New members and visitors are always welcome to attend these
events.
Please submit your meeting notices to John W. Docktor
<phillymaps(at)gmail(dot)com>
Exhibition announcements can
be found at Cartography
- Calendar of Exhibitions.
Click here
for archive of past events.
July 7-11, 2026 – Prague & Brno The 31st International Conference on the History of Cartography will have as its primary venue the main building of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6. The theme is Bridging the Past and Present in Cartography. Click here for preliminary program. Additional information from <ichc2026(at)hiu.cas.cz>.
July 9, 2026 Brno (Hybrid) ISHMap Annual General Meeting will be held at 16:30 in Moravian Library Conference Hall (Ground floor), just around the corner from other conference venues. We are also providing a Zoom link for members to join remotely.
July 29-August 1, 2026 – St. John's, Newfoundland The Society for the History of Discoveries annual conference will be held at Memorial University. Wednesday, July 29 we will have a reception and presentation in the evening. Panels will run all day Thursday and Friday, with the Annual Banquet Thursday evening. The conference theme is Islands of Discovery. This interdisciplinary conference seeks to examine the multifaceted history and ongoing process of island exploration. Click here for additional details and to register. On Saturday, August 1st, we will have an optional tour of the major historic and cultural sites of St. John's. We will be taking a private bus tour of St. John's through Legend Tours Ltd. To book your spot and read more about the tour, please follow this link here.
August 11, 2026 – Washington (Online) The Geography & Map Division, Library of Congress, will have a Geography & Map Division Virtual Orientation from 3-4pm. Reference librarians will present an introduction to the Geography and Map collections at the Library of Congress. This general orientation session will highlight a wide range of cartographic formats and subject matter. The focus of the session will be on search and discovery of maps and electronic resources in the Library’s new online catalog. Topics covered will also include search tips and tricks, research and collection guides, ways to engage with the collections online, and how to prepare for a future trip to the reading room. After the presentation, staff look forward to answering additional questions from attendees. Click here for Zoom registration.
September 1-4, 2026 - London (Hybrid) The Royal Geographical Society-IBG Annual International Conference 2026 will be chaired by Professor Peter Hopkins (Newcastle University, UK), on the theme of Geographies of inequalities: toward just places. The conference will take place in the Society and Imperial College London, and online.
September 8-9, 2026 - Edinburgh The Map Curators’ Group of the British Cartographic Society will have a workshop on 8 September and the British Cartographic Society will hold its annual conference on 9 September. The Map Curators’ Group will celebrate its 60th anniversary by hosting a workshop at the National Library of Scotland from 10am until 5.30pm. The morning session will see the group visit the Map Library in the Causewayside building, where there will be opportunity to tour the library facilities, view a collection of early maps of Scotland, and hear about recent work at the library, including its events and digitisation. After a lunch break, we will reconvene at the main NLS building on George IV Bridge for a series of talks. Click here to book.
September 10, 2026 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. It is arranged with the assistance of the New York Map Society. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Andrew Kapochunas (New York Map Society Secretary) will show us How to find an image of ancestral Eastern- or Central-European towns on antique topographic maps.
September 12, 2026 - Amsterdam The third Amsterdam Map Fair will be held at the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam from 10.00 – 17.00. Free entry to The Maritime Museum, 33 national and international antiquarian map dealers will sell antique nautical charts, maps, atlases, globes and prints. With three lectures.
September 15, 2026 – London The International Map Collectors' Society invites you to join us 2.30 pm to 4.30pm for an engaging visit to the Geological Society of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EJ. A few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus and Green Park Underground stations. An afternoon hosted by John Henry, IMCoS member and Fellow of the GSL and Caroline Lam (Archivist) and Paul Johnson (Map Librarian) at GSL. The visit will begin with a talk by John Henry about the creation of two of the earliest geological maps of the UK - William Smith’s famous ‘Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales’ (1815) and George Bellas Greenough’s ‘Geological map of England & Wales’ (1820). He will talk to the two very large maps which are on display in the hall. The group will then be shown a small selection of historical maps in the Society’s Upper Library. Amongst these will be examples of late 18th-century ‘petrographical/mineralogical’ maps which pre-date modern geological mapping, as well as examples of other mapping works showing why the British Isles was central to the beginnings of modern geological science. The visit will finish with a rare visit to the Geological Society’s Map Room, which holds c. 40,000 modern maps which are the most heavily used by the Society’s Fellows. Paul Johnson, the map librarian will give an overview of the collection and show examples of the more interesting 20th-century maps. There is a charge of £10.00 per person, to be paid in cash or cheque on the day to Mark Clark, the event organiser. Joining instructions will be given post application. Application to be made by email to Mark Clark IMCoS UK Representative to <markclark368(at)gmail.com>. Please provide your name and email address in your application and a contact phone number. There are only 15 places so early application is advised.
