Atlas of Imagined Places: from Lilliput to Gotham City

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Londonist editor-at-large Matt Brown, and co-author Rhys B Davies, have taken the concept to the entire planet in their Atlas of Imagined Places. From Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot to superhero Wakanda, from Lilliput of Gulliver's Travels to Springfield in The Simpsons, a wondrous atlas of imagined places around the world. Locations from film, tv, literature, myths, comics and video games are plotted in a series of beautiful vintage-looking maps.

They pictured this in the dreamy pastels that evoke softness and other-worldliness. The drawing are whimsical with an ethereal loveliness. The atlas is sumptuously illustrated by Mike Hall, whose glorious maps and illustrations of London have long beguiled us.Besides the city maps, artfully drawn by illustrator Mike Hall, the book also includes plenty of mini-essays exploring the fiction of the 14 cities. These explain how the authors sleuthed their locations. Often, it's obvious from the source material, but sometimes a bit of detective-work is needed to pinpoint a fictional home, business or event. Atlas of Imagined Cities: Who Lives Where in TV, Books, Games and Movies. by Matt Brown, Rhys B. Davies and Mike Hall is out now from Batsford. In addition to the maps and the accompanying essays describing the twisty logic that the authors used to finally pin point where these famous locations from fiction are (most likely) located, the Atlas also includes an extensive index along with map coordinates so it is easy to find a particular someplace on the maps (although I think you’ll agree that a magnifying glass is essential equipment for reading these thousands of entries). Perhaps the most densely populated map is London. Whole fictional boroughs such as Walford (Eastenders) and Canley (The Bill) are served by fictional tube stations such as Hobb's End (Quatermass and the Pit) and Vauxhall Cross (Die Another Day). A constellation of famous characters fill in the gaps. Spies James Bond, Alex Rider and George Smiley all inhabit the same cluster of Chelsea streets. Phileas Fogg could pop across the road into Grace Brothers, and dalmatians Pongo and Perdita could easily be spooked by the Invisible Man. We're especially looking for locations outside of the centre. Whole swathes of Greater London, and much of Inner London are still empty. We're interested in central locations, too, but only the more mainstream additions will find room.

Robert Louis Stevenson may not have invented pop culture’s vision of the Golden Age of Sail, but he certainly codified it. His classic adventure Treasure Island bequeathed to the world a romantic paradigm best encapsulated in Long John Silver, the ruthless sea cook complete with peg leg and parrot. A map on this resolution, though, can only scratch the surface of fictional London. For that, you can always browse our map of the Unreal City, which contains hundreds of fictional places in the capital. Explore the imagined places in Central America and the Caribbean in this extract from Atlas of Imagined Places, which was awarded Illustrated Travel Book of the Year in the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards this week.

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Yes. We've put together a public spreadsheet listing every location, with notes on why we chose the given location. Access it via Google Drive. Wait, you missed the home of that incidental character from Season 21, Episode 4 of Doctor Who. Please can you add it? The maps feature fictional buildings, towns, cities and countries plus mountains and rivers, oceans and seas. Ever wondered where the Bates Motel was based? Or Bedford Falls in It's a Wonderful Life? The authors have taken years to research the likely geography of thousands of popular culture locations that have become almost real to us. Sometimes these are easy to work out but other times a bit of detective work is needed and the authors have been those detectives. By looking at the maps, you'll find that the revolution at Animal Farm happened next to Winnie the Pooh's home.

When author Mia Cassany and illustrator Ana de Lima imagined this imaginary places atlas, they delved into the dream world of upside down worlds of mountains, fish raining from the sky, critters changing colors (and patterns) upon a sneeze you might make. Yes, we have. The master file of this map goes all the way out to the M25. It doesn't look the prettiest at the moment, because much of it is blank space, but we'd love to fill that in. Please do send us your best suggestions for Bromley, Sutton, Bexley, Havering and the rest, and we'll get mapping. Who helped? Special thanks to Tyler McChantelle who, as on previous maps, has provided many locations. Ditto Amanda Oliver, who continues to fill in blanks. This beautiful picture book is perfect for reading before bedtime to set up your child for imaginative dreams while they sleep. Or read this book before they head off to the land of make-believe for lots of playtime inspiration. From volcanoes that spew bubble gum to animals that change their coats whenever someone sneezes, this book is full of imagination. The dreamy illustrations are soothing and yet full of mystery. Imagine your child climbing to the tallest lighthouse and drawing out new galaxies with their finger. That is the kind of magic you can imagine by reading this book.The map was created by Matt Brown and Rhys B Davies. We'll list the names of anybody who suggests a fictional location that we decide to use. From Stephen King's Salem's Lot to superhero Wakanda, from Lilliput of Gulliver's Travels to Springfield in The Simpsons, a wondrous atlas of imagined places around the world. Locations from film, tv, literature, myths, comics and video games are plotted in a series of beautiful vintage-looking maps.