This map of the Oztoticpac community establishes Aztec (Mexica) land claims in one of the earliest law suits filed in the Western Hemisphere. Drawn on bark paper (amatl) in 1540, the document supports the arguments of some natives that they were entitled to land they had long worked on for the last Mexica ruler of Texcoco, a city east of Mexico City. This detail documents the first fruit tree grafts from European orchards onto native root stock. The map bears text in both Spanish and the romanization of the Mexicas' oral Nahuatl, the graphic language of the ancient Mexican people. - Michaela McNichol
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and a delegation of his countrymen visited the Library's Geography and Map Division on Nov. 10. Division chief John Hébert gave the chancellor and his party a tour of the facilities and displayed several rare treasures and items of interest.
Left, the group examining a map; right, this 18-by-20-foot map of Vienna (1777) is the subject of discussion by the Austrian delegation, from left, Eva Nowotny, the Austrian ambassador; Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and his press spokesperson, Verena Nowotny, and Hébert. The scale of this huge map, one of the Library's largest, is 1 inch to one-third mile.
