When mapping on a global scale, the line between factual and fictitious landscape quickly blurs. The speakers of Mapping the Global Imaginary, 1500—1900, a conference held at Stanford on 2019, cross this blurry boundary into every continent, as well as purely speculative ones, to share a host of cartographic enterprises. From the imaginary Kobitojima Island propagated by Edo cartographers to the armchair geography seeking to define colonial Africa, to efforts at mapping airspace itself, topics probe the extent and diversity of challenge and license inherent in mapmaking from a (cognitive) distance. The conference’s panel speakers curated an exhibition which is the basis for this digital platform hosted by Stanford Libraries.