More hand drawn maps for the directionally challenged.

I love these little red guides by Ward, Lock & Co. In addition to nearly 200 pages of text, this thirteenth edition features six beautifully illustrated maps and several pages of great ads (“Northern Ireland is Worth Seeing!”). Ebenezer Ward & George Lock opened their publishing business in 1854 on Fleet Street. In 1892, they began publishing their guide books in red cloth covers (originally they had been hard, green covers). Today, Ward, Lock & Co. is owned by Octopus Publishing Group.

As a directionally-challenged native New Yorker plagued by poor eyesight, short-term memory loss, and a distaste for GPS, I find it incredibly difficult to navigate the streets of any given neighborhood. About 10 years ago, I started drawing little maps on scraps of paper to help me get places. I can’t read maps, so they were never really helpful, but now I have hundreds of these from all over the world. I should invest in a compass.