September 15, 2025 - Washington The Washington Map Society will meet 3:00-6:00 PM ET at Myers Room, George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum, 701 21st Street, NW. Gareth Fuller (artist and explorer, London, England) will speak about Walking the Streets of Washington, DC to Create a Unique Map of Place. Gareth walks hundreds of miles to create vast, hand-drawn portraits of place. From London and Beijing to Pyongyang and Washington, D.C., his work reveals stories and identities of landscapes, capturing their personal, geographical, and social essence in what he calls ‘maps of the mind. In this presentation he will tell us the story of creating the artwork for his recent map of Washington, DC. Following Fuller’s presentation, Curator Kasey Sease will host a small display of select maps from the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection (4:00-5:00 pm). And following the map display, the group will reconvene from 5:00-6:00 pm for a social gathering at Tonic Restaurant (formerly Quigley’s Pharmacy) across the street at 2036 G Street, NW.
September 17, 2026 - Chicago The Chicago Map Society will meet 5:30pm – 7:00 pm CT at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St. Speaker will be William Green.
October 1-2, 2026 – Arlington, Texas The 15th biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography will take place in the Central Library at the University of Texas at Arlington. This year’s event, Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years of Mapping Antarctica, will explore how the southern continent was imagined, charted, and portrayed on maps from the early modern era to the present day. This event is open to all. Registration is not required but is recommended. Registration guarantees lunch!
October 3, 2026 – Arlington, Texas The fall meeting of the Texas Map Society will take place in the Central Library at the University of Texas at Arlington. This event is conjoined with the Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography and will focus on Antarctic cartography. Additional details and registration will be available in August 2026.
October 3, 2026 - Sint-Niklaas, Belgium The Brussels Map Circle will be having an excursion to MAP-Mercator. We will have an exclusive tour of the recently renovated Map Mercator Museum! Please meet at the museum at 9.45 am for the guided tour. The visit will be followed by an optional lunch. Please register using this form.
October 7-10, 2026 - Denver The Western Association of Map Libraries annual conference will be held at Denver Public Library, 10 W 14th Ave.
October 8, 2026 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. It is arranged with the assistance of the Rocky Mountain Map Society. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Chris Lane (retired Philadelphia Print Shop West owner and appraiser Antique Road Show) will discuss Mapping Philadelphia.
October 8–10, 2026 - Würzburg The Commission on the History of Cartography of the German Society for Cartography and the D-A-CH Working Group on the History of Cartography, in cooperation with the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, cordially invite you to the 22nd Colloquium on the History of Cartography. On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, there is a Geographical field trip through the city center and meeting of the Map Curators' Commission. Further details regarding the schedule and the final program of the 22nd Würzburg Colloquium on the History of Cartography will be available in summer 2026.
October 13, 2026 – Washington (Online) The Geography & Map Division, Library of Congress, will have a Geography & Map Virtual Orientation: GIS and Geospatial Resources from 3-14pm. Join us for a virtual orientation that aims to provide an overview of the geospatial resources of the Geography & Map Division, including an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS), spatial data formats, and the geospatial activities of the Division. This session will be followed by a Q&A session with GIS specialists. Click here for Zoom registration.
October 29-31, 2026 - Chicago The Chicago
Map Society, the oldest map society in North America, will be
celebrating its 50th anniversary at the Newberry Library, 60 W.
Walton St.
October 29: A dinner, guest speaker, fun and
games.
October 30: Opening reception for the Rare
Map and Book Fair, 5:30 to 7:30pm - $40 per person with
advance
registration / $50 per person at the door
October 31: Rare
Map and Book Fair, as well as lectures and workshops, 9am to 5pm
– no charge
November 9-13, 2026 - Tokyo and Kyoto The International Map Collectors' Society has been invited by the Japan Map Society to participate in a conference, Early interactions between the Western world and Japan seen through historical maps, that they would host for international guests with most of the program in English. A pre-symposium tour is planned on 8 November to Nikko and a post-symposium tour is planned for 14-15 September to Kyushu; Japan's most southerly island. Program and registration details are available online.
November 12, 2026 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Kory Olson (Professor of French, Stockton University; Secretary and Vice Chair, The International Society of the History of the Map) forthcoming book, “Motoring Africa with Michelin” (Brill) will provide the basis for this presentation: Motoring Africa: Michelin’s Road Maps for an Exotic Continent. In this book, he examines how the tire company presented France’s African colonial space as very drivable and French, prioritizing European-built infrastructure over indigenous peoples and spaces.
November 18 - 21, 2026 - Istanbul In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Kitāb-ı Bahriye, the International Piri Reis and Maritime History Symposium will be held at Piri Reis University. The symposium aims to address the life and works of Piri Reis within their historical context through a multilayered perspective. The symposium will address, through an interdisciplinary approach, topics such as the reflections of Mediterranean-centered maritime experience in the Kitāb-ı Bahriye, Ottoman cartography, the circulation of knowledge during the Age of Geographical Discoveries, maritime strategies in the Mediterranean, and global maritime activities in the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
November 21, 2026 - Paris The 25th edition of the Paris Map Fair will take place at Espace Cléry, 17 Rue de Cléry. It will open its doors to visitors at 11 a.m. in the heart of Paris. A cocktail reception will be held the day before, 20 November, and is open to visitors and participating dealers and will feature a premium open bar. The reception will start at 7 PM and last for one hour. Click here to reserve a place for map fair and/or cocktail reception.
