 Here's more. Maps predated books, and so were the oldest means of information storage. They opened the world, though often, as we now know, incorrectly. Which is why Christopher Columbus once thought he was sailing past Indochina when, in fact, he was just off the coast of Honduras. You've probably seen old maps in stores or museums. They can be stunning works of art, even if wildly inaccurate, and some are highly collectible.