About Old Map Studio

Old Map Studio is a small studio in Slovakia that restores antique maps from library and archive collections and publishes them as print-ready files.

Where the maps come from

We work only from original library scans of sheets that are in the public domain, and we name the source on every map: the holding institution, the shelfmark or file identifier, and the rights statement. Our maps come from collections such as the Library of Congress, Boston Public Library’s Leventhal Map & Education Center, the National Library of Scotland and ETH-Bibliothek Zürich.

Before a sheet enters the studio it goes through a rights check. If the scan turns out to be a dealer’s or another seller’s processed image rather than an institutional scan, the sheet is dropped — however good it looks. We would rather have a smaller catalogue than one we cannot account for.

What we do to a sheet

A library scan records a sheet; it is not made to be printed. So each map is worked by hand: the paper tone is rebuilt evenly, damp stains and foxing are lifted, dust and speckle are cleared, fold shadows and scanner edges are removed, torn margins are rebuilt from the paper of the same sheet, and library stamps outside the engraving are taken off one decision at a time.

And what we do not do: the engraved line is never redrawn or thickened, the lettering is never retyped, period hand colouring is left exactly as the copy carries it, and the plate mark and border are never cropped away to make a tidier rectangle.

How we know it is finished

Each finished sheet is measured against its own source. Fifteen numbers — black point, white point, paper tone, evenness, stains, dirt, noise and sharpness relative to the scan, and more — each with a target. Four further checks look for the mistakes that measurements miss: a cropped plate, a torn seam between two halves of a sheet, marks left on the margins, a retouched stroke.

Every one of those numbers, with its target and the measured value, is printed in the restoration passport that comes inside your download. You can check our work.

Why files and not prints

A printed map has to be made, packed, insured and shipped, and it arrives rolled. A file arrives in a minute, prints at the size and on the paper you choose, at your local lab or your own printer, and can be reprinted years later. That is why a museum-quality map here costs from $14.90 instead of the hundreds an original sheet costs.

New maps every week

Five to ten restored sheets leave the studio in a normal week. World maps are open now; nautical charts, celestial and star maps, city plans and bird’s-eye views are in the queue. Write to hello@oldmapstudio.com if you would like a short note when a new section opens.

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