David Rumsey Map Collection

December 21, 2011 - 1,163 New Maps Added

1,163 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to 29,004 maps and images. Included in this addition is Emma Willard's 1829  History of the United States, one of the first historical school atlases published in the United States; all the illustrations, maps, and plates from the 1861 Ives Expedition up the Colorado River; the 1873 Beers Atlas of Long Island, New York; a fascinating Hieroglyphic Atlas of the U.S.; images and plates from the Macomb 1859 Exploring Expedition in the U.S. West; and a scarce 1878 Atlas of Marion and Lynn Counties, Oregon. Also the 1880 Atlas of Prince Edward Island, Canada; the final composite and remaining maps of the Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 series; the complete Composite Image and all 164 aerial photographs of San Francisco in 1938 (View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Browser); and Herbert Bayer's important World Atlas from 1953. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,163 new maps and images.

	A Series of Maps to Willard's History of the United States, 1829 Willard, Emma, New York Emma Willard's maps in this school atlas are some of the earliest published maps depicting historical events in the formation of the United States. The maps are thematic and very well drawn. Emma Willard was an  important teacher and school leader in the first half of the 19th century in the U.S. She believed that girls and young women should study geography and maps and this atlas is part of her many published school texts that further those goals. View Atlas
	Report Upon The Colorado River of the West, Explored in 1857 and 1858,  1861 Ives, J.C., v. Ecloffstein, F.W., Washington, D.C. Originally we put online only the maps from this report, now we have added all the plates and images by Mullhausen, Egloffstein and others. This is the scarce Senate issue with four maps by "Baron" Egloffstein. Egloffstein used a unique engraving process to achieve a superb rendering of topographical features; he used the same technique in the map he drew for Macomb's Report. Of the maps in Ives's Report Wheat said "The two maps were drawn by F.W. Egloffstein...the first...is one of his best." Rare in this form with the two additional geological maps in color wash. These only appear in the Senate issue. They are the same as the two "normal" maps that appear in the House and Senate issue, but they have colors overlaid to show geological formations. View Report
	Atlas Of Long Island, New York,  1873 Beers, F.W., New York One of the rarer Beers New York area atlases. View Atlas
	A Hieroglyphic Geography Of The United States. Part 1 Containing The States Of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut And New York, 1875 Heermans, Anna A.; Cogswell, Charlotte B., New York This atlas contains very small state maps filled with "Hieroglyphic" illustrations and views for each state, followed by a page of text. The text pages decode the "Hieroglyphic" images and text on the maps. Unusual use of maps, text, and image to teach geographical information. Apparently there are additional parts (not present here) that cover other states in the U.S. View Atlas
	Composite Image and Sheets 502 to 674, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany Our project of scanning and putting online the 674 sheets of the Karte des Deutschen Reich, 1893, is completed - this addition adds the last 346 map images and increases the size of the large composite image to all 674 maps (the image is 390 GB, 401,000 x 332,000 pixels, downloadable as georeferenced 3.6GB JP2). View Composite Map
	Report of the Exploring Expedition From Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West, In 1859, Published in 1876 Macomb, J.N.; Newberry, J.S.;Egloffstein, F.W. von, Washington D.C. We have added the illustrations and plates by J.N. Newberry to the Egloffstein map, which Wheat calls "one of the most beautiful maps ever published by the Army." Egloffstein made his map in 1864. The publication of the map and the report were delayed by the Civil War. View Report
	Historical Atlas Map Of Marion & Linn Counties Oregon, 1878 Williams, Edgar., San Francisco This is the only county atlas made of an Oregon county in the 19th century. Its maps and views are very similar in style to those in the Thompson and West California county atlases. The Edgar Williams Company published no other atlases. View Atlas
	Illustrated Historical Atlas Of The Province Of Prince Edward Island, 1880 Meacham, J.H. & Co.; Allen, C.R., Philadelphia With views, portraits, a list of patrons of the atlas, and land ownership maps. Provincial atlases of the Canadian Maritime Provinces are scarce. View Atlas
	Arbuckles' Illustrated Atlas of Fifty Principal Nations of The World. 1890 Arbuckle Bros., New York Exquisite illustrations and brilliant color. The maps were also issued as individual cards with the coffee products. Maps surrounded by representative scenes from each country. Paper covers and bound with string on the left-hand side. Arbuckle Bros. also issued an Illustrated Atlas of the United States in 1889   View Atlas
	Composite Image and Sheets 1 to 164, San Francisco Aerial Views, 1938 Ryker, Harrison, Oakland We have completed the Composite Image and put online a set of 164 spectacular, large format, sharp, black and white vertical aerial photographs partially overlapping images covering San Francisco in 1938. Resolution generally better than one foot and much higher with high contrast features. Handwritten date on index map indicates photographs taken in August, 1938. Owned by the San Francisco Public Library. View Composite Image in Luna Browser. View Composite Image and Views 1-164 in Luna Browser. View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Browser. View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Application.
	The "Chevalier" Commercial, Pictorial and Tourist Map of San Francisco From Latest U.S. Gov. and Official Surveys, 1915 Chevalier, August, San Francisco A map of San Francisco showing important buildings which are drawn in vignettes on the map. Also showing public improvement described in the Legend as Car Lines. Proposed Tunnels ... Railroads. At the bottom of the map is the publisher's statement "The Exposition City 1915" Full color map bound in brown card board covers with title " 'Chevalier' Illustrated Map & Guide Of San Francisco ( The Exposition City)." With Stamp "Panama-Pacific -International. Exposition. San Francisco California 1915," with the exposition building delineated just west of Fort Mason. Title hows Chevalier's Trade Mark vignette. This is a reduced size version of the wall map published in 1911 and 1915 and is also a reduced version of the pocket map edition of 1904.   View Map
	World Geo-graphic Atlas, A Composite of Man's Environment. Geography, Geology, Demography, Astronomy, Climatology, Economics, 1953 Bayer, Herbert; Container Corporation of America, Chicago Lavishly illustrated with drawings and graphics. Editor and designer Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) was prominent in the Bauhaus movement and personally did considerable map research for the atlas. This clear and concise volume relies upon an attractive juxtaposition of physical and political maps, text, thematic maps, illustrations, cross-sections, graphs, and diagrams. Many of the graphics are truly original yet demonstrative of important concepts.From the Preface: "This book is called "WORLD GEO-GRAPHIC ATLAS" because it includes, in addition to GEO-graphic maps, many GRAPHIC illustrations of subjects closely related to modern geography." The atlas demonstrated the post-World War II geopolitical and economic situation.  The international maps of this English language atlas are from the Instituto Geografico di Agostini. Maps of the U.S. are by Rand McNally and Company. Relief shown as combined hachures, shaded relief, and hypsometric tints; bathymetry also tinted. Many insets of the vicinities of urban areas. View Atlas

San Francisco Aerial Photographs 1938

We have put online a set of 164 large format, sharp, black and white vertical aerial photographs of San Francisco taken in 1938 from an airplane by Harrison Ryker, a pioneer in aerial photography. The photographs overlap each other and cover the entire city. The resolution is generally better than one foot or even higher with high contrast features allowing visibility of even the paint striping on a basketball court.  Relative heights are frequently discernible based on the shadows cast of objects and structures. A handwritten date on the index map indicates the photographs were taken in August, 1938. The photographs are owned by the San Francisco Public Library and are a continuation of our collaboration with them on scanning and putting online important historical maps and views of San Francisco (including our prior collaboration on the 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas).

Image number 18 of the set shows the active waterfront around the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street:

Enlarging the image to the area around the Ferry Building shows the high level of detail that can be seen:

Zooming to full resolution of the same scene shows cars and ships at the plaza next to the Ferry Building:

The adjoining image 17, to the south, shows activity of ships being unloaded to trains on the waterfront under the recently opened (November, 1936) San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge:

A closer in detail of the same image shows cars on the Bay Bridge above the ships at the docks:

The Mission Bay Roundhouse (demolished early 1960's) of the Southern Pacific rail yards at Mariposa and 3rd streets is clearly visible on image 14:

In the San Francisco neighborhoods, all kinds of interesting details show up, like the vast outer Sunset sand dunes along Sunset Boulevard on image 148:

Image 85 shows the Calvary and Laurel Hill Cemeteries, later moved to Colma:

Crissy Army Airfield and the Presidio Main Post are seen in image 101:

Parts of the Presidio and other military sites in the city are whited out or blacked out, presumably because they show sensitive military installations, like this area of the Presidio near Baker Beach in image 129:

The index map shows how all the images overlap each other in covering the city, using hand drawn numbered rectangles on top of a 1937 map of San Francisco:

We have created a composite image of all 164 images joined together and georeferenced:

The georeferenced composite images are in Google Earth (requires plugin) below:

We also have an index layer in Google Earth for the same images that shows the overlap as well as identifying each image:

On mousing over any red image outline, the image number shows and reveals a pop up that allows downloading of the original image or the georeferenced image or the large composite image:

The georeferenced composite image and index can be viewed in either the Google Earth Browser (requires plugin) or in the Google Earth desktop application (Composite, Index to Composite, opens in Places/Temporary Places). Or you can view them along with all the 300 plus Rumsey historical maps in Google Earth by downloading this link (opens in Places/Temporary Places, see the New Maps folder).

The overlay of the 1938 images on current satellite images in Google Earth allows for interesting time comparisons, as in this view of the Southern Pacific Mission Bay Roundhouse on image 14, seen blending into the current satellite image of the same area today showing construction of the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco:

The person who created the 164 aerial views of San Francisco in 1938 was Harrison Ryker of Oakland, California:

Research by Dan Holmes, Librarian of the Rumsey Map Collection, uncovered the following information on Ryker. Harrison C. Ryker (1898-1981) was born in Oakdale, California. He married Charlotte Seward in the mid-1920s; after divorcing, he married Esther Miriam Munson in 1936. He served in the U.S. Army for several years in Germany with the post-World War I occupational forces, and partook of educational opportunities at the University of California, Berkeley. Expanding on his hobby in photography, Mr. Ryker teamed with various pilots beginning aerial photography services out of the Oakland Airport and throughout the West. Colleagues included Lage Wernstedt of the U.S. Forest Service. He also worked with the Fairchild Aerial Camera Company (including an aerial survey of Puerto Rico) and Clyde Sunderland of Pacific Aerial Surveys. As well, he took photographs of the devastating 1923 Berkeley Fire, archived in The Bancroft Library. By 1938 Mr. Ryker was listed in business as a map publisher (see Polk’s Oakland 1938 Street and Avenue Guide) based at 1924 Franklin St., Oakland. At that time, he had at least one patent pending for a stereoscope used for aerial photograph interpretation. Shortly after 1938 Ryker established his company address as Harrison C. Ryker, Inc., at 1000 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, California (relocating to east Oakland in the 1950s). He subsequently manufactured pocket and desktop stereoscopes and a vertical Sketchmaster, instruments that were extensively used by educational institutions and the military, especially during World War II. An example of his stereoscope viewers was the M-11:

Ryker's experience in aerial photography led to further involvement in photo interpretation and cartography. An article in the journal The Timberman (1933) describes means of distinguishing individual species of forest trees on aerial photos; later applications were terrain analysis for petroleum geology and unmasking of ground camouflage during wartime. His largest product was the Wernstedt Mahan map plotter, patented in 1954, which was a standard cartographic device for its time. His instruments are in use today in libraries, air photo collections, and earth sciences departments throughout America; they are in the instrument collections of the Archives of the History of American Psychology, and the Institute of Geographical Exploration at Harvard University has the Ryker M-11 Reflecting Stereoscope. Among his patents were (1) the adjustable pocket stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office, patented December 1940, Patent No. 2,225,602; and (2) the stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office, filed September 1, 1937, Serial No. 161,973, patented January 21, 1941, Patent No. 2,229,309. Harrison Ryker pioneered research in aerial photo interpretation. His work has been noted by A. Everett Wieslander, an early (1930s – 1950s) leader in the mapping of California vegetation and soils, in his Oral History produced by The Bancroft Library, and in a letter by Robert Colwell, Forestry Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Some of our information regarding Harrison Ryker is from personal communications with Ryker's son, Harrison Clinton Ryker, a musicologist  from Bellevue, Washington.

First Atlas of Russia, Published in 1745

The first Atlas of Russia from 1745 has been added to the online collection. It was published by the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia, expanding on the cartographic work done previously by Russian cartographer Ivan K. Kirilov. Joseph Nicolas de L'Isle, the great French astronomer, was invited by the Academy of Sciences in 1726 to come to St. Petersburg to oversee the production of the atlas, although his role and contributions to the atlas are disputed by historians. The atlas maps present the first complete national survey of the entire country at uniform scales for European and Asiatic Russia. Alexei Postnikov, author of "Russia in Maps," says this atlas "brings together all the geographical discoveries of the early 18th century to give a fuller picture of the entire Empire than shown in the so-called Kirilov atlas. The maps were mostly based on instrumental surveys, geographical descriptions and maps compiled by the Petrine geologists and their successors." Normally the atlas includes 20 maps; this copy is special in adding an additional 17 maps and 2 text pages, including plans of St. Petersburg and Moscow (similar to a copies at the Library of Congress, Phillips 4060 and Phillips 3109). The maps have titles in German and Latin; place names are in Russian and Latin alphabet. The text of cartouches is in Latin. The atlas was also issued with French and Russian title pages and text, with the title Atlas Russicus and Atlas Rossiiskoi. This copy contains 7 pages of text with descriptions of the maps and explanations of geographical names and symbols used in German, Russian, French and Latin, a general map of the Russian empire, 13 maps of European Russia at a uniform scale of 1:1,470,000 (35 versts to one inch, 1 verst equals 3,500 feet), and 6 maps of Siberia at a uniform scale of 1:3,444,000 (82 versts to one inch). Bound in at end of the atlas are 19 additional text and maps of Russian territories, plans from the Russo-Turkish war of 1736, engravings of military fortifications, maps of Ladoga Lake, environs of St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and the Gulf of Finland. Maps are colored in outline, with some maps in full color. We have added 2 composite images of all 13 maps of European Russia and all 6 maps of Siberia. The atlas was printed in September 1745 in St. Petersburg. View the atlas.

The general map of the Russian Empire extends from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean at a scale of 1: 9,030,000:

Each of the 13 maps of European Russia are drawn at a scale of 1:1,470,00 or 35 versts to the inch.  Many have decorative cartouches:

This map shows a long portion of the Volga River:

The 6 maps of Asiatic Russia (Siberia) are at a scale of 1: 3,444,000 or 82 versts to the inch:

A Legend (in German) on the last page of text describes the various symbols used on the maps:

This atlas is unusual in having an additional 17 maps and 2 indexes added to the 20 maps that usually comprise the atlas. Among the 17 extra maps is a plan of St. Petersburg from 1737:

Also included is a map showing the Gulf of Finland between St. Petersburg and the island of Cronstad, and the outlet of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, 1741:

And a plan of Moscow from 1739:

A map of the Caspian Sea from 1728:

We have created 2 composite images, 1 of the 13 maps of European Russia and 1 of the 6 maps of Asiatic Russia or Siberia. Here is the composite image of the European Russia Maps:

And here is the composite image of the Siberian maps:

4 languages are used in the atlas: Russian, German, Latin and French (although French is used primarily in the map cartouches and notes). The atlas title page and text pages were printed in 3 versions: Russian, French/Latin, and German. The title page and 6 pages of text describing the maps and Russian geographical terms in this copy are the German version:

The index page for the map of Moscow is in Russian:

The text page describing the some of the Turkish Russian War battles is in Latin, Russian, and German:

Considering the vastness of the Russian Empire, this atlas was a remarkable achievement. While not accurate by today's standards, at the time it was a significant improvement in cartographic representation of the country, and it was certainly then the largest part of the globe mapped systematically at a uniform scale, using the best science of the day.

Reading Historical Maps Digitally: How Spatial Technologies Can Enable Close, Distant and Dynamic Interpretations

David Rumsey gave the opening keynote lecture for the Digital Humanities 2011 Conference at Stanford University on June 19, 2011.

Abstract of the talk: Maps are dense, complex information systems arranged spatially. While they share similarities with other visual artifacts, their uniqueness as spatially arranged visual information both allows for and demands special digital approaches to understand and reuse their content. Georeferencing, vectorization, virtual reality, image databases, and GIS-related tools all work to unite our eyes, minds, and computers in new ways that can make historical maps more valuable and accessible to humanists concerned with place and space over time. Rumsey will explore the tools and techniques that have implications for the ways digital humanists approach visual information.

