18th International Map Fair Features First Maps of Florida and Cuba

The Miami International Map Fair returns to HistoryMiami, Saturday, February 5 and Sunday, February 6, 2011 from 10 am to 5 pm. Among the many wonderful maps on display will be the earliest printed maps of Florida and Cuba.

A rare 1566 Ferrando Bertelli map featuring Cuba and Hispaniola combined in the same map, a rarity at the time, will be available for purchase at the Fair for $9,500. An Arrowsmith Map of the United States and Florida will also be on sale for $28,500. This 1819 edition of the map provides numerous important updates, including being the first to provide an inset map of Florida. The addition of Florida likely reflects the fact that in 1819 East Florida officially became a possession of the United States as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty.  In all likelihood this map is the first one to show Florida as a part of the United States.

"Eighteen years ago we decided to put on a Map Fair, and wondered if anybody would come," says founder and chairman, Dr. Joseph H. Fitzgerald. "Not only did they come but 18 years later it has become one of the most prestigious map events in the world. We are honored that people come to support our event year after year."

Miami is one of only three cities in the world - along with London and Paris -  to host a map fair and is the only one in the western hemisphere to do so.The first weekend in February, the fair provides the serious collector or casual buyer a weekend of browsing and buying antique maps and rare books and special topical lectures. Visitors are also encouraged to bring in maps from their own collections for expert opinions.

This year's lecturers will include New York Times bestselling author of Longitude, Dava Sobel; Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geography at Middlebury College Anne K. Knowles on "Envisioning History with GIS" and James Ackerman, Ph.D., Director of the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography at the Newberry Library who will discuss "In the Rearview Mirror: An Appreciation of Twentieth-Century Roadmaps."

Daily admission to the Map Fair is $10 for adults; $5 for children 6-12; and free for HistoryMiami members and children under 6. Fair hours are 10 am to 5 pm at the Miami-Dade Cultural Plaza located at 101 West Flagler Street in downtown Miami. Free parking is available at the Cultural Center Parking Garage, 50 NW 2 Avenue.

For more information or to register for the 18th Annual Miami International Map Fair, please call 305-375-1617 or email mapfair@historymiami.org.