More Historical Digital Map Collections...

Online Collections:


American Geographical Society Library. (2011, November 28). Digital map collection. Retrieved from University of Wisconsin website: http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/digilib/maps/index.cfm

This site features maps from the American Geographical Society Library. “The cartography featured in this collection spans the globe from the 15th to 21st centuries.” The collection can be accessed via advanced search and browsing locations, and zoom features allow users to view map details. View the websites tutorial for detailed instructions on how to use these features.

British Library. (n.d.). Online gallery. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/mapsviews/index.html

This site hosts a selection of beautiful historic maps from the British Library Online Gallery. Following is an example of a map from the British Library; it is a map of New York from 1664.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/mapsviews/dukesplan/large17691.html

Cartography Associates. (2009). David Rumsey map collection. Retrieved from http://www.davidrumsey.com/view/articles/view

This online collection contains over 28,000 maps and images, focusing on rare 18th and 19th century maps of North and South America. Also included are world maps, maps of Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Some interactive features on this site include; maprank search, viewing maps in Second Life, and georeferencing with GoogleEarth and Google maps, and parts of the collection are viewable in Second Life. This site also hosts a blog.

 Screen shot of me exploring the David Rumsey map island in Second Life:

NOAA Office of Coast Survey. (n.d.). Historical map & chart collection. Retrieved from http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/

“Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection covers the land and waters of the United States of America, including territories and possessions (past and present).” The collection can be searched by selecting points on a map, or by entering a geographic place name. The maps are zoom-able, and are free for download. Downloaded images can be used for both educational and educational purposes.

Digital Historic Map collections....

Online Collections:


The Library of Congress. (2011, March 15). American memory map collections. Retrieved from http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html

The focus of this collection is “Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress.” The maps are organized into seven categories, which can be searched or browsed by subject, creator, geographic location, or title. Most of the items in this collection are not copyright protected. Also included on the site are links to map related Library of Congress presentations.

University of Alabama. (2011). Historical map archive. Retrieved from http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/

“The Historical Map Archive is a digitized collection of selected map holdings from sources including the University of Alabama Map Library, the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, the Rucker Agee Map Collection of the Birmingham Public Library, the Geological Survey of Alabama, Samford University Special Collections Library, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History.” Maps can be browsed by topic, and the images are zoom-able. The collection contains maps from all over the world, but the focus is Alabama maps.


University of Georgia Libraries. (2011, December 7). Hargrett rare book & manuscript library. Retrieved from http://www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/maps/index.html

This online collection contains most of the over 1,000 historic maps contained in the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. These maps span from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The main focus of the maps in this collection is Georgia and surrounding areas. There are some maps representing other areas of the United States and the world, as well. The online map images can be panned and zoomed in full screen view.

University of Washington Libraries. (n.d.). World and regional maps collection, 16th to 19th centuries. Retrieved from http://content.lib.washington.edu/mapsweb/index.html

This online collection includes over 170 digital images from the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections Division’s Rare Map Collection. The maps span from the 16th to early 20th centuries, and include maps from all over the world. The emphasis of the collection is on “North America, the Pacific Northwest, and exploration in this region from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” The “Introductory Tour” is an excellent tool for learning how to use the online features to find and view the historic maps. Following is an 1891 Birds Eye View of Seattle.

http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/maps&CISOPTR=68&CISOBOX=1&REC=3

University of Minnesota Libraries. (2010). James Ford Bell library. Retrieved from http://www.lib.umn.edu/bell/collection

The focus of this collection is “international trade in the pre-modern era, roughly before 1800 C.E.” There are over 25,000 items in the collection, spanning from the 400’s to 1825. Of special interest to are the areas of the collection titles “Historical Maps,” “Ricci Map 1602,” and “Maps and Mapmakers.” The historical maps in the collection are listed by cartographer.

These might come in handy...

Free Download-able Resources:


Ancient World Mapping Center. (2000-2010). Maps for students. Retrieved from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website: http://www.unc.edu/awmc/mapsforstudents.html

This site has several small-scale, historical reference maps available for free download to be used for educational purposes. The maps can be downloaded in multiple formats, depending on the needs of the user. So far this site has around 50 maps, mostly from Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa.

Woodward, D., & Lewis, M. (Eds.). (1987-1998). The history of cartography. Retrieved from http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/index.html

The first two volumes of The History of Cartography are available on this site, courtesy of the University of Chicago Press. These volumes contain three books, with each chapter presented as a PDF file. The site includes a search box, which can be used to search the contents of all the PDF files. This book contains a detailed history of cartography and includes many ancient and historical map images. Following is a map titled “THE HEAVENS AS THEY WERE ON 3 RABI' I 786/25 APRIL 1384, THE BIRTHDATE OF ISKANDAR SULTAN.”