Pre-Earthquake San Francisco 1905 Sanborn Insurance Atlas

A rare 6 volume 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906 has been added to the map site in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library which owns the atlas and keeps it in its San Francisco History Center at the main library branch. The atlas was published in 1899/1900 and was updated manually several times by the publisher, the Sanborn-Perris Map Company of New York, with the last updates done in the fall of 1905. The 6 atlas volumes show the city in great detail, with building shape, height, construction materials, and many other details typical of fire insurance atlases of the period. Apparently the volumes were never updated after the earthquake and fire (except for a few small 1908 updates) because the atlas was damaged in the fire with some loss to the edges (as can be seen from the map images).

Update: a wonderful index and map placement tool for these maps is available at Maptcha.org

Index Map for Volume 1:

An example of the pages: Volume 1, Pages 5-6, blocks bounded by California, Washington, Davis, East and Market Streets:

Detail of Pages 5-6, one block bounded by California, Sacramento, Davis, and Drumm Streets:

The Key explaining all the map symbols:

Index Map for Volume 2:

Index Map for Volume 3:

Index Map for Volume 4:

Index Map for Volume 5:

Index Map for Volume 6:

Many of the downtown blocks in this atlas can also be seen as street front drawings in the 1895 Illustrated Directory of San Francisco.

We are grateful to City Archivist Susan Goldstein of the San Francisco History Center, Book Arts and Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library for suggesting this project to us and making the volumes available for scanning and uploading to our online collection. We hope to collaborate on more projects with Susan and the San Francisco Public Library.

June 26, 2011 - 1,676 New Maps Added

1,676 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to 27,800 maps and images. Included in this addition are 666 images of Pocket Maps, a rare edition of Sanborn's 1905 Atlas of San Francisco from the S.F. Public Library which shows the city just before the earthquake and fire of 1906 - the atlas pages show burns from the fire. Also the 1889 Cram Standard American Atlas and the 1901 Cram American Railway Atlas.  325 more images from the Karte des Deutschen Reiches are added and the large composite image is increased to 501 maps (the next update will finish it at 674 maps). All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,676 new maps and images.

	Pocket Maps, various dates 1824 to 1962 Various Authors Pocket maps were a popular form of map publishing in the 19th and 20th centuries. Maps typically folded into covers that were small enough to carry in one's pocket. Most of the atlas publishers issued their maps in atlas form as well as pocket maps.  The map covers often have interesting information including signatures of owners, dates, catalogs and indexes. Later in the 20th century the maps became self folding, typically as automobile road maps or travel maps. View Pocket Maps
	Official Map of Chinatown in San Francisco, 1885 A.L. Bancroft, San Francisco Map details the various districts in San Francisco's Chinatown: Chinese occupancy, gambling, prostitution, opium resorts, joss houses (temples or shrines), and white prostitution. Copy from the San Francisco Public Library. View Map
	Cram's Standard American Atlas Of The World, 1889 Cram, George Franklin , Chicago The title page claims that the maps show "the true locations of all railroads, towns, villages and post offices that have a name or contain a store." The railroad maps are very detailed. The statistical diagrams are imaginative. View Atlas
	Composite Image, Sheets 1 to 501, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany Our project of scanning and putting online the 674 sheets of the Karte des Deutschen Reich, 1893, is nearing completion - this addition adds another 325 map images and increases the size of the large composite image to 501 maps (the image is 236 GB, 380,000 x 213,000 pixels). View Composite Map
	Cram's Standard American Railway System Atlas Of The World, 1901 Cram, George Franklin , Chicago This atlas has some of Cram's best maps of the U.S. and world. A large number of U.S. cities are mapped. View Atlas
	Insurance Maps of San Francisco, 1905 Sanborn-Perris Map Company, New York A rare 6 volume San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906 has been added to the map site in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library which owns the atlas and keeps it in its San Francisco History Center at the main library branch. The atlas was published in 1899/1900 and was updated manually several times by the publisher, the Sanborn-Perris Map Company of New York, with the last updates done in the fall of 1905. The 6 atlas volumes show the city in great detail, with building shape, height, construction materials, and many other details typical of fire insurance atlases of the period. Apparently the volumes were never updated after the earthquake and fire (except for a few small 1908 updates) because the atlas was damaged in the fire with some loss to the edges (as can be seen from the map images). View Atlas
	Golden Gate International Exposition (1939 World's Fair). Treasure Island. San Francisco, Calif. Sanborn Map Company,.San Francisco Detailed insurance map of buildings and layout of fair grounds for the 1939 World's Fair on San Francisco's Treasure Island. The map is heavily annotated (in pencil).  Detailed legend. Includes diagram of water system valve control assembly by the main gate. Copy from the San Francisco Public Library. View Map

New Geographical Search by MapRank Viewer

The new MapRank Search viewer enables geographical searching of the collection by map location and coverage, in a Google Map window. Pan and zoom the Google Map to the area of the world you want maps of, and the results will automatically appear as a scrollable list of maps with thumbnail images in the right side results window. The maps in the right side results list are ranked by coverage, with the maps that have coverage closest to your search window listed at the top. Maps lower in the list show the area of interest, but with coverage that does not match as closely. Mousing over any map in the list will show the map's coverage as a light red rectangle on top of the Google Map. Clicking on a map in the list will open it in the Luna Browser. You can filter your results with the When timeline, the What or Who keyword text window, and the Map scale windows, as well as search by place name in the Find a place window. Currently about 12,000 online maps are searchable with MapRank search; soon all the 27,000 online maps will be included. Launch MapRank Search.

Below is the MapRank Search viewer zoomed in to find maps of San Francisco, with the 1904 "San Francisco Intensity of Earthquake" map highlighted in red in the results list and with the area covered by the earthquake map shown in light red on the Google Map:

Clicking on the thumbnail or title of a map in the list opens it in the Luna Browser with a zoomable image and description:

Zooming out in the Google Map selection window instantly changes the search results to find maps with similar coverage, here the San Francisco Bay Area and Central California:

Zooming out further in the Google Map window changes the map results again to maps of California:

Here the Google Map is set to find maps of the American West:

Zooming out and panning east finds maps of the entire United States:

Zooming out again finds maps of North and South America:

Finally, zooming out to the full extent in the Google Map window finds maps of the entire World:

The WHEN time range line allows changing the dates of the results, here from 1690 to 1795 for the same set of World maps:

The Map scale boxes are used to limit the range of scales of the search, here set at 1:2,500 to 1:2.5 mil. This setting will show maps with smaller coverages that fall within the Google Map at the top of the list:

The Find a place box is used here to zoom the Google Map to find maps of Paris, France:

The WHAT or WHO box is used to further limit results to maps of Paris by Guillaume De Lisle:

Zooming out to show all of France finds maps by De Lisle of French provinces, still limited by time and scale:

Finally, keeping the same limits but panning the map to Italy finds maps of Italy by De Lisle with the same time and scale constraints:

This new MapRank search interface allows geographical and spatial searching of the map collection in a dynamic and fluid way. It will provide an entirely new experience of exploring our online map library, using a map to search the collection instead of relying on textual terms alone.

While the new search interface is largely complete, please let us know if you find any errors or problems. The bounding coordinates for the maps are correct in almost all cases, but there may be some maps with incorrect coordinate (coverage) data - please let us know if you find any and we will correct them. The MapRank search interface and program has been developed by Petr Pridal of Klokan Technologies.

Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 (Map of the German Empire)

The Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 consists of 674 sheets at a scale of 1:100,000. All sheets join together to make a huge, highly detailed and historically significant map of about 1,155 cm x 980 cm (38 ft x 32 ft), covering all of present day Germany and much of present day Poland. The maps show the landscape as it was at the end of the 19th century. We have completed the process of scanning all the sheets individually as well as making a very large digital composite image of all 674 sheets joined. We have put sheets 1 to 674 online and made a composite image of sheets 1 to 674. The composite image is also placed in Google Earth (requires plug-in)(the georeferenced composite image and any of its parts may be downloaded through the Google Earth Index Map), allowing comparison of the historical map with current satellite imagery and other information layers. We completed the project on October 1, 2011. The publication dates of the sheets vary, generally from about 1800 to 1900. For the whole series we use an average date of 1893.

After German unification in 1871, in an agreement dated March 4, 1878, the states of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg (the areas of modern day Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Kaliningrad, and part of Lithuania) agreed to map their areas on a 1:100,000 scale in a common topographic grid survey consisting of 674 sheets. Each sheet covers about 30 minutes in longitude and 15 minutes in latitude. One centimeter on a map is equivalent to 1 kilometer on the ground. Average sheet size is about 35 cm x 28 cm. Each sheet covers about 1000 square kilometers and was engraved on copper. A polyhedral projection was used. Prime meridian was Ferro, later switched to Greenwich.

The series is known as the KDR-100 (German General Staff map) and was surveyed beginning in 1878, although many sheets were simply drawn from pre-existing military maps, often of larger (more detailed) scale. This map series is remarkable for the level of fine detail. As a consequence, it was scanned at 800 PPI providing four times the resolution of the typical detailed map scan of 400 PPI.

Below is a detail of part of Sheet 269, Berlin, 1893: (clicking on any of the images below will open them)

Here is part of the same sheet at 800% magnification:

The dates of the maps are estimated based on the apparent library acquisition date, frequently stamped on the back of the map sheet, usually 1893. The maps are mounted on linen in 4, 6, or 8 panels.  Comparing our sheets to those at the Library of Congress shows that most of our sheets were published 5 to 10 years before the stamped acquisition date. Thus most sheets were published between 1883 and 1888.  A few sheets are duplicated and placed under similar list numbers.

Below is a typical sheet, Sheet 46, Neustadt in West-Pr. 1893, dissected into four parts and folded, with the map seller's label and map scale pasted on one fold:

Here is the same map, with the four sections joined into a composite, to make georeferencing more accurate.

Below is a detail of the same Sheet 46, Neustadt in West-Pr. 1893 at 400% magnification:

All 674 sheets are joined together in one composite image. The image is 401,310 pixels wide by 332,060 pixels high, 380 GB. Below are sheets 1 to 674 joined together in the composite image and shown in the Luna Browser:

The same composite image can also be viewed in Google Earth:

And the index sheet for the composite image can be viewed in Google Earth:

The composite image and the index sheet can also be viewed in the Google Earth desktop application (requires download if you do not have Google Earth installed). Or you can view these layers along with 300 other historical maps from the Rumsey Collection in Google Earth by clicking on this link.

The Karte des Deutschen Reiches have extraordinary map detail and many kinds of cultural, physical, political, and historical information. At least ten separate symbols for special buildings were utilized, a method enhanced by placing an abbreviation next to the symbol. Structures with special symbols include: churches, chapels, monuments, windmills, water mills, stamp mills, forester’s lodges, watchtowers, ruins, forts, quarries, clay pits, lime kilns, and coke-ovens. Factories, brick works, powder magazines, and many other important buildings are differentiated by means of abbreviation. Houses appear as black blocks, either rectangular or shaped like the ground plan of the building. Many other features are differentiated, for example there are four different qualities of roads plus bridle paths and footpaths.

Vegetation is minutely classified including separate symbols for broadleaf trees, evergreens, underbrush, heather, dry meadows, wet meadows, swamps, orchards, gardens, vineyards, and parks. Relief is shown by hachures. Spot elevations are given in meters above sea level.

This collection strongly trends toward the earliest editions. They were published for the General Staffs of Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and Wurttemberg by several issuers, but most were by “R. Eisenschmidt, Verlags-Buchhandlung ” (publishing bookstore). (Berlin). Key organizations indicated on the maps include (1) Topographic Bureau of Royal Saxony, abbreviated in German as “topogr. bureau des konigl. sachs.” And (2) Royal Prussian General Staff, abbreviated in German as “Kgl. Preuss. Generalstab.”

Most sheets are stamped with "The Library of Massachusetts, State House, Boston," and the apparent date of acquisition. Almost all of the sheets are trimmed to the neatline to allow for closer alignment of multiple sheets when viewing, apparently a common practice by publishers of the sheets. Therefore the printed publishing date has been removed in most cases and we are estimating the date based on the acquisition stamp date (usually 1893).

Cataloging and research for the maps was done by Daniel Holmes, Librarian of the Rumsey Collection. Scanning and georeferencing of the map images was done by Glenn Bachmann of Cartography Associates. Global Mapper software was used to georeference and composite the map images. We are grateful to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress for providing images of four sheets that were missing from the Rumsey Collection.

March 18, 2011 - 1,634 New Maps Added

1,634  new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to over 26,000 maps and images. Included in this addition are five issues of Colton's General Atlas of the World dated from 1865 to 1886. Also two editions of Schonberg's Standard Atlas of the World, 1865 and 1867. Sheets from two national surveys: six composite images of the entire Wheeler Survey of the U.S. West, 1876, and the first 338 sheets of the massive 19th century survey of Germany, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (the remaining 336 sheets will follow in the next update). Added are elegant maps from the Atlante Geographico de Agostini, 1952, and a complete set of all the Shell Oil Company Automobile Road maps of North America, 1956. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,634 new maps and images.

	Colton's General Atlas, various dates, 1865, 1866, 1869, 1974, 1886 Colton, G.W., New York Five editions (1865, 1866, 1869, 1874, 1886) of an important world atlas published yearly from 1856 to 1888 by the Colton family of cartographers in New York City. The 1865 edition includes a gift letter from publisher J.H. Colton to his friend Reverend Edmond Taylor of Brooklyn, New York. The 1874 edition has the publisher's original canvas slip dust cover. In addition to these issues, we also have online the 1856 first edition, the 1857 variant edition (Advertising Atlas of America), and the 1859 variant, Colton's Cabinet Atlas (also viewable as a BookReader flip book). View Five New Colton Atlases  View all Eight Colton Atlases
	Schonberg's Standard Atlas Of The World, 1865 and Schonberg's Atlas of the United States, 1867 Schonberg & Company, New York Two editions, 1865 and 1867, of an unusual atlas of the world and the United States, published in New York. Schonberg used very bright colors and striking designs on the maps and charts. View Atlases
	Composite Images of all Wheeler Survey Topographical, Geological, and Land Classification Atlas Sheets, 1876 (various dates) Wheeler, George M, Washington, D.C. The map images are joined and projected in GIS on a conic projection with the central meridian at 111 degrees west - matching the original projection of the Wheeler Survey.  View All Composites in Luna Browser  View Topographical Sheets in Google Earth  View Geological Sheets in Google Earth  View Land Classification Sheets in Google Earth
	Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany In 1878, the states of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg (the areas of modern day Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Kaliningrad, and part of Lithuania) agreed to map their areas on a 1:100,000 scale in a common topographic grid survey consisting of 674 sheets.  We have completed scanning of the first 338 sheets, shown here, with the remaining 336 sheets to be added in the next update. These maps are remarkable for the level of fine detail. The series is known as the KDR-100 (German General Staff map). The mapping continued until 1945, so most sheets were revised at least once. Our collection copies strongly trends toward the earliest editions. View Maps Individually or as a composite of sheets 1-138 in Google Earth or in Luna Browser (composite will grow with later additions)
	Atlante Geografico de Agostini, 1952 Instituto Geographico di Agostini, Novarra Instituto di Agostini is known for the beautiful maps and atlases it produced. This may be a proof copy of their "Atlante Geografico de Agostini" or intended to accompany an encyclopedia or text, because it is bound into simple plain covers and lacks a title page and index. The thematic maps of this atlas are especially interesting and elegant in design. View Atlas
	Shell Atlas of Automobile Road Maps, 1956 Shell Oil Company, Chicago San Jose This is a bound set of 92 doubled sided (making 184 map images) automobile road maps covering the entire United States, Canada, and Mexico. This atlas was bound for use by the staff of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. Each map was originally published as a separate roadmap distributed at Shell gas (filling) stations. Every map bears the Shell logo and a complete legend and sometimes the statement, "Current at date of publication, but subject to change." View Maps

November 27, 2010 - 1,786 New Maps Added

Below are descriptions of 1,786 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included for the first time are six new BookReaders that enable page turning books in the Luna software; four of these are new atlases: Popple's 1746 Atlas of North America; Pertermann and Milners's 1850 Atlas of Physical Geography; Williamson's 1870 Removal of Blossom Rock in San Francisco Harbor; and Baker's 1936 Atlas of American Agriculture. Also, two important boundary dispute atlases, the three volume Alaskan Boundary Tribunal of 1904 and the Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary Commission atlas of 1897. And two important Soviet era world atlases, the Polish Army Topographic Survey World Atlas of 1968 and the USSR World Atlas second edition also of 1967. The Coal Resources of the World, 1913, is presented, along with Mathew Carey's 1818 General Atlas and Anthony Finley's first edition General Atlas of 1824. 35 irrigation maps of the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, from 1880-1888 are shown. Also, the Geological Survey of California's 1873 Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco, 22 important wall maps, many sheet, case, and pocket maps, and more. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,786 new maps and images.