November 24, 2026 - London This year the British Records Association annual conference will be held on the topic of records and archives which take the form of maps or geographical plans and charts. The conference, All Mapped Out: Maps, Plans and Charts in the Archives, will be held at The Gallery, 77 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ.
November 26-27, 2026 - Gotha, Germany The Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague, Czechia) and the University of Erfurt, Centre for Transcultural Studies / Perthes Collection (Gotha, Germany) will be having a two-day in-person workshop including hands-on map activities. The topic will be Cartographies of Crises: Mapping Conflict, Disaster, and Uncertainty (19th–21st Centuries). This workshop focuses on the cartographies of crises from the 19th to the 21st century and seeks to advance research on the thematic mapping of crises. The workshop will be in English and held at University of Erfurt, Centre for Transcultural Studies / Perthes Collection. Additional information from the organisers: Jitka Močičková (Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences): <mocickova(at)hiu.cas.cz> or Dominic Keyssner (University of Erfurt): <dominic.keyssner(at)uni-erfurt.de>.
December 3, 2026 – Washington (Online) Hosted by the Washington Map Society, this Zoom meeting is presented in partnership with the California, Chicago, New York, Philip Lee Phillips, Rocky Mountain, and Texas Map Societies. It is arranged with the assistance of the assistance of the California Map Society. Anyone interested in participating in the meeting must RSVP to John Docktor at washmap(at)gmail.com in order to receive the meeting ID and passcode. Meeting will start at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, 6:00 PM Central Time, 5:00 PM Mountain Time, and 4:00 PM Pacific Time. Tom Paper (Managing Partner Webster Pacific, LLC; California Map Society, Board of Directors Member at Large) will discuss Mistakes on Maps. Originally presented to the California Map Society and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this presentation is a witty, visually immersive journey through 20 historical maps, each featuring a fascinating flaw.
December 5, 2026 - Brussels Save the date for the next conference of Brussels Map Circle which will focus on nautical cartography!
2027
March 12-13, 2027 - Le Havre Cedex, France The Comité Français de Cartographie, Université Le Havre Normandie (Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences), Identités et Cultures Research Group, Le Havre Heritage Library; in partnership with : Institut universitaire de France, Bibliothèque nationale de France, EPHE (Histara), CNRS (Laboratoire de médiévistique occidentale de Paris) invite you to attend a symposium about Women and Cartography from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The symposium, held at Université Le Havre Normandie, sets out to re-examine the place of women in the making, circulation, and reception of cartographic knowledge up to the 20th century, taking into account the various forms their participation took, the documentary biases inherent in the sources, and contemporary methodological issues. It is part of the broader field of the history of women in science and of the study of the gendered construction of knowledge. Additional information from Lucile Haguet <lucile.haguet(at)lehavre.fr> or Catherine Hofmann <catherine.hofmann(at)bnf.fr>.
March 19-21, 2027 – Venice The 3rd Venice International Map Fair will be held in Palazzo Pisani – Revedin, Sestiere San Marco 4013/A. The annual spring event of the Venice Map Fair is back, the cartography exhibition and market where internationally renowned exhibitors gather in Venice to display cartographic works, travel books and masterpieces by the most famous landscape artists to an audience of collectors and novices alike. The event is organised by Palazzo Pisani-Revedin and Lux In Art Gallery, which will welcome collectors, enthusiasts and curious visitors to the prestigious palace just a few steps away from the Rialto Bridge.
May 24-28, 2027 - Barcelona The International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap) Symposium and Workshop will take place in Barcelona. The Symposium is organized in collaboration with the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya. In hosting this conference in Barcelona, ISHMap builds on this history through the theme of Mapping Outside the Metropole to think about centers of cultural production outside of the imperial capital. A two-day Workshop (24-26 May 2027) for early career professionals (scholars, curators, archivists, and librarians) working in the history of cartography, will precede the Symposium. Hands-on activities led by experts in the field may include sessions focusing on data, machine learning, and historical maps, Cold War mapping, early sea charts, and the materiality and production of the maps. The Symposium (26-28 May 2027) will include paper and posters on all aspects of the history of maps and mapping. We particularly welcome proposals that address issues related to mapping outside of the metropole and the central sites of colonial and state power as well as proposals that bring comparative or cross-cultural perspectives to the history of maps and mapping.
September 8-12, 2027 – Amsterdam The International Map Collectors' Society will be holding their International Symposium around the weekend of the Amsterdam Map Fair. Dates are tentative and more information to come.
2028
Summer 2028 – Oxford The 32nd International Conference on the History of Cartography will be held in Oxford. Exact dates and additional details to be announced.