Imago Mundi MS 70-72

In 1964, at the 20th International Geographical Congress held in London, RA Skelton, Helen Wallis and GR Crone (who was Librarian and Keeper of Maps at the Royal Geographical Society) organised a symposium on the History of Cartography. The success of this symposium led them, with Eila Campbell, to organise a conference in London in 1967. This was styled the 'second' conference. Crone and Skelton were both directors of Imago Mundi Limited, and the 1967 conference was closely associated with Imago Mundi.

Conferences arranged under the auspices of Imago Mundi then came to be held in different international locations every two years.

In 1971 an umbrella body, the International Society for the History of Cartography, was founded to make it easier for countries needing more formal arrangements to host such conferences. However the organisation of each conference remained the responsibility of the local organisers. The International Society had no separate organisation or funding, and no membership other than the subscribers to Imago Mundi itself. Papers read at the conferences were normally to be offered to Imago Mundi for publication, unless the local organisers wished to publish the proceedings independently, in which case they would be financially responsible.