Laurence Penney was in Berlin for a few days to share his fascination of 1-dimensional maps. Flown in especially to speak at the WhereCamp conference, Laurence treated us at Mota Italic a bonus showing of his talk.
Always a gentleman, Laurence gave the full presentation to our very modest, handful of an audience. It was unfortunate that more people didn’t show up, but the event was only announced at the last minute and was during some of the worst weather of the year… Regardless, you guys missed out!
The quality of his research, knowledge, and presentation are remarkable. The best comparison I could make is to say it is like a Michael Twyman lecture, but with the addition of digital slides. Not only did Laurence show close to an hour of slides, he also toted along a small suitcase’s worth of books, maps, and ephemera related to 1D maps. It was quite amazing and educational.
I clicked few random pictures of things… These aren’t comprehensive from all his collection, but rather just some that came out not-so-blurry. There was too much to look at to properly document it all (or even just the best). The focus was not so typographic, but I’m sure Laurence could come up with some interesting research based on the lettering and typographic trends found on these maps through the ages.
Thanks again to Laurence for sharing his talk and 1D maps collection with us! And if you ever have the chance hear this presentation by him anywhere else, you have to see it.
