Galleria Rustica is pleased to present this collection of unfamiliar geographies and cartographic curiosities that offer new perspectives on what we know — and don’t know — of the world around us.

Taking a wrong turn
From a massive, magnetic rock at the centre of the North Pole, to the island of California and a planet-sized roulette table — it’s little wonder we feel so lost sometimes.



A break in the clouds
In his atlas from 1830, Edward Quin depicts the ends of the world at various stages in history; from Eden and the Roman Empires, to the discovery of America and the Restoration of the Stuarts.








Uncovering the Mississippis
For an otherwise dry 1944 geology report, cartographer Harold Fisk hit upon a colourful way to map out the many courses the meandering Mississippi has taken over the years, as it winds its way down to the Delta.





Further information
- Ancient Courses: Harold Fisk’s Meander Maps of the Mississippi River (1944) – Public Domain Review
- Mercator 1595 – Princeton University Library: In Pursuit of a Northwest Passage
- The mysteries of the first-ever map of the North Pole – Atlas Obscura
- Clouds of Unknowing: Edward Quin’s Historical Atlas (1830) – Public Domain Review