In our weekly live mapping series on YouTube I’ve recently begun to revisit the first styles that I created for the Cartographer’s Annual back in 2007. Sue Daniel was inspired to use these herself for some example maps, and as you’d expect the resulting maps are gorgeous pieces of art. See for yourself!

Mercator Historical

The very first Annual issue took the maps of perhaps the most famous cartographer of history as inspiration for some large-scale overland mapping. You can see me using it here.

Here is the map Sue came up with using the default Mercator style.

(Download the FCW file)

Not satisfied with the looks, she expanded on the style with colours and effects to produce this beautiful variant.

(Download the FCW file)

If you want to recreate Sue’s version, you can take a look at her sheets to see the effects she implemented, and you’ll need this little symbol catalog for the decorations on the map border.

John Speed City

The second Annual style was inspired by another historical cartographer: John Speed. The live video showing its use is here.

Sue used the John Speed City style to create a map of the early modern town of Dorchester.

(Download the FCW file)

Again, there is a symbol catalog with the extra material that Sue created for the map.