Zurich Library Exhibits 60 Fantasy Maps From Private Collection

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Sixty maps from a private collection of fantasy fiction, including the first printed maps of Dante's Hell from 1506, are now on public display for the first time in an exhibition at Zurich's Central Library. The show, which features 60 items from the 168-piece Ex Carta holding belonging to lawyer Sunderland Cohen, opened on September 4.

Curator Jost Schmid-Lanter, head of the library's map collection, expects the exhibition to evoke childhood memories through works related to Narnia, Harry Potter, and Winnie the Pooh. Sunderland Cohen, who resides in central London, started acquiring these maps in 2024, driven by her passion for fantasy fiction.

“I read the Hobbit when I was ten,” Cohen said, explaining her interest which extends to gaming and cinema. Her collection also includes a map from the manual of the original 1986 video game The Legend of Zelda and a prop map of the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which she purchased at a movie ephemera auction. Cohen's sole acquisition rule is that“it must be printed matter.”

Cohen inherited her collecting habit from her father, Neil Sunderland, whose initial fascination with maps stemmed from his love of adventurous travel. His first acquisition was likely a map of his native Lancashire. The Sunderland Collection now holds over 150 rare world maps and atlases created between 1200 and 1800 from various cultures, offering insight into humanity's efforts to chart terrestrial and celestial geography. In contrast, Ex Carta focuses on imaginative worlds.

Regarding both collections, Sunderland Cohen stated:“We're very bijou. We are very focused on content and condition.” Since 2021, the Sunderland Collection has been accessible digitally as a site named Oculi Mundi.“We didn't want to put money into a foundation, or taking on a building,” Cohen explained. Occuli Mundi is open to all.

In Zurich, additional pieces from the Library's own collection will complement the Ex Carta works. Furthermore, other items from the Sunderland Collection will be featured in the exhibition Night Mapping, opening at the Warburg Institute in London on October 21. The exhibition Fantastical Maps from Legendary Stories runs at Zentralbibliothek Zürich from September 4 to December 5.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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