Hereford World Map

The first official reproduction of the iconic world map by Richard of Haldingham.

Dated to circa 1285 and attributed to Richard of Haldingham, the mappa mundi held in Britain’s Hereford Cathedral is likely the world’s most impressive and well-known example of medieval cartography. It measures approximately 5′ x 4.5′ and was drawn by hand on a single piece of very high-quality vellum.

Restoration efforts that took place at the British Museum in the early 1950s allowed for the map to be photographed and reproduced for the first time by the Royal Geographical Society in 1954. According to a contemporary journal review;

“The world map of Richard of Haldingham is one of the greatest treasures of medieval cartography, so that it is an event of importance that now for the first time we have it for our pleasure and study in true facsimile. On a scale of about nine-tenths the original, and arranged in nine slightly overlapping sheets, the great map has been beautifully reproduced in collotype by Emery Walker, Ltd. A tenth sheet of line-drawn maps, illustrative of the derivations of this Mappa Mundi, has been added by Mr. Crone, who writes the accompanying scholarly memoir.”

All nine sheets, plus the double-sided ‘key’, are enclosed in their original envelope. Crone’s historic analysis of the map is also included.

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