	A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto, 1746 Popple, Henry, London This is a full color atlas edition of Popple's twenty sheet map.  This edition was sold by Stephen Austin Bookseller and Thomas Willdey in London. Compare this later edition (1746) with our first edition (1733) atlas. View Atlas and BookReader
	22 Wall Maps, 1813 - 1882 Various Authors A group of wall maps ranging from Warren and Gillet's Connecticut 1813, to Berghaus' World on Mercator's Projection, 1882. View Maps
	Carey's General Atlas, 1818 Carey, Mathew, Philadelphia Third and last edition of Carey's General Atlas. There is a Preface to the third edition, dated June 18, 1818. View Atlas
	2 Maps of the United States of Nth. America, Map of Mexico and Louisiana, 1812 - 1820 Tardieu, P.F., Paris Three multi-sheet maps by the French cartographer P.F. Tardieu: United States of North America 1812 and 1820, and Mexico and Louisiana, 1820.Tardieu used Arrowsmith's maps as his sources, but added much new information and employed an elegant style of engraving. View Maps View all Tardieu maps of North America.
	Mappe Monde en deux Hemispheres presentant L'Etat Acuel de La Geographie, 1820 Brue, A.H., 1820 Large map of the world in four sheets plus a title sheet. Includes "Avertissement" commenting on the accuracy of the map, and "Observation" commenting on the projection referencing the 1794 map by Arrowsmith. View Map
	A New General Atlas, 1824 Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia The first edition of this important American atlas. Finley produced many editions of this atlas up to 1834.  Most of the atlas maps were also issued as pocket maps. At the end of the atlas there is an advertisement for Finley's Map of the United States. View Atlas
	3 Composite Maps of North and South America, 1827 Vanermaelen, Phillip, Paris These three composite maps of Vandermaelen's 119 sheets of North and South America were created by georeferncing the sheets in GIS, using a polyconic projection similar to Vandermaelen's projection, then combining the sheets using the program Global Mapper which also trimmed the sheets to allow compositing. The result gives a view of Vandermaelen's sheets that is not possible with the atlas presentation but is similar to the large 7.75 meter diameter globe that Vandermaelen created from the atlas sheets and displayed in Brussels. View Maps View Entire Vandermaelen World Atlas 1827
	Atlas of Physical Geography, 1850 Petermann, Augustus; Milner, Thomas, London From the full title: "With Descriptive Letter-Press, Embracing A General View Of The Physical Phenomena Of The Globe. By The Rev. Thomas Milner, M.A., F.R.G.S. ... Illustrated by One Hundred and Thirty Vignettes on Wood." View Atlas and BookReader
	Reports upon the Pacific Wagon Roads, 1859 Campbell, Albert, Philadelphia Six maps show various wagon roads developed by the U.S. government in the late 1850"s: a map of the route from Fort Ridgely in Minnesota to Fort Lookout on the western side of the Missouri River in Nebraska; two maps showing the Western Division of the Fort Kearney South Pass and Honey Lake Road; two maps that begin in El Paso, Texas and continue through Arizona, north of Tucson and San Xavier del Bac to the Pimo Villages on the Gila River; and a map of the Wagon-Road from Platte River via Omaha Reserve and Dakota City to Running Water River, along the Missouri River. View Maps
	Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas, 1865 Johnson, A.J., New York Late 1865 edition. From Title Page: "The New Plates, Copyrighted by A. J. Johnson, are made exclusively for Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas. Others are the same as Used in Colton's General Atlas." Adds a double page map of "Nebraska, Dakota, Idaho and Montana" that also shows Wyoming - this is a newly drawn map. This is the first appearance of Wyoming on a map (Resor). View Atlas
	Report Upon The Removal of Blossom Rock, San Francisco Harbor, 1870 Williamson, R.S.; Heuer, W.H., Washington, D.C. Story of the demolition of Blossom Rock, a maritime navigational hazard in San Francisco Bay midway between Alcatraz Island and Yerba Buena Island. View Book and BookReader
	Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco, 1873 Hoffmann, Charles F.; Whitney, J.D.; Geological Survey of California, New York An important detailed map of the San Francisco bay area by the Geographical Survey of California under J.D. Whitney. Julius Bien of New York did the engraving and printing. C.F. Hoffmann was the prinicpal topographer; 1st issue was 1867. No mention of the 1873 date in any references. Two sheets printed on thin paper, folded into green covers. Outline color.  View Map
	Gray's Atlas Of The United States, 1874 Gray, Ormando Willis, Philadelphia Late 1874 issue - the extra double page Oregon, California and Nevada map is undated and the inset map of the Bay Area shows a new railroad from Benicia, and other railroads projected. However, we cannot find any other changes from the early 1874 issue. This edition was made for the California market, with the extra map of Sacramento and the map of Oregon, California and Nevada.  View Atlas
	The National Atlas. Containing Elaborate Topographical Maps Of The United States And The Dominion of Canada, 1878 Gray, Ormando Willis, Philadelphia First edition was 1875. The maps here are identical to our 1878 Gray's Atlas of the United States (although substantially changed from the 1874 edition), except that this copy has 17 large scale maps of Virginia Cities in the rear with a "Professional Directory of Patrons. Virginia."  It is a mystery why Gray used two different titles for essentially the same atlas.  View Atlas
	35 Irrigation Maps San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, 1880 - 1888 Hall, Wm. Ham. (William Hammond); California State Engineering Department, Sacramento The sheets show the areas of land that can be practically irrigated in the San Joaquin portion of the Central Valley and parts of Southern California. Classifies lands into several categories. Printed in full color. Mounted on linen. Relief depicted by contour lines in valley areas, and by hachures in the hills and mountains. 33 of the maps were scanned from the collection of the Water Resources Center Archives, University of California Library.  View Maps
	Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas Of The World, 1886 Johnson, A.J., New York A very late edition of this atlas that was first issued in 1860, 1887 is the last edition that we have, although Phillips shows 1885 as the last edition. Most of the maps have been updated to show changes in the American west, railroad development, and geographic discoveries. View Atlas
	Report Upon The True Divisional Line Between The Republic Of Venezuela And British Guiana, 1897 Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary Commission, Washington, D.C. Reproductions of maps from 1534 to 1875. On cover: Venezuelan Boundary Commission Report. 1898. Atlas (vol. 4 indicated on half title). With printed color. The American resolution under the auspices of the Monroe Doctrine, and as illustrated by this atlas, of the dispute between Britain and Venezuela, largely followed the the route (favoring Britain) of the Schomburgk Line, the name given to a survey line made in 1835 by Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865). Venezuela periodically contests its validity. View Atlas
	(British Atlas, U.S. Atlas, Atlas of Award). Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, 1904 Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, Washington D.C. Three volumes, with excellent facsimiles of historic maps that support the sides in the dispute. With printed color. "Many of these maps have been reduced in scale to bring them within the limits of this atlas." Many maps also only show the portion of the original applicable to the Alaska/Canada boundary. View Atlas
	The Coal Resources Of The World. Atlas, 1913 Campbell, Marius R., Toronto Shows coal resources throughout the world in the early 20th century. Elegant color printing. This copy has only 45 of 48 maps (missing Map Nos. 24-26, which cover portions of Canada in detail). View Atlas
	Atlas of American Agriculture, 1936 Kincer, Joseph Burton, Washington D.C. A spectacular color atlas of the United States exhibiting great detail in hundreds of maps, graphs, tables, and text on the full range of agricultural topics and subtopics. Bound into a single volume here, it consists of several parts often found as separates: Land Relief; Climate: Temperature, Sunshine, and Wind; Climate: Frost and the Growing Season; Climate: Precipitation and Humidity; Soils; and Natural Vegetation: Grassland and Desert Shrub, Forests. View Atlas and BookReader
	Hammond's New World Atlas. Containing New and Complete Historical, Economic, Political and Physical Maps of the Entire World in Full Colors, 1948 Hammond, C.S., Garden City, New York With 277 maps, shows the new political configuration of the world at the end of World War II. Includes an Illustrated Gazetteer of the United States and Territories. View Atlas
	The World Atlas. Second Edition, 1967 USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Moscow This second edition of the Atlas of the World (1st edition in 1954) has fewer maps of the USSR on account of the interim publication of the "Atlas of the USSR", three fewer historical maps due to then impending publication of the "Historical Atlas of the World", and many new maps and revisions. The Atlas was considered accurate in terms of contemporary knowledge of the ocean floors. This edition also uses both the Russian and the Roman alphabets - making it comprehensible to a much broader range of readers. "The second edition of the World Atlas is issued at a time when all progressive people of the globe are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution." Mapped in attractive full color with tints for elevation and sea depth values. Relief shading is sometimes used to contribute to realism. Scales generally in regular increments (two or multiples of two); urban vicinity maps typically at 1:250,000 facilitating the comparison of the sizes of major cities around the world. View Atlas
	Pergamon World Atlas, 1968 Polish Army Topography Service, Oxford This is the English edition of the Polish Atlas Swiata. This massive atlas (weighing nearly 5.5 kilograms and containing 48 square meters of maps) is of high cartographic and aesthetic quality, and provides a rich assortment of thematic (over 400) as well as hundreds of physical and political maps. Includes pictures of the flag and a synopsis for each country. Rich use of symbolism creatively conveys the data in a clear manner. View Atlas

July 4, 2010 - 564 New Maps Added

Below are descriptions of 564 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included are Jacob Green's Astronomical Recreations, an early U.S. celestial atlas published by Anthony Finley in 1824; Finley's pocket map version of his American Atlas, 1827; the graphically stunning Atlas Elementaire by Soulier and Andriveau-Goujon, published in Paris in 1838; a German atlas version of J. Calvin Smith's important Map of the United States from 1852; an extensive geography text with maps - Colton's Illustrated Cabinet Atlas of 1859, also online as a flip book at the Internet Archive; and the Ice Atlas of the Northern Hemisphere showing the extent of sea ice in 1946.  All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 564 new maps and images.

	Astronomical Recreations; Or Sketches of the Relative Positions And Mythological History Of The Constellations, 1824 Green, Jacob; Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia Probably the first U.S. celestial atlas. Issued by Anthony Finley in the same year as his first terrestrial atlas, 1824, this was likely intended to accompany it, although it is never listed in Finley's catalog. The advertisement page states: "The plates have been faithfully reduced from those in the last edition of the magnificent Atlas of Bode, published in Germany a few years since..." View Atlas
	American Atlas (Pocket Atlas), 1827 Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia This is a pocket atlas version of Finley's American Atlas. The maps are printed on thin paper and folded into a red leather pocket case with "American Atlas" embossed on the flap. John Grigg of Philadelphia also issued this pocket atlas with his name on a red cover. View Atlas
	Atlas Elementaire Simplifie De Geographie Ancienne Et Moderne, 1838 Soulier, E.; Andriveau-Goujon, J.. Paris The maps are simplified somewhat, probably indicating that this was used for teaching in colleges and schools. In many cases the graphics on the maps are most unusual, and the style of engraving uses symbols and visualizations that are unique to this atlas. View Atlas
	Special-Karte Der Vereinicten Staaten Von Nord-Amerika. von J. Calvin Smith, 1852 Smith, J. Calvin, Cassel (Germany) The second revised German edition of Smith's large wall map of the United States, here bound as 16 separate sheets in an atlas (we have also digitally joined all 16 sheets into a composite image, shown on the left). The inset map of North America is titled "Uebersichts-Ka rte von Nord Amerika von J. Calvin Smith..." The map has been redrawn onto lithographic plates with a very slight change of scale (smaller). The only German used is in the titles and the references.  View Atlas
	Colton's Illustrated Cabinet Atlas and Descriptive Geography. Maps by G. Woolworth Colton. Text by Richard Swainson Fisher, 1859 Colton, G.W.; Fisher, Richard Swainson, New York This atlas is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of etchings on a wide range of geographical subjects, statistical tables, and smaller maps and plans. It is a smaller version of Colton's General Atlas, with regional maps. A one-time effort, not reissued. However, these maps are reused by Colton in some of his school atlases. The text by Fisher (minus the sections on the states and territories) is used later in Johnson's Family Atlas starting in 1861. This is a general physical geography text based on the Atlas of Milner and Petermann published in London. Overall the text is intended to be particularly readable.  View Atlas We have also created a flip book version of this atlas at the Internet Archive.
	Ice Atlas of the Northern Hemisphere, 1946 Hydrographic Office, U.S. Navy, Washington, D.C. Published by the U.S. Navy in 1946, this atlas provides colored monthly maps detailing the extent and character of the ice for each principal region of the Northern Hemisphere known to have seasonal or permanent sea or lake ice. Also includes statistical tables. It is interesting to compare the extent of sea ice then with the diminishing extent today, as shown on the National Snow and Ice Data Center of the University of Colorado. View Atlas

April 12, 2010 - 764 New Maps Added

Below are highlights from 764 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection.  Included are John Cary's 1790 Survey of the High Roads From London - an early use of strip road maps, the Atlas Classique De La Geographie - an 1839 teaching atlas by C.V. Monin with Monin's version of the classic Mountains and Rivers plate by Bulla, and Rand McNally's monumental 1924 Commercial Atlas Of America, with some of the most detailed early highway maps of the U.S. along with extensive railroad coverage at a time when the new highway system was beginning to challenge railroads as the most important transportation network in America.  Also included  are over 240 separate wall maps, case maps, pocket maps, or charts which are distinguished by their large physical size (often over 8 feet in the long dimension), requiring special photographic and software processes to create accurate digital images, resulting in very large digital files - but large map images can be examined and explored as easily as smaller map images, using zooming and panning features, and the amount of cartographic information in the larger maps is much greater.  Highlights of this group of maps include Rand McNally's massive thirteen sheet Shippers' Railroad Map of the United States 1891 (12x20 feet, over 10GB file size), nine issues of Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States from 1834 to 1846 (group shown includes a tenth issue already online), Joseph Scheda's 20 sheet richly detailed map of the Austrian Empire in Central Europe in 1856 (5GB file size), and more.  All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 764 new maps.

