This is where geography meets history. In this quaint bookshop at Hauz Khas, you can trace the coordinates of past in sepia maps tinted by time. Here is the British Raj unceremoniously spread across a desk in an early 19th century map. There is Alaska as it was a hundred years ago. Shelves are bending under the heaving burden of antique maps, books and memorabilia, all under the watchful eyes of an unknown 19th century gentleman with a magnificent beard.

Kapil Dev Aryan, the 64-year-old owner of the shop Sri Books, has seen a growing interest among Delhiites for old maps. While many, like retired civil servant Sanjay Sharma, guard them like a czarina would her Faberges, some would flaunt them on the wall like paintings, and yet others gift-wrap them for friends. “It is the fun of tracing unknown routes that draws people towards this shop,” says Aryan, who opened the shop in 2000 and has seen business expand in the past couple of years. While Indians are keen on world maps, foreigners knock on the door of the small shop for old maps of India.

Sanjay Jain of RS Books and Prints, South Extension, that is famous for its collection of antique maps, says, “The love for maps is connected to the sense of discovery. It’s a real pleasure, for instance, to peruse a rare 18th century plan of the city you live in.” Getting your hands on a 16th or 17th century map is difficult, and even a small map costs Rs 5,000-10,000, while 18th and 19th century maps cost at least Rs 2,000-5,000. The map Indie Ancienne (1798-1802), for instance, which is just 13 by 17.5 inches costs

Rs 10,000 and is the costliest in Aryan’s collection. A small map of 18th century Italy, with exquisite drawings of castles and people, also commands around Rs 10,000. Prices are jacked up if restoration is required.

While Aryan does not have early maps made on leather, he does have engraved maps on paper. Besides the antiquity and size of the maps, the region that is mapped and the cartographer behind it also determine the price. “World maps are quite expensive and so are maps of certain countries like Italy which are popular,” says Jain.

As he pulls out an 1871 India by J Bartholomew, Aryan says ancient maps are either bound in atlases or books, or printed as separate sheets. While he goes to the catalogue Printed Maps and Books by Sotheby’s for verification, the maps have been sourced from Daryaganj and Chandni Chowk’s Nayi Sadak, “There I have stumbled upon priceless atlases with 30-40 small maps,” says Aryan, who also fondly remembers the market that used to be held behind the Red Fort until about five years ago. “It was a real treasure trove, I remember coming home in auto-rickshaws lugging books and maps,” he says.