World libraries: Largest atlas on display at the British Library maps’ exhibition

Klencke Atlas, which is 350 years old, will be displayed as part of British Library exhibition on maps.

It takes six people to lift it and has been recorded as the largest book in the world, yet the splendid Klencke Atlas, presented to Charles II on his restoration, has never been publicly displayed with its pages open. That glaring omission is to be rectified, it was announced by the British Library, when it will be displayed as one of the stars of its big summer exhibition about maps.

The summer show will feature about 100 maps, considered some of the greatest in the world, with three-quarters of them going on display for the first time.

At the exhibition's core will be wall maps, many of them huge, which tell a story that is much more than geography. Many of them, said the library's head of map collections, Peter Barber: "Hold their own with great works of art."

The exhibition aims to challenge people's assumptions about maps and celebrate their magnificence, as demonstrated by the 37 maps in the Klencke Atlas, which was intended as an encyclopaedic summary of the world.

It is almost absurdly huge – 1.75 metres tall and 1.9 metres wide – and was given to the king by Dutch merchants and placed in his cabinet of curiosities.

The exhibition will show how great maps could be as important as great art. Before 1800 in palaces and homes of the wealthy maps used to be almost as prominent as paintings or sculptures or tapestries. They were an important status symbol. Rich men would have a map of the world to show their worldliness; a map of the Holy Land to show their piety; a map of their estate to show their wealth; and a map of their home county or city to show how loyal a citizen they were.

Barber believes maps are too neglected, particularly by art historians. Thus this exhibition is an attempt to improve current situation.

The collection of geographical maps of the British Library is the second biggest in the world after the Library of Congress.