	Early Wall and Case Maps of the United States, 1796 to 1833 Arrowsmith, Tardieu, Carleton, Lewis, Lay, Varle, Robinson, and Vance 12 large maps of the eastern United States by various publishers over a period of 37 years from 1796 to 1833.  All of the maps borrow from each other, gradually adding updated and more accurate geographic information over time. The Arrowsmith maps printed in London are among the earliest to show the young United States, followed by updated copies made in Paris by Tardieu, Carleton's version published in Boston, then the very large wall maps by Lewis, and other variations by Lay, Varle, Robinson, and Vance. View Maps
	Cary's Survey of the High Roads From London, 1790 Cary, John, London An early strip map atlas of the roads leading outward from London, in all directions. The title page lists some of the many attributes of the strip map sheets: "On a Scale of one Inch to a Mile; wherein Every Gentleman's Seat, situate on, or seen from the Road, (however distant) are laid down, with the name of the Possessor; to which is added The Number of Inns on each separate route; also, the different Turnpike Gates, shewing The Connection which one trust has with another." View Atlas English road atlases like this one no doubt influenced contemporary American road books such as Christopher Colles' Survey of the Roads of the United States of 1789 and The Traveler's Directory by Moore and Jones, 1802.
	Map of Pennsylvania, 1822 Melish, John, Philadelphia First edition. A large wall map of Pennsylvania and one of the finest maps of the state in the early 19th century. Compared with the 1826 case map edition, there are many changes. The 1826 edition adds the delineation of topography adjoining the river systems, roads in almost every county, numerous changes in the emerging coal regions in the east central part of the state, more mountains and plateaus. View Map
	Atlas Classique De La Geographie, 1839 Monin, C.V., Paris A very sophisticated college atlas; the mountains and rivers table has no engraver listed but is clearly derived from or by Bulla, the author of the first table in this format published in 1826. See Garner's chart of 1823, and see our blog post on mountains and rivers maps for interesting comparisons. There are also two excellent thematic plates: Tableau de Geographie Physique and the Tableau de Systeme Solaire. View Atlas
	United States Of America, 1830, 1832, 1834 Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia Three editions of Henry Tanner's large and detailed case map of the United States are added to the online collection, dated 1830, 1832, and 1834, which when added to the 1829 and 1839 editions already online, give an excellent 10 year view of the changes to this important map and to the country from 1829 to 1839.  View All 5 Editions of the Map
	Nine Editions of Mitchell's Reference & Distance Map of the United States, 1834 - 1846 Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia Mitchell's Reference & Distance Map of the United States was one of the most important American wall maps produced in the 1830's and 1840's.  It was drawn and engraved by James H. Young. The map was large -about 5ft tall and 6ft wide. Shown in this group are the nine new online editions plus a tenth edition already online.  View Maps
	Map of the United States Of North America, 1842 Burr, David H., London This large four sheet wall map of the United States west to the 100th meridian must have been intended to accompany Burr's 1839 thirteen sheet American Atlas of postal wall maps. The American Atlas has a large map of the United States from coast to coast, but it lacks the detail of this wall map, which shows most of the postal roads, canals, and railroads that are delineated on the large scale individual state maps of the American Atlas. That detail makes this wall map one of the best large area road maps of the United States as a whole, of the period - more detailed than Tanner's Map of the United States or Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States, shown above. View Map
	Stream Of Time, Or Chart Of Universal History, From The Original German Of Strass. Revised By D. Haskel, 1842 Colton, J.H., New York Stream of Time maps were popular in the second half of the 19th century (see our 1858 Tableau De L'Histoire Universelle by Pick) and later, but this map or diagram by Colton is an early example, at least in the United States. The period covered starts with the Creation in 4004 BC and extends down to 1842. The bottom of the map has an explanation which states that "Each Nation is represented by a stream which is broken in upon or flows on undisturbed as it is influenced by the accession of Territory or the remaining at Peace." View Map
	Maps of the State of Maine, 1844 - 1862 Greenleaf Moses; Colton, J.H.; DeSilver, Charles; Walling, H.F.; Chase, J. New York, Philadelphia, Portland Five maps showing Maine's evolution over an 18 year period of great change and expansion. 2 wall maps, 2 pocket maps, and 1 case map. View Maps View all Maine Maps in the online Collection.
	General - Karte Des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, 1856 Scheda, Josef, Wien Joseph Scheda was an Engineer in the Geographic Corps, Militarisch Geografischen Institute, Austria. His map shows the extent of the Austrian Empire in 1856. It is comprised of 20 sheets, each dissected into 6 sections. Incredible detail throughout the map. A triumph of Austrian/German engraving. The 20 sheets cover most of central and southern Europe. A digital composite image joins all 20 sheets together in one large map. View Maps
	Map of The World On Mercator's Projection, 1847 and 1857 Colton, J. H.; Johnson, D. Griffing, New York One of the great American World Wall maps of the period. Colton took over the publishing of this map in 1849. The 1847 edition is by Johnson and the 1857 edition is by Colton. Table of distances. Shows numerous routes followed by historic mariners including observations of birds on the high seas. The 1857 edition has numerous annotations in French by a traveler going around the world.  View Maps
	The Cottage Ornament, 1856 Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning, New York This is an unusually decorative map by a group of New York map publishers known for their use of portraits, views, and information graphics (the universal Dial Plate showing times at different places around the world, etc.) on their maps. In this large wall map they seem to have added all the views used in all their different publications in one map. The map's title is an understatement. View Map
	Map Of The Vicinity Of Philadelphia, 1860 Lake, D.J.; Beers, S.N., Philadelphia A very large, detailed map showing land owners around Philadelphia. This copy is one of eight issues of the map (Ristow). This issue has inset maps and business directories of Philadelphia, Germantown, Frankford, Bridesburg plus five small towns (all at the top), and Manayunk, Falls of Schuykill, Hestonville, Paschallville, Tacony and Holmesburg at the bottom. Other issues of the map have Philadelphia and Trenton and Philadelphia and Camden in the titles. Lake and Beers may have done eight issues to cover different parts of the local market, much in the manner of Beers' six different issues of his Atlas of New York and Vicinity of 1867-8. The date of 1860 on the map has been changed to 1869 by someone drawing the "9" in place of the "0" which probably had rubbed off. View Map
	The Washington Map Of The United States, 1861 and 1862 Smith, Robert P.; Taintor, S. & Co., New York and Philadelphia Four editions from 1861 and 1862 of this huge and important wall map of the United States, published on the eve of the U.S. Civil War. The 1862 edition is one of the earliest maps to show the states who "claim to have seceded from the United States" in a small note on the right below the title. There are many inset views, portraits of the Presidents in the borders, and thematic inset maps. Smith also published a similar wall map in 1862, the New Naval and Military Map of the United States, which explicitly references the Civil War that had just begun. View Maps
	Atlas Universel De Geographie Physique, Politique, Ancienne Et Moderne, 1875 Brue, A.H.; Levasseur, E., Paris The last edition seen of the Brue Atlas Universel which began in 1822. E. Levasseur was brought in by the publisher to make updates to all the maps, with varying degrees of success. There is an attempt to improve the American maps from the 1866 edition, but they are still ridiculously outdated. Nonetheless, this is a handsome relic of what was once a great atlas. One of the two world maps is unusual in showing geologic formations on several continents. A newly added Tableau Synthetique de Cosmographie provides graphical and textual depictions of several attributes of planetary systems and the earth. The Avertissement pages list in detail the improvements made in the map sheets. View Atlas
	Historical Map Of The United States Showing Early Spanish, French & English Discoveries And Explorations Also Forts, Towns & Battle Fields Of Historic Interest, 1876 Blanchard, Rufus, Chicago This map was published for the 1876 U.S. Centennial celebrations and reflects Blanchard's growing interest in American history during the mid 1870's. Shows historical events on a large map of the Eastern United States from Columbus to about 1840. Six inset facsimiles of early maps. A tablet of history is mounted on the verso.  View Map
	Paris Et Ses Environs. Carte Geologique Detaillee. Carte Topographique De L'Etat Major, 1890 Service Geologique Des Mines (France), Paris This map has incredible detail, showing the geological formations around Paris plus the topographical depiction of the area at the end of the 19th century. 4 sheets, each dissected into 18 sections, mounded and edged with linen. Plus a composite image of all 4 sheets joined together. With printed full color by geological formations.  View Map
	Rand, McNally & Co.'s New Shippers' Railroad Map of the United States, 1891 Rand McNally, Chicago This is a huge 13 part map of the United States railroads from the east coast to the 105th meridian. When all 13 parts are joined, they form a map more than 12 feet high by 20 feet wide. Railroads are shown in great detail at a scale of 8 miles to 1 inch, making this one of the largest scale railroad maps of the late 19th century. 2 additional maps show the U.S. from the west coast east to the 93rd meridian, at a smaller scale.View Maps
	Lines Of The Bell Telephone Companies. United States And Canada, 1910 American Telephone and Telegraph, Boston Shows the extent of telephone lines in the U.S. and Canada in 1910. The long distance lines are primarily in the eastern half of the country, with one line running as far west as Denver. There are no long distance lines in the west, and few local lines except in California. However, there are many lines in the mid west, with Iowa having greater phone development than Pennsylvania. A fascinating map showing the growth of the phone system at an early stage. View Map
	Andrews' Schoolroom Chart Of Geographical Illustrations, 1915 Rutley, F., London Date is approximate. A wonderful large school chart intended to show all kinds of Geographical Illustrations and how they convey information. Maps include: Map Of Europe, untitled birds eye view of land formations, The Earth In Space, The World In Hemispheres, Zones (also showing mountains of the world), The Seasons, Hemispheres Shewing The Proportion Of Land To Water, and Points Of The Compass (showing rivers of the world). Profile is titled "Section Of The Earth's Crust." View Map
	Rand McNally Commercial Atlas of America, 1924 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago This edition has excellent auto route maps of the entire United States. The atlas combines detailed railroad maps and distance maps based on railroads, with the new and growing automobile road system maps showing the road "trail" markings which we presume are an early attempt to provide consistent naming of roads that extend beyond local routes. In addition there are copious indexes showing place names, railroads, population statistics, post offices, telegraph stations, and more. The maps of large cities show the location of major railroad depots, stations, and yards. Maps are often with printed color. View Atlas
	The Histomap. Four Thousand Years Of World History. Relative Power Of Contemporary States, Nations And Empires, 1925 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago A classic 20th century version of a stream of time map showing the flow of history from 2000 B.C. to 1925. The printed sheet of explanation that accompanies the map states: "To the casual reader a Histomap will open a new field of thought. It will enlarge his vision and add zest to his reading. To the student of history it is a necessary auxiliary to that subject, as necessary as the map is to geography and should form the basis from which the intelligent reader can widen and deepen his knowledge by further reading. The Histomap fills a long felt need. It is modern in theory and practice.  It presents an actual picture of the world's history bristling with significant facts in orderly correlation, with which the reader will easily associate, (and therefore remember) all the related facts and ideas that he may pick up in his daily reading. Only by this active association of newly acquired facts and ideas into an orderly background of general history can the reader hope to remember and understand their significance and to appreciate the essential continuity and unity of the histories of all peoples.  Accomplishing this he approaches that ideal of every intelligent reader, a true understanding of the struggles of the past and some degree of true vision of the future." View Map

Cartouches, or Decorative Map Titles

Cartouches are the elaborate decorations that frame map titles and other information about the map. They add an artistic or symbolic narrative to the maps they describe. According to map historian Edward Lynam, cartouches that frame titles first appear on Italian maps in the 16th century. They persist on maps until the middle of the 19th century, going through many stylistic changes. Below are selected cartouches from maps in our collection, beginning in 1703 and ending in 1852. The cartouche styles in this 150 year period are remarkable for their diversity, symbolism, social commentary, and artistic beauty. Many of the cartouches appear to have iconographic meanings that may be lost to us today. Others are just wildly ornate, attempting to give the map they introduce a more arresting aspect. 50 cartouches are shown below; click on any of the images to see the larger maps that the cartouches embellish.

This first group of three cartouches are from Guillaume de Lisle's World Atlas of 1731:

Henry Popple's 1733 atlas Map of the British Empire in America features a cartouche remarkable for its mysterious symbolism, including a severed head of a (we assume European) man with an arrow sticking into it:

The large, ornate cartouche of John Mitchell's Map of the British and French Dominions in North America is shown below in the London edition, the Paris edition by Le Rouge, and the derivative Italian edition by Zatta:

Here is the elegant map cartouche of the immense, nine sheet Plan of St. Petersburg 1753, with a depiction of and dedication to the Empress Elizabeth of Russia:

Five imaginative and artistic map cartouches from the Atlas Universel by Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, 1757:

Thomas Jefferys used cartouches showing scenes of commerce and landscape in many of the maps in his American Atlas, published after his death by Sayer and Bennet in 1776, three of which are shown below:

Some of Thomas Jefferys' maps were also published posthumously by Kitchin, Laurie and Whittle in their New Universal Atlas of 1787, including this map of the Western Coast of Africa (derived from a French map by D'Anville) with a cartouche full of various African themes:

Even Thomas Jefferys' trade-card was in the form of an elaborate cartouche:

James Cook's 1773 map of South Carolina has a cartouche that follows Jefferys' themes of colonial enterprise, nature, and indigenous peoples:

The four cartouches below using engraved Baroque style frames are from maps in Thomas Kitchin's General Atlas of 1790:

William Faden's General Atlas of 1811 included the four map cartouches below, placing titles in buildings, on mountains and rocks, and adding humorous elements (as on the map of Turkey in Europe):

Aaron Arrowsmith, London map publisher, used cartouches on many of his wall maps, including depictions of Niagara Falls, the tropics, and portraits of explorer Captain James Cook:

American map publishers used modest cartouches starting in the late 18th century and gradually developed more elaborate ones in the first half of the 19th century:

Samuel Lewis' simple illustration of a traveler with his dog form the title cartouche for his 1819 map of the United States:

Joseph Bouchette's maps of Canada were surveyed and drawn by him in Canada, but printed in London by William Faden. The cartouches for two of the maps below are extremely ornate, probably reflecting the influence of Faden:

Philadelphia map publisher Henry Tanner used scenes of the American landscape in his panoramic cartouches for his maps of North America, New England, and the United States:

Smaller, independent American map publishers produced some interesting variations. This pocket map of Ohio by Columbus, Ohio map publisher Hiram Platt has an unusual cartouche:

S.A. Mitchell and James H. Young of Philadelphia used landscape and commerce as the themes for this cartouche:

Even American school atlas maps had cartouches, as shown in this map from  Thomas Smiley's Atlas of 1842:

By the middle of the 19th century, map cartouches were incorporating actual views of cities or landscapes into the  maps to add decoration to the titles, as in this map of Naples, Italy and the one below it of North America:

The use of views to embellish maps largely replaced decorative cartouches after 1850.  In a sense, the illustrated cartouche now wraps the entire map, not just the title. Three examples are shown below, the first from the Illustrated Atlas of 1851 by Martin and Tallis:

An even more ornate example of map illustration is this map from Levasseur's Atlas National Illustre des 86 Departments et des Possessions De La France from 1856:

The final example of the use of views is this map from Fullarton's Royal Illustrated Atlas of 1872, one of the last of the decorative atlases published in the 19th century:

This entire group of cartouches and the maps they are taken from can be seen as a slide-show or as a group.  For further reading, especially on the early period of map cartouches from the 16th and 17th centuries, see Edward Lynam's discussion of cartouches in his 1953 Mapmaker's Art (PDF).

Landmark 1979 California Water Atlas Debuts Online

Originally published in 1979, The California Water Atlas, a monument of 20th century cartographic publishing, has been scanned and put online for free public access by the David Rumsey Map Collection. Linda Vida, Director of The Water Resources Center Archives of the University of California asked David Rumsey and Cartography Associates to scan and make available to the public this extraordinary book. The copyright holder, the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, agreed to allow free public access online. 

The book was digitized at very high resolution so the resulting images can be explored, revealing all the amazing detail in the many diagrams, maps, and illustrations that accompany the extensive text. The original work was a collaborative effort involving many individuals in and outside the government of then Governor Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown, Jr., including William L. Kahrl, Project Director and Editor; William A. Bowen, Cartography Team Director; Stewart Brand,  Advisory Group Chairman; Marlyn L. Shelton, Research Team Director; David L. Fuller and Donald A. Ryan, Principal Cartographers; and many others who contributed to the project. 

The atlas may be viewed in three formats online: in the LUNA Browser of the David Rumsey online collection, in a Flip Book Reader at the Internet Archive, and in three PDF files, low (46MB), medium (72(MB), and high (180MB) resolution (For the PDF's, Firefox or Chrome are recommended since they support PDF progressive download; IE and Safari will download the PDF's but only show them at the end). All files can also be downloaded from the Internet Archive site.  When viewing the atlas online, it is best to use as big a screen as possible because the original book is large, 47cm high and 41cm wide (82cm wide when opened to two page view).

Use of the digital files is free for all personal, non-commercial uses, governed by a Creative Commons License. All the scanning, metadata creation, uploading to LUNA and to the Internet Archive was done by David Rumsey and fellow Cartography Associate colleagues Dan Holmes and Kristian McManus. 

When the atlas came out in 1979, it got rave reviews from both historians and scientists. Charles Wollenberg, writing in the California Historical Quarterly, called it "a very big and beautiful book...well-written, spectacularly illustrated, and filled with useful information for expert and layman alike...an indispensable sourcebook for decades to come." The Quarterly Review of Biology said it was "a major reference work of interest to applied ecologists concerned with water supply and usage and to ecologists in general in California." Over 30 years old, the atlas is still fresh and germane to today's issues and no doubt will be so for a long time to come.

Below are selected pages from The California Water Atlas:

Below are all the pages of The California Water Atlas - click on any page to open it in a full window.

19th Century Maps by Children

In the 18th and 19th centuries, children were taught geography by making their own maps, usually copies of maps available to them in books and atlases at their schools or homes. Below is a group of maps and geographical diagrams made by children in the 19th century; and some of the school atlases, geographies, and wall maps that may have been their sources. These old maps made by children were hand drawn and colored, one-of-a-kind productions, and it is amazing that any have survived down to our time. That they have is due to luck and the efforts of families to preserve the history of their children. These maps have a special poignancy today in the way that they reflect the optimism of youth from another time.

The geographical diagram of Connecticut below is from Frances A. Henshaw's Book of Penmanship Executed at the Middlebury Female Academy April 29, 1828. She drew geographical diagrams for each of her hand-drawn maps in her book. Notwithstanding the title, this geography book is drawn by a very promising student. It includes descriptions of Astronomical Geography, the Ptolemaic, Brahean and Copernican Systems, Comets, Great Circles, Equator, Meridian, Horizon, Colures, Tropics, Polar Circles, Zones, Climates, Latitude and Longitude, a section titled "America," and 19 maps of the states with a descriptive geographical diagram for each.

The diagram above accompanied a hand-drawn map of Connecticut, shown below. Of the 19 maps in her book, most were copied from the 1805 edition of Carey's American Pocket Atlas (see our 1796 edition, which is similar), except for Ohio, which is from Arrowsmith and Lewis' Atlas, 1812, and Indiana, from an unknown source.

The text sections of her book are copied from Morse's "Geography Made Easy", probably 1807 edition, but the text describing the maps in her geographical diagrams is entirely original. The geographical diagrams themselves are very unusual and unlike anything we have seen in children's books. A selection of them is shown below:

Henshaw saved her book and gave it to her son, T.A. Post, in 1872, a year before she died. Note the inscription on the bottom of the title page, just below the date of April 29, 1828, when she finished her book. That she kept the book for 44 years into her adult life and then passed it on to her son indicates how much she valued it. 

