This prize, offered by the Washington Map Society (WMS) since 1994, recognizes academic achievement in the history of cartography. It honors the late Dr. Walter W. Ristow, former chief of the Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress, and co-founder and first president of the WMS.
The Award: A $1500 cash award, three-year membership in WMS, and publication of the winning paper in The Portolan, the journal of the Washington Map Society. Honorable Mention may be awarded to an additional paper or papers at the judges’ discretion.
Who May Apply: Undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students attending accredited US or foreign colleges and universities. The Ristow Prize is designed and intended to encourage scholars who are entering the field. Persons who have authored a commercially published academic work are not eligible for this competition.
Deadline is June 1, 2026.
More information on the webpage of the prize.
Caert-Thresoor, a publication of the Barent Langenes Foundation, is the only Dutch journal devoted entirely to the history of cartography. The articles cover various aspects of the history of cartography, such as city maps, military cartography, cartographers, engravers and publishers, art historical developments on maps, etc. It also features contributions on Dutch map collections and special acquisitions. Readers of Caert-Thresoor are informed about new literature and facsimiles and exhibitions in every issue.
Read more.
Imago Mundi is a fully-refereed, English-language journal founded in 1935. It is the only international, interdisciplinary and scholarly journal solely devoted to the study of early maps in all their aspects. Full-length articles, with abstracts in English, French, German and Spanish, deal with the history and interpretation of non-current maps and mapmaking in any part of the world. Imago Mundi also publishes shorter articles that communicate significant new findings or new opinions. All articles are fully illustrated.
Read more.
The IMCoS Journal is a quarterly publication. It includes a wide range articles on the history of cartography addressing Western, Asian and Arabic mapping practices; its scope is designed to interest our worldwide membership.
Read more.
The Portolan is the journal of the Washington Map Society; it furthers the purpose of the Society ‘to support and promote map collecting, cartography and the study of cartographic history.’ The Portolan, the largest and most-widely distributed publication of its kind in the Americas, is issued three times per year, in the Spring/Summer, the Fall and Winter.
Read more.
As part of its makeover, the SteM in Sint-Niklaas, is changing its name to MAP – Musea Aan het Park. The museum manages the Mercator Museum, which became MAP-Mercator, for a reopening in December 2025. More information here.
The Trustees of Imago Mundi CIO announce that the eleventh Imago Mundi Prize has been awarded to Patrick Ellis for his article ‘“Maps to the Homes of the Stars”: California, Celebrity, and Cartography in the Twentieth Century’. Imago Mundi Vol. 76, Part 2: 167–189.
Read the article here (free or charge).
Willem Jan Neutelings donated his collection of 250 globes - most of them dating from the 20th century - to the MAP – Musea Aan het Park (formerly the SteM/MercatorMuseum) in Sint-Niklaas. To find out more, read these two interviews:
