The Natural History Framed Map collection features original antique maps and archival reproductions of old maps paired with butterflies and insects from the displayed areas. These original Bug Under Glass creations take advantage of the color and intricate details in old maps that complement a similar beauty and detail found in insects. Maps do much more than help us locate a place or plan a trip; they hold clues to how people live and what they know and believe and how they saw the world.

The word “map” comes from Medieval Latin and originally meant cloth or napkin, a common material for maps in the middle ages. The oldest surviving map was found on a small clay tablet from Babylon about 2,500 years old. Since that time, map makers have been creating works on rock, wood, marble, animal hides, silk, metal and paper. The Bug Under Glass map collection focuses on the more modern area of mapmaking, the time after the 1600’s, when many maps were artistic masterpieces and combines the idea of Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar whose book Natural History was considered the encyclopedia of natural wonders. His book contained imaginary people, places and animals in far off places. Many old maps and books contained many of the creatures and natural wonders from this famous book. The Natural History Framed Map collection tries to capture the beauty of this idea.