About a year after we scanned and put the book in our online map library, we were emailed by Henshaw's great-great grandson Truman Young who said "I recently found an item on the online David Rumsey collection that appears to be a notebook written by my great-great-grandmother, Frances Alsop Henshaw Post (1809-1873). I have more information about her, if that would be a useful addition to your records. For example the "T.A. Post" referred to on the title page is her son, Truman Augustus Post (1838-1902)." Mr. Young will visit our library later in 2010 and we hope to gain more information from him about his remarkable ancestor, Frances Henshaw. 

View the entire Frances Henshaw "Book of Penmanship" as a slide-show.

Emma Willard (1787-1870) was a prominent teacher who believed that young women should learn geography by making maps. It is likely that her influence on teaching practices of the first half of the 19th century played a role in the creation of children's maps by young women at the time. Willard published several history school books that included many very imaginative maps and charts that no doubt inspired students to think of space and time as integral dimensions of history.  An example is her Atlas to Accompany a System of Universal History, which contains "A chronological picture of nations, or perspective sketch of the course of empire. (and) the progressive geography of the World, in a series of maps, adapted to the different epochas [sic] of the history."  Her time-line "Picture of nations or perspective sketch of the course of empire" is shown below:

In the same book, Willard uses receding dark clouds shrouding parts of the maps to show the expansion of geographical knowledge over time, a convention she probably borrowed from Edward Quin's Historical Atlas of 1830. This technique is an especially delightful visualization that no doubt stimulated children's imaginations and may have helped them remember historical eras. Below is one of her cloud maps showing the period from BC 1921 to the Christian Era:

Children often made individual maps or groups of maps. Eliza S. Ordway made a small wall map of the United States in 1829, with black rollers top and bottom as was the style for commercially made wall maps of the period.

Anna M. Bullard drew her "Map of the World" in hemispheres in 1836 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her cartography is somewhat simplified but generally accurate for the time. She also used a wall-map style, including varnishing the map to better preserve it.

Maria Symonds of the Topsfield Academy in Topsfield, Massachusetts, made this map of the United States and dated it 1830. It bears a strong resemblance to John Melish's United States of 1822 (although the Melish map does not cover the West Coast). This is very well drawn, backed with linen and varnished, and outlined in color.

Another map of the United States--we think made about 1821, based on the geography and boundaries in the map-- was most likely done by a student using the John Melish 1816 United States Map (which covers the entire county coast to coast) as a source. 

It is interesting to compare the above two maps' delineation of Florida and get a closer look at their styles of drawing and level of detail:

Most of the children's maps in our collection are by young women. Only a few are by young men. These three maps made by Bradford Scott are very individualized productions and striking in their use of bold colors and strong lines.

The earliest children's atlas that we have in the collection is "A General Atlas, done by Frances Bowen under the care of her Sister Eliza in the year 1810"

Bowen has 37 maps in the atlas, all carefully drawn. The result is very fine and these are some of the most delicate and well executed children's maps we have seen. The paper is watermarked J. Whatman 1808 and E & P 1804, both English watermarks. Hence we assume that Bowen is from England; furthermore, the meridian is from London on the World and U.S. maps, although she could be American. Her World map is shown below:

View the Frances Bowen General Atlas as a slide-show.

In addition to the previously mentioned influence of Emma Willard, children and students were inspired to draw maps by reading the many other teaching and school atlases that were published in the 18th and 19th centuries. Our online map collection has over 600 maps and images from school atlases. Some of these books encouraged children to draw either by showing simplified maps of the word that were easy to copy, or by specifically providing blank map sheets for the students to fill in.

Johann Baptist Homann published his teaching atlas, the Atlas Methodicus in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1719.

An example of the simplified maps in Homann's atlas is this map showing California as an island off the coast of North America, a common geographical misconception of the 18th century. California is identified with the letter "C" which is then listed under the text pages on the islands of North America.

William Faden, a London map and atlas publisher, published the exquisite Geographical Exercises in 1777, containing pairs of drawn maps and blank maps. Students were expected to copy the drawn maps onto the blank maps and thereby learn the geography by drawing it.

Faden's Map of Asia is paired with a blank Map of Asia, the blank sheet showing clearly the interesting polyconic projection used to draw the map.

In the 19th century, Samuel Augustus Mitchell of Philadelphia published in 1839 a School Atlas that was accompanied by a separate Atlas of Outline Maps. Below is the drawn Map of the United States from the School Atlas and the outline Map of the United States from the Atlas of Outline Maps:

View a slide-show of Mitchell's drawn and outline maps.

Another example of school atlases that taught map drawing is George W. Fitch's Mapping Plates from 1850, "designed for learners in geography, being a collection of plates prepared for delineating maps of the World, and countries forming its principal subdivisions ..." Student Lydia S. Weeks completed this page of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres:

In addition to Lydia Weeks, several other students filled in the map plates.  View the entire Fitch "Mapping Plates" book as a slide show below.  Click on the link "Go to Source" to view larger.

Towards the end of the 19th century, solutions to teaching map drawing became even more imaginative, including the use of stencils in the Drawing Teacher published in 1885. It has six stencil maps in its box, below, one of the United States (shown) and five more of the continents:

It gives me special pleasure to share these maps online, as I have long treasured them as special parts of the collection. Imagine what would happen today if we brought back the classroom practice of making maps to teach geographical literacy, with all the easy tools and satellite images of the Earth available on our desktops, and these old children's maps for inspiration.

New davidrumsey.com Website Redesign

For the first time since its launch in 1999, the www.davidrumsey.com website has been completely redesigned and updated.  With better navigation and structure, users will find it easier to explore the site's many viewers and collection database with over 21,000 maps online.  A new Blog has been added to the site, and includes entries for Recent Additions, News, Featured Maps, Related Sites, and Videos.  Over 200 historic maps from the collection can be viewed in a new browser-based version of Google Earth, and users can enter the Second Life version of the map collection directly from a dedicated Second Life portal page on the site.  And the collection ticker at the bottom of the home page shows the entire online map library in random order over about 10 hours.  As always, all maps can be downloaded for free directly from the site at full resolution.  And a new service from Pictopia allows purchase of reproductions of any map in the collection directly from the new LUNA viewing software. 

The redesigned Home page of the website:

The View Collection page shows the many viewers used to explore the map collection online:

The new Blog section of the website has posts on Recent Additions, News, Featured Maps, Related Sites, and Videos:

The new website was designed by Michelle Williamson of Command Create.  Development by Bot & Rose and Adam Brin.  Hosting by Luna Imaging.

November 20, 2009 - 1,238 New Maps Added

The following are highlights from 1,238 New Maps and Images added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included are John Cary's comprehensive road map of England and Wales from 1794 (plus a composite image joining all 81 sheets), John Wilson's important Map of South Carolina, 1822, Pick's time-line historical chart from 1858, geological and oil maps of Pennsylvania, 2 editions of Rand McNally's Business Atlas, 3 editions of Johnston's Royal Atlas, the atlas edition of Viele's map of New York City from 1874, and more. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links below. Or click here to view all 1,238 new maps.

	Cary's New Map of England and Wales, With Part of Scotland, 1794 Cary, John, London 78 Maps. Highly detailed maps, including a large composite image joining all the maps together. The map sheets are bound in book form in this copy, but the maps were also issued joined as a wall map. The maps are especially detailed with information on the roads of the period. From the title: "On Which Are Carefully Laid Down All the Direct and Principal Cross Roads, the Course of the Rivers And Navigable Canals ... Delineated from Actual Surveys: and materially assisted From Authentic Documents Liberally supplied by the Right Honourable the Post Masters General." View Atlas The large composite map joining all sheets may also be viewed in Google Earth
	Map of the United States and British Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, 1816 Shelton, W.; Kensett, T., Connecticut This highly detailed and accurate map must be one of the best of its period.  It is superior to both the Arrowsmith and the Tardieu maps and incorporates information from Pike's maps and the Bradley postal maps.  There are two very interesting inset maps and a commentary on ancient fortifications along the Ohio River.  View Map
	Map Of South Carolina, 1822 Wilson, John; Tanner, Henry S.,  Philadelphia The first large scale map of South Carolina made after independence. With an inset map of Charleston Harbor. Wilson was the State Civil and Military Engineer and the creation of an accurate state map reflecting all the new internal improvements was one his responsibilities. Henry Tanner, the engraver and publisher, refers to the resulting map as "one of our best and most scientific maps..."   View Map
	Western Hemisphere; Eastern Hemisphere, 1825 Gardner, James, London With 48 inch spheres, this may be one of the largest World Maps produced in the early 1800's. Gardner's map is fairly up to date in the American Northwest, less so in the plains area. The drawing and engraving of this map are very elegant and spare.  In eight sheets, dissected into 6 sections each, and mounted on linen with dark green silk edging. View Map
	An Atlas of Ancient Geography, 1826 Tanner, Henry, Philadelphia 16 maps.  Maps in full color. Maps are divided into three categories: Geographia Sacra, Ecclesiastica, and Antiqua.  View Atlas
	Atlas Universel Pour servir a l'Etude De La Geographie Et De L'Histoire Anciennes et Modernes, 1827 Vivien de St Martin, L., Paris 48 maps.  First edition. The maps are well done, slightly smaller than the contemporary Brue and Lapie maps (except in the case of the double sheet maps),   Nonetheless, the entire atlas achieves a beautiful overall effect.  View Atlas
	Atlas Universel d'Histoire et de Geographie Anciennes et Modernes, 1835 Duval, Henri, Paris 40 maps and diagrams.  A unusual school atlas with hand lettered lithographed plates, each signed by Duval. Includes thematic maps on the natural world, astronomy, geology, and other subjects.  View Atlas
	Sharpe's Corresponding Atlas, 1849 Sharpe, J.; Lowry, J.W.,  London 54 maps.  An atlas that attempts to use projection to aid understanding of world geography.  In the preface, Sharp explains the use of only four scales (plus one for Switzerland) among the 54 maps, done with the intent to facilitate equitable comparison and comprehension of world regions.  View Atlas
	Black's Atlas Of North America, 1854 Black, Adam & Charles; Bartholomew, John, Edinburgh 20 maps.  All maps are by John Bartholomew. This is the first use of printed color by Black and Bartholomew. A fine atlas, scarce, and especially interesting when compared to another similar but more elaborate U.K. contemporary publication on North America, Rogers and Johnston's Atlas of the United States, 1857.  View Atlas
	General Atlas Of The World, 1854 Black, Adam & Charles; Hall, Sidney; Hughes, William, Edinburgh 70 maps.  This edition represents a significant change of maps for Black; Phillips lists the entire contents, which he rarely does for an atlas of this period, indicating his view of its importance.  The map of Mexico includes the California Gold Regions colored in gold. View Atlas
	Geological Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania, 1858 Rogers, Henry Darwin, Edinburgh This large map was intended to accompany the text volumes of the Final Report on the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, 1858. The map is fully colored to show geological formations, and has nine sections below the map. W. & A.K. Johnston engraved the map, further evidence of their collaboration with Rogers in addition to the 1857 Atlas of the United States.   View Map
	Tableau De L'Histoire Universelle depuis la Creation jusqu'a ce jour, 1858 Pick, Eug,, Paris Date is estimated. This is a timeline historical map, The map has vignettes of people, buildings, historical scenes and important places in the history of the world. It begins with Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden (dated as 4963 BC) and shows the passage of history as the flows of various rivers, ending in the time the map was made, 1858.  The United States is given only brief mention as a branch of the river representing Great Britain.  Full color. Dissected into 9 sections and edged in white cloth.  View Map
	Map of the Centre Oil Region From Oil City To Parkers Landing , 1871 Wrigley, Henry E.., Titusville A unique, very large scale map of the center oil region (the largest scale we have seen) made by the photographic process. Henry Wrigley was a civil engineer active in the oil region who self published a series of five oil region maps by the photographic process; on the map he states "By this means (photography) every one can be kept constantly advised of the progress of all developments and possess the information desired at the time he most needs it."  View Map
	Topographical Atlas Of The City Of New York Including The Annexed Territory, 1874 Viele, Egbert L., New York Larger version of Viele's 1865 New York Map in Atlas form, in original printed tan paper wraps reading "Topographical Atlas Of The City Of New York.  By Egbert L. Viele.  1874," with the sheets unfolded.  According to Stokes, this edition was prepared from new surveys by Eugene Quackenbush. On five sheets; full color indicating meadow, marsh, and made lands.  View Atlas
	The Royal Atlas Of Modern Geography, 1879 Johnston, Alexander Keith, Edinburgh and London 51 maps.  An updated edition of an atlas that was first published in 1861 and continued publication into the early 20th century.  View Atlas
	Atlas Universel de Geographie Moderne. Physique, Politique, Historique, Industriel, Commercial et Militaire, 1882 Jouvet et Cie., Paris 40 maps.  A thematic and physical atlas with well executed maps.  View Atlas
	Mitchell's New General Atlas, Containing Maps Of The Various Countries Of The World, Plans Of Cities, Etc., 1886 Mitchell, Samuel Augustus Jr., Philadelphia 73 maps.  At this late date in the run of Mitchell Atlases, William Bradley of Philadelphia was the publisher with Mitchell's own role no longer clear.  View Atlas
	Mitchell's New General Atlas, Containing Maps Of The Various Countries Of The World, Plans Of Cities, Etc., 1886 Mitchell, Samuel Augustus Jr., Philadelphia 68 maps.  Association copy per W. H. Gamble (fl. 1867-1887), Geographer, author of handwritten transmittal to Mrs. Emmie Johnson, tipped into lining paper, along with Gamble's card.  Gamble made many of the maps in the Mitchell atlases. Although the date is the same as the 1886 copy above, there are many changes to the maps throughout the atlas.  View Atlas
	Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas And Shippers' Guide , 1889 Rand McNally and Company., Chicago 93 maps.  1st edition in this format was 1885. This is the 18th edition.  With printed color.  Extensive coverage of railroads.  Includes all text pages which have an extensive index of places, railroads, county seats, and more. View Atlas
	The Royal Atlas Of Modern Geography, 1893 Johnston, Alexander Keith, Edinburgh and London 54 maps.  Another edition of Johnston's world atlas, all maps now in printed color.  View Atlas
	Rand - McNally Official Railway Map Of The Pacific Coast States Including Territory East To Denver, 1901 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago A large scale map of the American west from central Colorado to the coast. Shows all railroads in operation, topographical features and public surveys. It is copyrighted in 1901 with the present title (indicating that it may be the first edition in this form) and in 1893 and 1898 as "Rand, McNally & Co.'s Standard Map of the United States" (suggesting that it may have been derived from a larger map of the entire U.S.).   View Map
	Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas And Shippers' Guide, 1903 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago 102 maps.  This is the 33rd edition. Maps change from the 1890's editions - they are now similar to the Large Indexed Atlas. Complete with all text pages and indexes of places, railroads, and more. View Atlas
	Johnston's Royal Atlas Of Modern Geography, 1912 W. & A.K. Johnston, Edinburgh and London 54 maps.  Preface by G.H. Johnston. Alexander Keith Johnston's name is dropped from the title page. Maps are printed in outline color with the exception of the full color North and South Polar Charts.  This is a very late edition of the Royal Atlas, the final year of publication shown in Phillips being 1919.  View Atlas
	Campfire Rings in the Backcountry of Yosemite National Park, 1972 Holmes, Joseph Edward, Berkeley Hand drawn annotations on twelve U. S. Geological Survey 15-minute topographical basemaps. A series of symbols represent the different sizes of about 4500 fire rings and corresponding trampled areas, all from an inventory taken in the summer of 1972.. Plotting of fire rings follows a complex protocol. Detailed explanatory legend. Original in the Yosemite National Park Archives.  View Map

Carte de France - The National Survey of France 1750 - 1815

The Carte de  France was one of the first national surveys completed on the same scale, 100 toises (a toise was equal to 6ft and the equivalent scale today would be 1:86,400), according to a specific plan.  It was led by several generations of the Cassini family (not to be confused with the Italian globemaker Giovanni M. Cassini) starting in the 1740's and continuing through the French revolution and  Napoleon's time, to 1815.  Four generations of the Cassini family held the position of director of the Paris Observatory, and three of those worked on the Carte de France: Jacques Cassini (Cassini II, 1677-1756); Cesar-Francois Cassini (Cassini III, 1714-1784); and Jean Dominique Cassini (Cassini IV, 1748-1845).  The 182 sheets that comprise the map are superb examples of cartographic engraving.  The use of trigonometric surveying techniques gave the map a high degree of accuracy for its time.  The sheets can therefore be joined together to present a unified view of France in the 18th century.  In the view below, they are joined digitally - if they were physically joined together they would form a map about 39 feet high by 38 feet wide:

The Tableau de la Carte Generale de la France by Louis Capitaine shows the plan of dividing the country into map sheets:

At the bottom of the Tableau is an Explication des Caracteres Geographiques employes dans la Carte Generale de la France, which is a key to the symbols used in the 182 sheet map - there are no keys on the sheets themselves.  As such, it is invaluable in understanding the cultural information on the maps.  A portion of the key is shown below in detail (click on the image to see the full key).  Additional explanations of the map symbols can be found on this site.

