Current exhibitions
![[section from Ordnance Survey map, 1893]](/specialcollections/exhibitions/current/imagemax20kb,158511,en.jpg)
Ordnance Survey 1:2 500 sheet 104.x, 1893
Mapping Manchester: Cartographic Stories of the City
Historic Reading Room
25 June 2009 to 17 January 2010
Maps can tell us many different stories about the places where we live and work. This exhibition shows how mapping is particularly ingrained into urban life; it demonstrates how maps work and how they have evolved over time - reflecting changes in technology, society and economic conditions.
Mapping Manchester explores the growth of the city, road networks and public transport, Manchester as the industrial powerhouse of the nineteenth century, the social geography of housing, changing moralities illustrated by statistical maps, and leisure mapping such as plans of Belle Vue - arguably the world's first theme park.
On display are maps, plans and photographs of Manchester published over the last two hundred and fifty years. These range from the first large-scale survey of the city, published in 1794, to a 2008 statistical map of binge-drinking hotspots.
This celebration of cartography and the city presents a unique opportunity to see highlights from the collections held by the University of Manchester alongside material generously loaned by Chetham's Library and Manchester City Library and Archives.
![[Image - Charles Darwin]](/specialcollections/exhibitions/current/imagemax20kb,158510,en.jpg)
Portrait of Charles Darwin, c. 1880
A Natural Selection: The Life and Literature of Charles Darwin
Christie Gallery
16 July - 29 November
Charles Darwin is arguably one of the greatest scientists of all time, and this year marks a double Darwin anniversary - the bicentennial of his birth in 1809 and 150 years since the publication of his most famous work, On the Origin of Species, in 1859.
A Natural Selection is an exploration of Darwin's life and published works. The exhibition looks at Darwin's theories of evolution and natural selection - putting them in the context of works which inspired him, the importance of his voyage with HMS Beagle, his correspondence with the larger scientific community and the reception of his ideas by his contemporaries.
Some of the highlights of this exhibition are the beautifully illustrated plates of Darwin's Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle, important first editions of Darwin's major works including On the Origin of Species, examples of Darwin's correspondence with eminent chemist Edward Frankland (1825 - 1899) and a number of specimens related to Darwin's Beagle voyage which have been kindly loaned by Manchester Museum.