Posted on July 01 2021
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Happy July!
The Map: Fairyland
What does summer heat make you dream of? For us, it’s exploring places that feel like they’re at the edge of the world: islands both real—Hawai’i, Tahiti—and fictional—Treasure Island, Neverland. Islands always hold a sense of wonder and adventure, which is just what we’re craving this summer.
This map of the fantasy world, “Fairyland,” is a delightful rendering of childhood fairy fantasy. It was created in 1918 by Bernard Sleigh. According to the David Rumsey Map Collection, this map was created at the end of World War I, during the “Arts and Crafts” movement—the movement was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution.
“Compared with the devastated, bomb-blasted landscape of northern France, this vision of a make-believe land may have seemed a seductive escape for a European society bearing the psychological and physical scars of mass conflict,” says Tim Bryars, a map historian, as reported by Geographicus.
“Here is the Other End of Nowhere,” the map reads. It highlights places from fairytales and literature such as “the Sea of Dreams,” “Kelpie Bay,” “Pool of Nereids,” “Avalon,” “Witch Wood,” and “the Valley of Fire.”
Click the map to download!
The Game: Design Your Own Island
Use this template to draw your own island. Click the template to download!
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