The plan for the triangulation survey is shown clearly in the Nouvelle carte qui comprend les principaux triangles... published in 1744 by Cesar-Francois Cassini and Giovanni Domenico Maraldi:

The first sheet published was centered on Paris, with the prime meridian running through the Paris Observatory and titled Carte de France Levee par ordre du Roy Premiere Feuille:

This close up of sheet 1 shows Paris and the meridian passing through the Paris Observatory.  It also gives a good sense of the rich cultural information shown on the sheets (click to open in a new window with zoom and pan):

The production of the atlas sheets continued for about 65 years, to 1815. The cartographic style changed somewhat over that period, with slightly different symbols used for cultural and natural features at different times.  Yet the map still has a consistency that that is impressive for such a long project.  A version of the map on a reduced scale of 400 toises (1:345,600) on 24 sheets was published in 1790:

We have georeferenced both the 100 and 400 toises issues of the Carte de France and put them in Google Maps and in Google Earth.  Below is the 100 toises scale map in Google Maps (click on the image to open in Google Maps).  The 400 toises reduced scale map can also been seen in Google Maps.

The Carte de France in Google Maps and Google Earth can be searched by location, for example (in Google Maps) Marseilles, or Bordeaux, or Paris Environs, or regions like Brittany.


The 100 toises scale map in Google Earth is below (requires Google Earth plug-in).  The 400 toises scale map can also be viewed in Google Earth.

LUNA Commons

The LUNA Commons site provides free access to over 225,000 images from more than 15 important collections of cultural materials, including paintings, maps, books, sculpture, gardens, Americana, posters, fashion, and more...

Browse Collections in LUNA Commons

The LUNA Browser used by the LUNA Commons site allows searching across all the collections and combining images from many collections at once.  For example, Rumsey Historical Maps can be combined with Japanese Historical Maps and Maps of Africa, to create groups of images like the one below.  Use the arrows to advance the slide-show; click on the little "i" to view the catalog record; click on "Go to Source" to see the slide-show full screen.

Julius Bien, Master Printer and Cartographer

Julius Bien (1826-1909) was an American lithographic printer and cartographer who worked in New York City in the second half of the 19th century.  He was responsible for the publication of thousands of maps issued by the U.S. government and private map publishers. He was a pioneer in the development of chromolithography. He is recognized as one of the finest map printers of his time.  The Rumsey collection contains over 1,100 maps published by Bien.  Although authorship of 19th century maps and atlases is never limited to one person, and most of these cartographic productions list authors other than Bien, it is clear that he had a major role in shaping the final results.  Bien's printing and publishing of geological maps was outstanding and he took geological visualizations to new levels, as can be seen in the example below from Hayden's Atlas of Colorado, 1881.

Bien was born in Naumburg, Germany in 1826 and was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cassel and at Stadel's Institute in Frankfurt. He became involved with the German revolution of 1848, which led to his immigration to America in 1849. He established a lithographic business in New York City in 1850 and continued it there for over 50 years. Bien was drawn to map publishing and was interested in improving the quality of map printing.  He  made maps for the growing western surveys including the Pacific Railroad Surveys, the census, the coast surveys, and provided maps during the Civil War. Although primarily a printer, he did publish later in his career several atlases.  His deep interest and understanding of the science of printing make his productions exceptional.  He was given numerous awards during his lifetime and was the first president of the National Lithographers Association.  In addition to his cartographic productions, Bien issued exquisite chromolithographic reproductions of Audubon's Birds of America.

Of Bien's many atlases, his Grand Canyon, Colorado, and Fortieth Parallel are outstanding examples, shown below.

Department Of The Interior, United States Geological Survey, J.W. Powell Director. Atlas To Accompany The Monograph On The Tertiary History Of The Grand Canon District By Capt. Clarence E. Dutton U.S.A. Washington 1882. Julius Bien & Co. Lith. New York.	Department Of The Interior. United States Geological And Geographical Surveys Of The Territories. Geological And Geographical Atlas Of Colorado And Portions Of Adjacent Territory By F.V. Hayden, U.S. Geologist In Charge. Corrected To Date And Printed In Accordance With An Act Of Congress Approved February 9th 1881. Julius Bien, Lith.	Geological and Topographical Atlas Accompanying the Report of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel Made by the Authority of the Honorable Secretary of War under the direction of Brig. and Brvt. Major General A.A. Humphreys, Chief of Engineers U.S.A. by Clarence King, U.S. Geologist in Charge, 1876. Julius Bien Lith.

William Henry Holmes' topographical drawings of the 1882 Grand Canyon were printed by Bien with extraordinary result in Dutton's Grand Canyon Atlas. A detail from the Panorama From Point Sublime is shown in the image below:

Bien published the cartographic output of the Wheeler Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, from 1871 to 1883. The maps are rich in cultural and historical detail from the period.  Below is the title page of the Topographical Atlas sheets.

Below is a selection of Bien's cartographic output from 1859 to 1904, as a slide-show - use the arrows to advance the slides; click on the little "i" to view the catalog record; click on "Go to Source" to see the slide-show full screen.

Bien's last atlases were some of his finest - The Atlas of the Metropolitan District of New York, the massive Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, and The Statistical Atlas of the Twelfth Census.

Atlas of the Metropolitan District and adjacent country comprising the counties of New York, Kings, Richmond, Westchester and part of Queens in the state of New York, the county of Hudson and parts of the counties of Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Union in the state of New Jersey ... From original surveys by J.R. Bien and C.C. Vermeule, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Geological Survey of New Jersey. Published by Julius Bien & Co. New York. 1891.	Atlas to accompany the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. Published under the direction of the Hons. Redfield Proctor, Stephen B. Elkins and Daniel S. Lamont, secretaries of war, by Maj. George B. Davis, U.S. Army, Mr. Leslie J. Perry, civilian expert, Mr. Joseph W. Kirkley, civilian expert, Board of Publication. Compiled by Capt. Calvin D. Cowles, 23d U.S. Infantry. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891-1895.	Statistical atlas of the United States, based upon results of the Eleventh Census (1890). By Henry Gannett. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1898. (At head of title:) Department of the Interior, Census Office. Robert P. Porter, Superintendent ... Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor in Charge ... (seal) Department of the Interior.

Bien engraved the plates for the U.S. Civil War Atlas titled "Military Maps Illustrating the Operations of the Armies Of The Potomac & James May 4th 1864 to April 9th 1865 including Battlefields of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Totopotomoy, Cold Harbor, The Siege Of Petersburg And Richmond Battle-fields of Five Forks." The view below shows details from six of those plates, click on the images to open them in a larger window that enables zooming and panning.  The close up details of the battle maps below show the extraordinary level of Bien's printing skill.

By the time of Bien's death in 1909 his innovations in printing technology had been recognized by numerous awards and his election as the first president of the National Lithographers Association.  His prolific cartographic output during his lifetime included all the U.S. western surveys, the U.S. Census, the coast surveys, the Pacific Railroad Surveys, Civil War maps, and several atlases that he published himself. 

Cassini Terrestrial and Celestial Globes 1790 - 1792

Giovanni Maria Cassini was a noted geographer, engraver, and publisher in Rome. He was one of the last of the fine Italian globe makers active at the end of the 18th century. Cassini made Terrestrial and Celestial Globes in 1790 and 1792.  He also published the twelve terrestrial and twelve celestial globe gores that formed these globes in his atlas "Nuovo Atlante Geografico Universale" along with rules for the construction of globes and globe gores. 

The full title of the Terrestrial Globe is Globo terrestre / delineato sulle ultime osservazioni con i viaggi e nuove scoperte del Cap. Cook, inglese ; Gio. Ma. Cassini C.R.S. inc. Roma : Presso la Calcograf[i]a cam[era]le, 1790.  The globe shows contemporary discoveries in the Pacific as well as the routes of three of Captain James Cook's voyages.

Cassini's terrestrial globe gores were used to create a physical globe about 34cm in diameter.  In the virtual world, we have scanned the gores, georeferenced them and then projected and wrapped them on a three dimensional globe shown in the two images below - clicking on the globe image will open the globe in Google Earth (plugin required, turn off Atmosphere layer in Google Earth).  

The terrestrial globe gores are shown below in their original printed form on four sheets of three gores each. The images of the sheets were downloaded from the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. 

The gores were then trimmed in Photoshop and georeferenced in ArcMap to the WGS 1984 coordinate system as shown in the image below.  This is the image that is used to create the virtual globe in Google Earth and ArcGlobe.  Clicking on the image will open it in Rumsey Google Maps, in a Mercator Projection.

Terrestrial and Celestial globes were often paired together so in 1792 Cassini made a companion Celestial Globe, showing the Heavens and all the known stars and constellations.  The Celestial Globe's full title is Globo Celeste calcolato peril corrente anno sulle osservazioni de Sigg. Flamsteed e de la Caille. Roma : Calc(ografi)a Cam(era)le, 1792. Inciso dal P. Gio. Ma. Cassini, C.R.S.  Like the terrestrial globe gores, the celestial gores were scanned and georeferenced and then placed on a virtual globe as shown below.  Click on the globe image below to open the globe in Google Earth  (plugin required, turn off Atmosphere layer in Google Earth). 

Since the Terrestrial and Celestial Globes were typically viewed side by side in their physical instantiations, we wanted to join them together in their virtual copies.  We were able to do this in Google Earth by turning the Cassini Celestial Globe inside out and placing it 64 million meters outside the Terrestrial Globe, as seen in the video below.  The same space can be viewed live in Google Earth  (plugin required, turn off Atmosphere layer in Google Earth). 

At the time we did the Cassini Globes project, the Rumsey Collection did not have copies of the Cassini globe gores.  The Celestial Globe gores as well as copies of the Terrestrial Globe gores were added to the Rumsey collection in 2007.  The Terrestrial gores are the same issue as the Library of Congress copies, but the coloring is different, as can be seen from the images below, in a slide-show from the Rumsey collection database, which includes the gores and the printed parts for the "ring sheet" of zodiacs and 2 polar calottes (caps).  Use the arrows to advance the slides; click on the little "i" to view the catalog record; click on "Go to Source" to see the slide-show full screen.

Taking the virtualization of the Cassini globes a step further, the Cassini Globes have been placed on the Rumsey Map Islands in the virtual world, Second Life.  As shown in the video below, David Rumsey's avatar, Map Darwin, explores the virtual globes which are over 100 meters in diameter and placed next to each other on the map islands, floating above an 1883 map of Yosemite Valley.

Finally, as shown in the video below, it is possible to combine the Cassini Terrestrial Globe with other GIS layers, including NASA's satellite image of the world at night, several satellite images of world topography and bathymetry, and other historical maps and globes.

Perhaps Giovanni Maria Cassini would be intrigued to see his Terrestrial and Celestial Globes take on new life in the 21st century digital world, all firmly based on the great accuracy of his geographic knowledge and the high quality of his engraving skills.

Heights of Mountains, Lengths of Rivers

For over 100 years, atlas and map publishers in the United States and Europe published a style of map that was a visualization of the heights and lengths of the world's mountains and rivers.  Some of the earliest examples appeared in Europe towards the end of the 18th century.  In the United States, the form was popular throughout the 19th century and the early part of the 20th.  These maps appeared in atlases, as wall maps, and as pocket maps.  One of the most elegant examples was engraved originally on copper by map publisher Henry Tanner in Philadelphia in 1836 and then continued by S. Augustus Mitchell, also of Philadelphia, in lithographic versions into the 1850's.  The example below was published by Mitchell in 1846.

The Mountains and Rivers maps appeared in several styles and formats.  One of the earliest styles was to show just mountains, piled up in a landscape, with a key of mountain heights on the left and right sides of the illustration.  Also listed on the side would be the highest flights of the Condor, limits of plants and trees, elevations of lakes, elevation of certain high altitude cites, and climate zones.  An early example in the Rumsey collection is Charles Smith's Comparative View of the Heights of the Principal Mountains &c. In The World, published in London in 1816:

Eight examples in this style are shown below.  Each uses a different method to unpack the dense information contained in the maps:  a grid system, a numbering system, elevation lines and an outline chart. (click on images to enlarge)

A comparative view of the heights of the principal mountains and other elevations in the World. Drawn & engraved for Thomson's New general atlas by W. & D. Lizars, Edinburgh; Thomson, John; 1817. Thomson's map uses a grid system to identify the locations on the left and right sides of the map.	Map And Description Of The Principal Mountains, &c. Throughout The World. Western Hemisphere. Eastern Hemisphere. Comparative Heights Of The Principal Mountains And Other Elevations In The World; Carey, H. C.; Lea, I.; 1822. A numbering system is used on this map.  Carey and Lea copied the Thomson map on the left.
Comparative Height of the Principal Mountains and other Elevations in the World. J. Cone Sc. Published by F. Lucas Jr. Baltimore; Lucas, Fielding Jr.; 1823. Lucas also copied the Thomson map above, but introduced a new system of an outline map and key.	Tableau comparatif des principales hauteurs du globe. D'apres A.M. Perrot; Perrot, A. M. (Aristide Michel), 1793-1879; Vandermaelen, Philippe, 1795-1869;  1827. Vandermaelen used a combination of grid and numbering system in his map.
A comparative view of the heights of the principal mountains of Scotland. (with) View of the Grampian Mountains, being a specimen of the formation of that range; Thomson, John; McKenzie, D.; 1832. Thomson used a grid system to identify the mountains of Scotland and an oblique view to show the Grampians.	Tableau comparatif de la forme et de la hauteur des principales montagnes du globe terrestre, dedie a Monsieur le Baron, Alexdre. de Humboldt;  Andriveau-Goujon, J.; Bruguiere, Louis;  1850. Andriveau-Goujon used a system of elevation lines.
Geographical distribution of indigenous vegetation. The distribution of plants in a perpendicular direction in the torrid, temperate and frigid zones...; Henfrey, Arthur, 1819-1859; Johnston, Alexander Keith, 1804-1871; Schouw, Joakim Frederik, 1789-1852; 1854. While this map shows the elevation of mountains, it focuses more on the distribution of plants at different elevations around the globe.	Cuadro general de alturas comparativas del Peru; Paz Soldan, Mariano Felipe, 1821-1886; 1865. Paz Soldan used a numbering system to show the comparative elevations of the cities and mountains of Peru.

 

Another popular style combined heights of mountains and lengths of rivers in one view.  The rivers are stretched out in single lines, with the longest on the left combining with the shortest mountains, while the shortest rivers combine with the highest mountains on the right.  The visual result is very compelling. One of the earliest examples was W.R. Gardner's Comparative Heights of the Principal Mountains and Lengths of the Principal Rivers, published by William Darton in London in 1823:

Three examples of this style are shown below. (click on images to enlarge).

A comparative view of the heights of the principal mountains and lengths of the principal rivers of the World; Fenner, Rest.; 1835. Fenner hangs the rivers below the mountains in this map.	Mountains & Rivers; Colton, G.W; 1856. The Colton firm published this map in their world atlas from 1856 to 1880 and perhaps later.  The mountains are keyed to a list on a separate page.

The map below is an unusual example that divides the mountains and rivers maps into five illustrations of the continents.

A third variation of the mountain and rivers designs was putting the mountains in the center of the view with the rivers extending downward on each side.  One of the earliest examples of this type was published by Henry Tanner in 1836, Heights of the Principal Mountains in the World.

John Dower and Henry Teasdale published another version in London in 1844 titled Principal Mountains and Rivers of the World.  It is possible that there was an earlier version of this London map that Tanner copied from - a common practice of American mapmakers in the first half of the 19th century - but Tanner's map is centered on information important to American readers and the Dower/Teasdale map is oriented to England and Europe.

