A map says to you, ‘Read me carefully,
follow me closely, doubt me not.’
It says, ‘I am the earth in the palm of your hand.
Without me, you are alone and lost.’
– Beryl Markham, West with the Night /via
Time travel with old books
Chronoscope World provides access to millions of old books. It is a viewer app for cultural heritage documents provided by dozens of libraries and archives around the world.
Learn how to browse IIIF books.
Time travel on old maps
Chronoscope World is a time machine to explore the history of the world by browsing maps dating back to 14th century B.C. More than 8,500 high-resolution maps can be displayed in a maps application on their correct geo location.
The search command finds the best fitting maps for the current view port. Results are presented as previews on a map table.
All outlines can be displayed at once for a fast overview. Filters can be applied for a time interval, the map scale or the library’s signature.
Power tip: Use the dark mode to improve the contrast of the outlines.
Watch the demo to get a quick introduction.
Want more? Chronoscope Webinar (37 minutes)
Chronoscope World 3D can display the world in 3D –– with hills and valleys on a sphere.
Maps are wrapped around mountains. And world maps are wrapped around the globe.
Time travel with old books. Chronoscope World supports IIIF [triple aye eff]. IIIF is an open standard to deliver high resolution images for deep zooming from galleries, libraries, archives, and museums world wide.
Import any IIIF manifest to inspect old books.
Check the Time Traveler’s Guide to learn more about Chronoscope World
Once upon a time… there was a cultural hackathon Coding Da Vinci in 2016. Since then the Chronoscope Hamburg is under continous development.
In 2018 the ChronoAtlas with 1,200 old maps was integrated into the Chronoscope.
In the following years maps from more than 80 institutions have been georeferenced.
August 2023: Chronoscope World 2.14 Highlights
November 2025: Release Notes v2.17
April 2026: Release Notes v2.18
Chrono Research Lab
chronoHH@norden.socialFormer channels: Twitter: ChronoHH – browse on twuko | farcebook: Chronoscope Hamburg | tumblr: Chrono Hamburg
Monetary SupportThe historic and cultural time rides –as provided by the Chrono Research Lab– are a free service by Matthias Müller-Prove. You can explore more then 8,000 georeferenced old maps, browse through more than 5,000 info spots, and enjoy 42 ChronoScrolls and vintage photo sets.
On the other hand this means that there are some expenses on traveling across centuries. You can support future trips by your donation. Thank you!
In addition to collecting your coins, I do also collect your Feedback.
cover (c) by Jim Wald with friendly permission
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Chronoscope World
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Search maps and show map table
Show map layout and set filters
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