ink & paper navigation

honolulu, circa 1934

i have been enamored with the idea of decorating my space with vintage maps ever since spying the idea in more than a few shelter magazines. an enlarged copy would serve a dual purpose - filling up the blank wall in the living room and acting as a sort of touchstone to home from across the pacific.

so it seemed like serendipity to discover lahaina printsellers, just days after reading yet another feature about decorating with maps, while flipping through the pages of hawaiian style magazine. the maui company got its start selling antique maps from the days when cartographers, not google maps, helped people find their way around the world.

now that the prices of antique maps have skyrocketed, they also trade in reproductions of vintage maps of the hawaiian islands (some dating back to the 18th century) for those of us who have better ways to spend $30k.

if you fancy yourself a map to call your own, take a peek at the online inventory which is stocked with maps of the hawaiian chain created upon its "discovery", detailed island survey maps from the days of king kalakaua, even colorful fun maps for tourists who would have arrived by steamer.

when on maui, stop by one of their galleries to soak up the old school world of cartography in person.