Beijing (1.8 million), then the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh (1.5 million).

This map of London by Smith from 1890 has the unique feature of a tape included to measure distances between points.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.