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Africa: A Continent Revealed

A Traveling Exhibit at the Osher Map Library from January 24th to May 17th, 1998.

This exhibition traces the development of European mapping of the African continent from the 16th to the 21st century. The maps reflect European geographers' earliest depictions of Africa, a fifth of the world's landmass. Later maps chronicle advances in mapmaking and document growing Western knowledge of various facets of the African Continent, including river sources, fauna, and indigenous peoples. It was first displayed at CIA Headquarters as part of their year-long, 50th anniversary celebrations. It has since been shown at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in Fall of 1996 and the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University in the summer of 1997.

The exhibition consists of historical maps from the CIA map collection and the private collection of Michael B. Toth, a former Information Officer with the Foreign Broadcast Information Service. He and his wife began collecting maps in the early 1980s after an assignment with the U.S. Embassy in Swaziland. For this exhibit, the Osher Map Library is also displaying several rare maps of Africa in atlases from its cartographic collections.

Please note that there is no proper web version of the exhibition. The following document provides a checklist of materials on display.