Ms Valerie Newby is the Vice-Chairman of The International Map Collectors Society (IMCoS). IMCoS was formed in 1980 and is a truly international organization for researchers, librarians, curators, experts and collectors around the world. She is also editor of the IMCoS Journal, The Map Collector and Tooley’s world-renowned Dictionary of Maps and Mapmakers. She has the honour to be the first speaker to address the Malta Map Society members on Wednesday 10 November, 2010 in the music room at St James Cavalier in Valletta.
Ms. Newby, who comes from a family of distinguished journalists and writers, was introduced to antique maps by her brother who worked for one of the leading London dealers in old maps. What started as an interest soon developed into a passion and she explained how old maps had literally come to rule her life. Her lecture centred on the International Map Collectors’ Society, the publication of their journal, of which she is editor, and how antique maps came to rule her life. Ms. Newby revealed that the first known city map was of the city of Babylon and that the oldest map in the world was found on a cave wall in Spain. It is 14000 years old. She also showed some of the unusual items from her personal collection which she has collected over the years.