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V2_B1/HOC_VOLUME2_Book1_gallery1.pdf

(Woodward & Lewis, 1992, Volume 2, book 1, plate 1)

Cartographic history and images...

Other Useful Websites:

Campbell, T. (2011, December 4). Map history / history of cartography: The gateway to the subject. Retrieved from http://www.maphistory.info/

In the words of the Webmaster, “Use this site to find the worthwhile free information about old maps, both on the web and in the real world.” Included on this site are thousands of links, annotated for quality and relevance. Although this site is focused on map/cartography history, there are many links to quality sites for viewing historical maps. This website is part of the “World Wide Web Virtual Library.”

Davis, H. (1998, June 2). Cartographic images. Retrieved from http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ren/Ren1/carto.html

Included on this site are cartographic images of 90 ancient maps (6,000BC-400), 175 early medieval maps (400-1300), and 175 late medieval maps (1300-1500). The site also includes links to other useful cartography and map resources. Following is an image from the site of a Mesopotamian city plan:

http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/101.html

Referencing old maps to present day locations...

Georeferencing Sites:

National Library of Scotland. (n.d.). Georeferenced maps and applications. Retrieved from http://geo.nls.uk/

This site provides access to over 5,000 georeferenced historical maps of Scotland and Great Britain. The “Historic Maps API” can be downloaded from this site and used for research, embedding maps on a website, and creating derivative works. The site also offers information about the “Visualizing Urban Geographies” project, which provides mapping tools for historians.

Presner, T., & Shepard, D. (2011). Hypercities. Retrieved from http://hypercities.com/

“HyperCities is a collaborative research and educational platform for traveling back in time to explore the historical layers of city spaces in an interactive, hypermedia environment.” This site provides an interactive feature allowing users to view historical maps overlaid onto satellite views of the present day areas represented in the maps. Following is an example using a map of the United States from 1840.

http://hypercities.ats.ucla.edu/

Joining the conversation--Blogs & Listservs

Blogs:

Big Map Blog. (2011). Interesting maps, historical maps, big maps [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.bigmapblog.com/

The author of this blog has a mission to make available the “thousands of old, beautiful maps that are sadly being kept from the public that deserves them” for viewing. Each blog entry features a map, which can be zoomed in on, panned, and viewed in full screen mode. The blog author includes a small amount of information with each image. The blog archives can be searched by keyword, or browsed by date and category. The blog is currently active and has archives dating back to March 2011. The following image is from a recent blog post; this map (1796) is of the Kingdom of France, represented in the form of a ship.

http://www.bigmapblog.com/2011/map-of-france-as-a-ship-1796/

Brown, K. (2011). Geographicus: Antique map blog [Blog]. Retrieved from WordPress website: http://www.geographicus.com/blog/

This is a blog for the Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, a dealer specializing in “ in fine and rare antiquarian cartography and historic maps of the 15th though 19th centuries.” Blog posts feature a historic map, accompanied by a history of the map, the geographic area in the time period it represents, and information about the cartographer and type of map. The Geographicus website also has an online gallery of antique maps for sale, as well as a viewable archive of sold maps. The blog is currently active, and has archives dating back to April 2009. The blog archives are also browse-able by category.

Crowe, J. (2011). The map room: A weblog about maps [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.maproomblog.com

“The Map Room is a blog about maps by Jonathan Crowe. It covers everything from collecting to the latest in geospatial technology from a generalist’s perspective.” To read blogs about ancient and historic maps, go to “archives” and check out the following categories: “Antique Maps,” “History of Cartography,” and Historical Maps.” There are also blog posts on such thins as general maps, GIS, cartography, and more. The map room is presently inactive, but has a blog archive ranging from 3/2003 to 6/2010.

Old maps online: Open source & online tools for old maps [Blog]. (2011). Retrieved from Moravian Library website: http://blog.oldmapsonline.org/

This is the blog for “Project OldMapsOnline.org.” The purpose fo this project is to develop and improve “open-source software tools for map publishing, processing, georeferencing and spatial search in map collections.” This blog is currently active, and has archives dating back to 2008.

Listserv:

MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography [Listserv]. (2003, March 12). Retrieved from HES & DE GRAAF Publishers, Antiquariaat Forum website: http://www.maphist.nl/index.html

“MapHist, the Map History Discussion List, is an e-mail discussion group whose primary focus is historical maps, atlases, globes and other cartographic documents. The list is open to all persons interested in the history of cartography and discussion is encouraged on all aspects of this broad subject.”