Other examples of this style:

Heights Of The Principal Mountains In The World; Tanner, Henry S.; Philadelphia; 1845. A later edition of Tanner's 1836 map with updates to the statics.	Heights Of The Principal Mountains In The World; Mitchell, Samuel Augustus; Philadelphia; 1846. Mitchell acquired the rights to Tanner's atlas and published his own version of the 1845 Tanner map, with little change to the map itself, while transferring it to lithography and adding a decorative border.
A Comparative View Of The Principal Waterfalls, Islands, Lakes, Rivers and Mountains, In The Western Hemisphere; Martin, R.M.; Tallis, J. & F.; New York; 1851. Tallis and Martin published this impressive pile up of mountains, rivers, waterfalls, and lakes.  The Western Hemisphere view.	A Comparative View Of The Principal Waterfalls, Islands, Lakes, Rivers and Mountains, In The Eastern Hemisphere; Martin, R.M.; Tallis, J. & F.; New York; 1851. The Eastern Hemisphere view.
Western Hemisphere; Mitchell, Samuel Augustus; Philadelphia; 1880. In Mitchell's version, he adds the hemisphere maps as well as the polar views - here the Western Hemisphere.	Eastern Hemisphere; Mitchell, Samuel Augustus; Philadelphia; 1880. And here the Eastern Hemisphere, replacing the polar views with the greatest mass of land and greatest mass of water views.

Gray's new map of the World in hemispheres, with comparative views of the heights of the principal mountains and lengths of the principal rivers on the globe, of 1885, provided a simplified view of the mountains and rivers.  It appeared in George N. Colby's Atlas of the State of Maine, 1885.

The double hemisphere style continued to the end of the 19th century, as shown by Rand McNally's Western Hemisphere, Eastern Hemisphere, of 1897 from their Indexed Atlas of the World.

There are other types of mountains and rivers maps that defy categories.  Many atlas publishers issued them in pairs, such as this mountains and rivers pages from Anthony Finley's General Atlas of 1831:

Table of the Comparative Heights of the Principal Mountains &c. in the World; Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia, 1831.	Table of the Comparative Lengths of the Principal Rivers throughout the World; Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia, 1831.

And this pair from Antonio Garcia Cubas' beautiful Atlas Pintoresco, an illustrated atlas of Mexico published in 1885:

Carta Orografica. VI; Garcia Cubas, Antonio, 1832-1912; Mexico; 1885.	Carta Hydrografica. VII; Garcia Cubas, Antonio, 1832-1912; Mexico; 1885.

School atlases often used schematic pairs of charts to indicate the heights of mountains and the lengths of rivers:

Comparative heights of mountains; Worcester, Joseph E.; Boston; 1826	Comparative lengths of rivers; Worcester, Joseph E.; Boston; 1826

And some examples show unique local interpretations such as Thomson's Comparative view of the lengths of the principal rivers of Scotland from 1822:

Or this example from Venezuela, Augutin Codazzi's Un cuadro de alturas que comprende las de las cordilleras de Merida... of 1840:

The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) had a remarkable plate in their 1844 World Atlas of A map of the principal rivers shewing their courses, countries, and comparative lengths:

A map of the principal rivers shewing their courses, countries, and comparative lengths,  Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledg, London, 1844

The final map in this series is from one of the last decorative 19th century atlases, the Royal Illustrated Atlas by Fullarton, 1872, Comparative Views of the Heights of the Principal Mountains and Basins of the principal Rivers... It combines an unusual showing of the basins of the major world rivers with the principal mountains of the world which also show the major geographical distributions of plant regions of the globe by altitude, a Humboldt inspired convention.

For more information on the subject of mountains and rivers maps, see the excellent post on BibliOdyssey as well as John Wolter's extensively researched article in the Quaterly Journal of the Library of Congress, The Heights of Mountains and the Lengths of Rivers.

Japanese Historical Maps from the East Asian Library, UC Berkeley

The remarkable collection of Japanese Historical Maps held by the East Asian Library at the University of California Berkeley campus have been put online over the last five years in a collaboration between David Rumsey and the library.  Over 1,500 images are currently online and the collection is expected to grow by several thousand more images. 

Launch Japanese Historical Maps in LUNA Browser

David Rumsey Donates 150,000 Maps to Stanford University

David Rumsey will give his map collection and digital library to Stanford University over the next five to ten years.  Rumsey will continue to host and build the online map library at www.davidrumsey.com for years to come.

NASA Images

The site NASA Images was launched in July of 2008.  It contains over 140,000 images and videos from NASA's archive.  It is hosted and developed by the Internet Archive in collaboration with NASA (the Internet Archive is the official repository and archive of all of NASA's images, videos, and other visual materials).  Luna Imaging and David Rumsey provided  the LUNA browser software.  Adam Brin created the first combined group of NASA's 25 separate websites by crawling them for images and data, and setting up the initial instance of NASA images in the LUNA software.

Browse the NASA Images Web Site

March 6, 2009 - 1,572 New Maps Added

The following are highlights from 1,572 New Maps and Images added to the David Rumsey Collection. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links below. Or click here to view all 1,572 new maps. (This link shows 1850 maps and images because some of the new 1,572 items are text pages added to atlases and the entire atlases are shown).

	Atlas Nouveau, 1742 Covens et Mortier; Lisle, Guillaume de, 1675-172, Amsterdam 107 Maps.  The entire text of the bound-in geography has been put online - it is "Inleidinge tot de Geographie ... Door den Heer Sanson d'Abbeville, Ordinaris Geographist des Konings. Te Amsterdam, By Johannes Covens en Cornelis Mortier, Boekverkopers op den Vygendam. Met Privilelgie der Heeren Staaten van Holland en West-Vriesland." View Atlas
	Carte De La Mer Mediterranee, 1764 Roux, Joseph, Marseille The 12 sheets of this atlas make up one large chart of the Mediterranean Sea.  Has notations and courses plotted on many of the charts.  Shows four scales and headings from numerous shoreline points. Includes anchorages, soundings, place names, rocks, and sketches. Shows latitudes.  View Charts
	West-India Atlas, 1788 Jefferys, Thomas, London 40 Maps.  27 pages of text have been added to the online atlas.  View Atlas
	Charts And Plates To La Perouse's Voyage, 1799 La Perouse, Jean-Francois de Galaup, comte de, 1741-1788, London 73 maps, views, and pages.  This is the London edition of La Perouse's published Voyage.  The first Paris edition of 1797 appeared one year earlier. View Atlas
	Vie De George Washington, 1807 Marshall, John, Paris 19 maps, views, and pages.  The is the Paris edition of Marshall's Life of Washington.  The maps are perhaps the highest quality of any of the various editions.  Tooley says that J.N. Buache did the maps.  View Atlas
	The Life of George Washington, 1807 Marshall, John, Philadelphis 12 maps, views, and pages.  The Philadelphia edition of Marshall's Life of Washington.  The maps are engraved by Francis Shallus, Samuel Lewis, and John Vallance - all early and importance American engravers.  View Atlas
	General Atlas of the United States, 1816 Lucas Jr., Fielding, Philadelphia 31 maps.  This is the issue with the state maps and without the complete European maps (for 31 maps total versus 54 for the larger issue). The date is estimated. All the maps are in full color, and were engraved by Henry Tanner. Title page illustrated with engraving by G. Fairman with globe, adults, and cherubs.  View Atlas
	A Complete Genealogical, Historical, Chronological, And Geographical Atlas, 1820 Carey, Mathew; Lavoisne, M., Philadelphia 84 maps, diagrams, and pages.  This is the first American edition which is based on the 1817 London edition published by J. Barfield.  View Atlas
	A General Atlas of the World, 1822 Lucas Jr., Fielding, Baltimore 67 maps.  This is a very unusual Lucas atlas.  It has 31 of the Tanner and Harrison engraved maps of the continents and foreign countries that appeared in the (1815) and (1816) "New And Elegant General Atlas."  Of the remaining 36 maps, 8 are of South America and the West Indies and are unchanged in the 1823 atlas; the other 28 maps are in many cases early states of the new U.S. maps that appear in the 1823 atlas.  View Atlas
	A General Collection Of Maps, Charts, Views, &c., 1824 Melish, John, Philadelphia 27 maps.  Unusual collection of maps by various makers. The Melish maps are from the second edition of the Military and Topographical Atlas.  Also present are Melish's map of the U.S. to accompany Maclure's Geology, several maps of foreign countries by Carey, maps of the West Indies by Lucas, and many maps by unknown makers.  This may have been published by A.T. Goodrich who acquired much of Melish's material after his death, or Robert Desilver who acquired the Carey maps.  View Atlas
	Frances A. Henshaw's Book of Penmanship, 1828 Henshaw, Frances A., Middlebury, Vermont 19 maps.  Exquisite hand drawn maps of the states. Notwithstanding the title, this is a geography book hand drawn by a very promising student. It includes descriptions of Astronomical Geography, the Ptolemaic, Brahean and Copernican Systems, Comets, Great Circles, Equator, Meridian, Horizon, Colures, Tropics, Polar Circles, Zones, Climates, Latitude and Longitude, a section titled America, and 19 maps of the states with a descriptive page for each.  This addition adds all the text pages to the online atlas.  View Atlas
	Historical atlas ... from the creation to A.D. 1828, 1830 Quin, Edward, London 21 maps.  1st edition. The unique maps show progressively receding cloud borders to indicate the expansion of geographical knowledge over time.  This addition adds all the text pages to the atlas.  View Atlas
	New American Atlas, 1833 Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia 18 maps on 22 sheets.  Although the title page is dated 1825, many maps in the atlas are dated 1833.  Several of the state maps are the latest known dates and yet this atlas has several maps of states that are very early dates - the likely explanation is that Tanner was finishing up his inventory of maps for this atlas as he prepared his new atlas, the Universal Atlas, for first issue in parts starting in 1834.  View Atlas
	A New Universal Atlas, 1845 Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia 72 maps.  This is the mid 1845 edition, date on title page is 1844. The Texas map by C.S. Williams appears here for the only time in the engraved form.  This atlas is one of several editions of the Tanner Universal Atlas in the period 1844 to 1846 that show the transition from engraved atlases to lithographic atlases.  View Atlas
	New Universal Atlas, 1848 Greenleaf, Jeremiah, no place 65 maps.  Rare reissue of 1842 Greenleaf Universal Atlas. Many changes from the 1842 edition: Florida a State, Michigan entirely redrawn, Mexican War results on North American map, Mexico, Texas, Oregon changes to show 1846 boundary with Canada, Missionary stations listed on the Hemispheres, and many new railroads, counties, boundaries, etc.  View Atlas
	A New Universal Atlas, 1848 Bourquin, Frederick; Mitchell, Samuel Augustus; Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia 76 maps.  This is a unique copy of the Mitchell/Tanner Universal Atlas. Frederick Bourquin and his employer, Peter Duval, received a Third Premium Award from the Franklin Institute in November, 1848, for their achievement in transferring the Universal Atlas from copper plates to lithographic stones. This copy of the atlas was their submission to the Franklin Institute to be considered for the award.  The atlas is made up of uncolored maps from various editions by Tanner and Mitchell, between 1846 and 1848.  It is a document of the important change from engraved maps to lithographic maps.  View Atlas
	Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena, 1856 Johnston, Alexander Keith, 1804-1871, Edinburgh 38 maps.  2nd ed., enlarged. 1st ed. was 1848. Most of the maps are lithographed in color, but some are still engraved. The 1848 ed. was entirely engraved. Maps have both hand and printed color.  This addition adds all the text pages which include some maps printed in the text.  View Atlas
	Colton's Advertising Atlas Of America, 1857 Colton, G.W., New York 63 maps and many pages of advertisements.  Full page advertisements interspersed throughout the atlas with an Index to Advertisements bound in the front.  Colton issued this atlas almost as a business directory of New York City industry in the 1850's.  View Atlas
	A New Universal Atlas, 1859 Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia 76 maps.  The scarce last edition listed in Phillips of Mitchell's New Universal Atlas.  It was published by Charles DeSilver of Philadelphia.  This edition marks the end of the New Universal Atlas run, which started twenty three years earlier with the Tanner first edition of 1836.  View Atlas
	Martenet's Map of Maryland, Atlas Edition, 1866 Martenet, Simon J., Baltimore 53 maps and text pages.  This is Martenet's state map in book form, by county. A description of each county accompanies the maps. Manuscript notations updating some of the political geography. List of sources of the map, most of which were Martenet's own surveys.  View Atlas
	Map of the States Of California And Nevada, 1869 Holt, Warren; Gibbes, C.D., San Francisco Wall map.  First issue. Lithographed in Philadelphia by S.B. Linton. The smaller 1873 Holt/Gibbes pocket map of California and Nevada was probably derived from this map. An inset profile shows "Elevation Above The Sea Of Some Of The Principal Mountains In California And Nevada."  View Map
	Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas Of The World, 1874 Johnson, A.J., New York 70 maps and text pages.  The last year of continuous publication for this atlas that started in 1860. For some reason, Johnson seems to not have published atlases in 1875, 1876, and 1878 - or they were published in such small numbers that we have yet to see them.  View Atlas
	Rail Road Atlas and Pictorial Album of American Industry, 1875 Asher & Adams, New York 111 maps and advertising pages.  This is a very unusual and wonderful atlas - it combines the most complete Asher & Adams atlas map set (the same grouping as the late 1874 issue, but updated - see our #0041) bound unfolded on edge (this is a huge book) with beautiful illustrations opposite each map of industrial establishments, products, and machinery. It has become very scarce. Its sheer size probably meant that the edition was small in number.  View Atlas
	A Group of 4 Geologic Atlases, 1887-1904 United States Geological Survey Washington (D.C.) Atlases of the Pacific Slope, Yellowstone Park, Aspen Colorado, and the Marquette Iron District of Michigan.  Various authors.  All with color lithography by Julius Bien & Co. of New York.  View Atlases.
	Nouvel Atlas Illustre Geographie Universelle, 1892 Desbuissons, L.E.; Migeon, J., Paris 67 maps.  A late date for an atlas to have hand colored maps, as this does. With a large folding railroad map of Europe in the back. The vignette views are on every map and are very attractive.  View Atlas
	Atlas Of The Mexican Conflict, 1914 Rand McNally and Company; Schlitz Brewing Company, Chicago 8 maps.  Presents the U.S. side of the conflict. The maps are standard Rand McNally maps of the period, except for the Mexico map which has been overprinted in red to show the war situation, dramatically showing the fleets and forts.  View Atlas
	Linea Divisoria Entre Mexico Y Los Estados Unidos, 1901 International Boundary Commission, New York 19 maps.  Accompanies Memoria de la seccion Mexicana. Publication date approximate.  U.S. and Mexican Commissioners listed with signatures. Maps in black and white and showing 20-foot contours, railroads, survey markers, landmarks, vegetation, watercourses, roads, hachures for edges of mesas, and boundary line.  View Atlas
	Atlas Universel de Geographie, 1937 Schrader; Vivien St Martin, L., Paris 80 maps.  A fine color lithography atlas from Librairie Hachette.  This copy is bound with three screw down bolts, to hold the parts as issued and to substitute new maps as they became available. The earliest map in this set is 1920. Most of the maps are dated from 1930 to 1937.  View Atlas
	5 Maps of Yolo County, California, 1900 - 1939 Various authors, various places (Original Not in Rumsey Collection - Original with the Yolo County Records and Archives Center).  These maps show the evolution of Yolo County over a 39 year period.  View Maps

August 1, 2008 - 1,038 New Maps Added

The following are highlights from 1,038 New Maps added to the David Rumsey Collection. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links below. Or click here to view all 1,038 new maps.

	Carte de la France 1790 Cassini, Cesar-Francois, 1714-1784; Capitaine, Louis, ca. 1749-ca. 1797; Cassini family, Paris 5 maps. These maps are a 24 sheet reduction of Cassini's 182 sheet 1750 map, joined together in 4 large sheets of 6 maps each. Includes the key to symbols used in the large Cassini survey. View Maps You can also view these maps in Google Maps and Google Earth
	United States Gazetteer, 1795 Scott, Joseph, Philadelphia 19 maps. This is one of the earliest gazetteers of the United States that was published in the U.S. View Gazetteer
	A New General Atlas, Ancient and Modern, 1814 Playfair, Principal, London 44 maps. An elegantly engraved atlas (many of the maps were engraved by Neele, who also engraved for Pinkerton). View Atlas
	General Atlas of the World, 1822 DeSilver, Robert, Philadelphia 10 maps. Atlas of hand colored maps. Title page includes table of contents listing 47 maps (of which we have 10: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and Switzerland). Unbound sheets. View Atlas
	Atlas geographique, statistique, historique et chronologique des deux Ameriques, 1825 Buchon, J. A. C., Paris 53 maps. This atlas is derived from the Carey & Lea 1822 and 1823 American Atlas editions. Many of the maps are updated and several new maps have benn added. View Atlas
	Atlas of Scotland, 1832 Thomson, John , Edinburgh and London 58 maps. 2nd issue. "The publication of this splendid atlas, begun in 1818 and finished only in 1831, apparently was disastrous to its originator, for the first issue was published by 'The Trustees,' but the 1832 title has Thomson's own imprint..." --Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Early maps of Scotland, 2d. ed., 1936. View Atlas
	Physisch-statistisch u. politischer Atlas von Europa, 1837 Desjardins, Constant, Wien 6 maps. Not in Robinson; very early thematic atlas. Maps are a mixture of hand colored (land) and printed (water) full color. View Atlas
	La Geographie Universelle, 1837 Malte-Brun, Conrad, Paris 70 maps. An atlas of maps intended to accompany Malte-Brun's Universal Geography. Engraved edition. Later editions (1839) were lithographed. View Atlas
	L'Univers. Atlas Classique Et Universel De Geographie Ancienne Et Moderne, 1837 Fremin, A.R.; Monin, C.V.; Montemont, A., Paris 38 maps. These maps are large and impressive. They were published with Montemont's 46 volume Histoire Universellle Des Voyages... View Atlas
	Atlas universel de geographie physique, politique, ancienne & moderne, 1842 Brue, Adrien Hubert, 1786-1832; Picquet, C., Paris 65 maps. Maps are dated 1822-1842. The maps of the United States and of Mexico show Texas as a Republic. Many of the maps are updated from the 1828 edition of Brue's atlas. View Atlas
	Atlas universel historique et geographique, 1844 Houze, Antoine Philippe, Paris 101 maps. Maps in outline color. Maps show the same areas over time: Holy Land (14), France (30), England (10), Italy and Greece (16), Spain (8), Germany (12), Russia (4), Asia (3), and one for N. America, S. America, Africa, and the Pacific Ocean. View Atlas
	New General Atlas Of The World, 1844 Dower, John Nicaragua; Teesdale, Henry, London 46 maps. An elegant atlas of double page maps, beautifully engraved by John Dower. This copy is printed on very heavy paper. View Atlas
	Historisch-geographi scher Hand-Atlas zur Geschichte der Staaten Europa's, 1854 Spruner von Merz, Karl, Gotha 58 maps. Latest date of revised maps: 1863. Catalog pasted on end lining paper lists works dated up through 1873. Maps with outline hand coloring. Includes "Erlauternde Vorbemerkungen" (58 p.) First published in 1846. Abt. 2 of Dr. Karl von Spruner's Historisch-geographi scher Hand-Atlas. View Atlas
	Atlas National De La France, 1856 Levasseur, Victor, Paris 100 maps. This atlas is noteworthy for its beautiful illustrations in the borders of the maps. It was one of the last of the decorative map atlases of the 19th century, along with Tallis and Fullarton. This copy is bound with the maps folded on tabs. View Atlas
	Geographischer Atlas uber alle Theile der Erde, 1864 Ziegler, J. M.; Ritter, Carl, Winterthur 24 maps. Maps are highly detailed, yet undated. They are with hand or printed color, in a mixture of outline and full color. View Atlas
	Spruner-Menke atlas antiquus, 1865 Spruner von Merz, Karl; Menke, Th., Gotha 31 maps. An atlas of the classical world, originally published in 1850 as the first part of Spruner's historisch-geographi scher hand-atlas, issued in 3 parts, 1846-51. 2nd edition published in 1855. View Atlas
	Neuer Atlas der ganzen Erde, 1865 Stein, Christ. Gottfr. Dan, Leipzig 28 maps. 32nd Edition. Maps by Ziegler, Lange, Heck and others. Very good large two sheet map of the United States shows the Confederate states as a separate country. View Atlas
	Atlas dresse pour l'Histoire de la geographie et des decouvertes geographiques, 1874 Vivien de Saint-Martin, M., Paris 13 maps. An interesting historical atlas, with many facsimiles of early period maps. View Atlas
	Middle Tennessee, Chattanooga Campaigns, 1891 United States. Army. Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. 8 maps. All eight maps are derived and enlarged from an 1865 "Military Map of Middle Tennessee and parts of East Tennessee..." by C.S. Mergell which was published in 1874. Each map says "Positions of the Troops located in 1891." These maps are of great interest to historians of these battles because the level of detail regarding troop positions, etc. is very good. View Atlas
	Wisconsin bicycle road maps, 1897 League of American Wheelmen, Wisconsin Division, Milwaukee 12 maps. 12 maps in a case showing the best bicycle routes in the state of Wisconsin. The L.A.W. published maps for many states, usually in book form, sometimes as separate maps in a case. View Atlas
	Atlas de Filipinas, 1899 Algue, P. Jose.; U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D.C. 30 maps. One of the earliest scientific surveys of the Philippine Islands, published by the U.S. Coast Survey. These maps were prepared through the accurate surveys made by Jesuit Fathers under the supervision of Rev. Jose Algue, the director of the Jesuit Observatory at Manila. View Atlas
	Atlas metodico para la ensenanza de la geografia de la Republica Mexicana, 1899 Garcia Cubas, Antonio, Mexico 31 maps. A late atlas of Mexico by Garcia Cubas. 1st edition was 1874; maps of each state or territory with accompanying text. A somewhat crude production in printed color, probably intended for use in schools. View Atlas
	Atlas Antiquus, 1903 Kiepert, Heinrich, Berlin 12 maps. An atlas of the classical world. Latest map revisions dated 1903. Place names, legends and index in Latin; explanatory material in German. View Atlas

Giving Maps a Second Life with Digital Technologies

This is a video of David Rumsey giving the opening keynote address to the Digital Library Federation Spring 2008 Forum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 28, 2008. The talk is a substantially expanded version of the Second Life Launch Event talk.

Second Life Launch Event Talk

A video presentation from the Rumsey Map Islands launch in Second Life on March 6, 2008.

Rumsey Map Islands Open in Second Life

Rumsey Map Islands open in the virtual world of Second Life.  Maps from the collection are rendered in huge scale in this 3D environment.  See the Video of the Opening Talks.

Google Sky Adds Rumsey Celestial Globe

Google Sky (part of Google Earth) adds a new layer for the 1792 Celestial Globe by Giovanni Cassini, from the David Rumsey Map Collection.  Read the Astronomy Magazine Blog about the new feature.

November 28, 2007 - 1,566 New Maps Added

Atlas des ganzen Erdkreises, 1803
Reichard, C. G., Weimar
6 maps. The maps depict the entire earth on a central or gnomonic projection, which shows the globe as six faces of a cube. View Maps

Union Atlas, 1813
Darton, William, London
38 maps. This is a charming atlas with well executed maps that are fairly typical for the period. From the title it seems that this was intended to accompany gazetteers and geographies and thus probably had some use in the schools.View Atlas

Neuer Hand-Atlas uber alle Theile der Erde, 1822
Reichard, C. G.; Haller von Hallerstein, Friedrich, Nurnberg
28 maps. An early 19th century German atlas, with maps that follow the latest geographical discoveries. View Atlas

Celestial Atlas, 1822
Jamieson, Alexander, London
36 maps, diagrams, and text pages. A celestial atlas comprising a systematic display of the heavens in a series of thirty maps. Illustrated by scientific descriptions of their contents, and accompanied by catalogs of the stars and astronomical exercises. View Atlas

Atlas til Friherre Klinckowstroms Bref om de Forente Staterne, 1824
Klinckowstrom, Axel Leonhard, Stockholm
18 maps, diagrams, illustrations and text pages. To accompany the author's "Bref om de forente Staterne, forfattade under en resa till Amerika aren 1818, 1819, 1820" (Stockholm: Ecksteinska tryckeriet, 1824). Several of the maps are translations into Swedish of maps by John Melish. View Atlas

Atlas Universel de Geographie, 1828
Brue, Adrien Hubert, Paris
71 maps and text pages. One of the best French general atlases of the early 1800's. Updated through many editions into the 1870's. View Atlas

London atlas of Universal Geography, 1838
Arrowsmith, John, London
52 maps and text pages. 3rd edition. This atlas is remarkable for its understated elegance and clarity. It is one of the first truly "modern" atlases of the nineteenth century. View Atlas
View the 1844 edition of this atlas

A New General Atlas, 1845
Tanner, Henry S.; (Finley, Anthony), New York
64 maps and text pages. The last atlas published by Henry Tanner. It is largely a reissue of Anthony Finley's General Atlas of the 1820's and 1830's, updated. View Atlas

The Moravia Atlas, 1853
Fullback Academy, Fullback, England
42 maps and text pages. A religious atlas showing the location of Moravian churches and missions around the world. View Atlas

Maps and charts of the United States Coast Survey, 1854
United States Coast Survey; Bache, A. D., Washington, D.C.
63 maps, charts and text pages. A rare set of most of the Coast Survey maps published to July 1854. All the maps are engraved instead of lithographed. The maps issued on the Coast Survey annual reports, which are more commonly seen, were lithographed. View Charts

Vollstandiger Hand-Atlas der neueren Erdbeschreibung, 1855
Sohr, Karl; Berghaus, Heinrich; Flemming, Carl, Glogau and Leipzig
133 maps and text pages. One of the most scarce of the mid 19th century German atlases, with an interesting reduction of Arrowsmith's important 1841 Map of Texas. View Atlas

Reports of Explorations and Surveys...for a Railroad From the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, 1861
Warren, Gouverneur Kemble; Pacific Railroad Survey, Washington, D.C.
56 maps, views and text pages. Includes all the maps, profiles, and views from Volume XI of the U.S. Government sponsored survey to find the best railroad route across the west to the Pacific Ocean. View Maps

Atlas of the State of Delaware, 1868
Beers, D. G., Philadelphia
44 maps and text pages. This is the first of two state atlases by D.G. Beers, the other being Rhode Island in 1870. Both are uncommon, and this one is rare. View Atlas

New topographical atlas and gazetteer of Indiana, 1870
Higgins & Ryan; Asher, Adams & Higgins, Indianapolis
13 maps and text pages. Includes index, brief history of Indiana, and maps of the United States, Europe, and the world. View Atlas

Atlas of the Maritime Provinces, 1878
Roe Brothers, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
37 maps and text pages. This is the only 19th century atlas of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. View Atlas

Atlas of the State of Maine, 1885
Colby, George N.; George N. Colby & Co., Houlton, Maine
53 maps and text pages. Includes maps, statistics and descriptions of Maine's history, educational system, geology, rail roads, natural resources, summer resorts and manufacturing interests. View Atlas

Stuart's Atlas of the State of Maine, 1894
J.H. Stuart & Co.; Stuart, J. H., South Paris, Maine
63 maps and text pages. 9th edition. This updated Colby's Atlas of Maine from 1885. View Atlas

Historical Atlas of Augusta County, Virginia, 1885
Hotchkiss, Jed.; Waddell, Joseph Addison, Chicago
39 maps, photographs and text pages. A scarce county atlas based on maps by the famed Civil War cartographer, Jedidiah Hotchkiss. View Atlas

Atlas geografico y estadistico de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1886
Garcia Cubas, Antonio, Mexico
32 maps and text pages. Maps of each state of Mexico, the Distrito Federal, and a general map of the entire country. View Atlas

Atlas der Geologie, 1892
Berghaus, Hermann, Gotha, Germany
15 maps and text pages. A separate issue of the Geological section of the 1892 Physikalischer Atlas. View Atlas. These maps can be compared to the much earlier Physikalischer Atlas by Heinrich Berghaus of 1849.

Canyons of the Colorado, 1895
Powell, John Wesley, Meadville, Pennsylvania
126 maps, views and text pages. All the illustrations and maps from Powell's important book on his journeys down the Colorado River in the period of 1867 to 1872. View Book

Stanford's London Atlas of Universal Geography, 1901
Stanford, Edward, London
111 maps and text pages. First issued in 1887, this atlas is the successor to John Arrowsmith's London Atlas of 1858 (Stanford acquired Arrowsmith's plates upon his death). This is a magnificent atlas, in full color lithography, certainly the premier English atlas of its day. View Atlas

Report of the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii to the Secretary of the Interior, 1906
Hawaii. Governor, Washington, D.C.
11 maps and text pages. With 9 maps, most folding and large (Maui is 110x133) showing land uses, topography, ownership, etc. The maps are dated around 1900 and are very interesting and attractive. The text and the maps give a look at the early commercial development of the islands. View Maps

Photo-auto maps, 1907
Chapin, Gardner S.; Schumacher, Arthur H.; Rand McNally and Company, Chicago
60 maps, photographs and text pages. A very unusual presentation of nine index maps showing the route from New York to Albany and Saratoga Springs and return, with photographs showing with printed arrows each turn to make in the road. Eventually, route signs were posted for automobiles, but before that occurred, this book filled a need. View Atlas

Davis' New Commercial Encyclopedia, the Pacific Northwest, 1909
(Cram, George Franklin); Davis, Ellis Arthur, Berkeley, California
115 maps, photographs and text pages. Includes maps and photographs of three states, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. View Atlas

New Mercantile Marine Atlas, 1922
Philip, George, New York, London and Liverpool
41 maps and text pages. A series of 35 plates containing over 200 marine charts and plans with shipping routes. View Atlas

Auto Road Atlas of the United States and Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, 1927
Rand McNally and Company, Chicago
54 maps and text pages. The second edition of this early American road atlas, expanded to include Canada. View Atlas

A Group of Separately Published Maps and Pocket Maps, 1710 to 1922
Various Authors, Various Places of Publication
100 maps and text pages. A group of maps ranging from Hotan's 1710 Nanzenbushu bankoku shoka no zu (Buddhist conceptual map of the world) to Edward Stanford's 1922 pocket map of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama. View Maps

Farber Gravestone Collection

The Farber Gravestone Collection is an unusual resource containing over 13,500 images documenting the sculpture on more than 9,000 gravestones, most of which were made prior to 1800, in the Northeastern part of the United States. The late Daniel Farber of Worcester, Massachusetts, and his wife, Jessie Lie Farber, were responsible for the largest portion of the collection. This online version of the Farber Gravestone Collection is sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society. The Web site and online image database have been created by David Rumsey and Cartography Associates.

Launch Farber Gravestone in LUNA Browser

April 7, 2007 - 1,041 New Maps Added

United States Exploring Expedition, 1845
United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842); Wilkes, Charles, Philadelphia
84 maps, views, and portraits. These illustrations appear in the five volumes of text that make up the narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition in the years 1838 to 1842. The large maps of the expedition were published in a separate volume. View Illustrations

Atlas of Hamilton County, Ohio, 1869
Harrison, Robert H.; Titus, Clarence O, Philadelphia
44 maps and views. There are ten detailed maps of Cincinnati. Colton's Ohio map is used without attribution and under Titus' imprint. The plans of towns and counties are typical for the period; no views, except for the last page which has two views and a description of Longview Asylum. View Atlas

Report U.S. Geographical Surveys West of the 100th Meridian volume 1, 1875
Wheeler, G.M., Washington, D.C.
287 maps, views, diagrams, and text pages. These images comprise most of the illustrations in the first of the seven text volumes of the Wheeler survey published from 1875 to 1889. This first volume, Geographical Report, contains much valuable information on the general history of western U.S. mapping and specific details on the sources of the Survey's map sheets. View Illustrations

Scribner's Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1883
(United States. Census Office); Hewes, Fletcher W.; Gannett, Henry, New York
161 maps, diagrams, and text pages. First edition, based on the 1880 U.S. Census. View Atlas

Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1898
United States Census Office; Gannett, Henry, Washington, D.C.
69 maps, diagrams, and text pages. This atlas is based upon the results of the United States Eleventh Census of 1890. View Atlas

Twelfth Census of the United States, taken in the year 1900, Statistical Atlas, 1903
United States Census Office; Gannett, Henry, Washington, D.C.
219 maps, diagrams, and text pages. Maps by Julius Bien & Co. The maps are in color and overwhelmingly thematic in nature covering the topics of population, vital statistics, agriculture, and manufacturing. View Atlas

Atlante Internazionale, 1929
Touring Club Italiano, Milano.
177 maps and text pages. This magnificent atlas is the third edition of a work originally published in 1927. It rivals the 1922 Times Atlas of the World for both international coverage and cartographic excellence. Each map is accompanied by text that lists the sources of the map, as well as the terms used, the classification of towns, and a table of conventional signs. View Atlas

December 8, 2006 - 1,148 New Maps Added

Atlas Nouveau, 1742
Lisle, Guillaume de; Covens & Mortier, Amsterdam
121 maps and text pages. The Amsterdam edition of De Lisle's maps, adding maps by Sanson, Jaillot and others. View Atlas. Or compare this atlas combined with the earlier 1731 Paris edition by DeLisle

Globo Terrestre, Globo Celeste, 1792
Cassini, Giovanni Maria, Rome
24 globe gores on 8 sheets with 2 additional plates. 12 terrestrial and 12 celestial globe gores from an important Italian map publisher. View Globes

New Universal Atlas, 1802
Kitchin, Thomas; Robert Laurie and James Whittle, London.
91 Maps. Maps dated 1794-1802. Many of the maps are updated from Kitchin's 1790 General Atlas, and Thomas Jefferys' 1776 American Atlas. View Atlas

New and Elegant General Atlas, 1804
Arrowsmith, Aaron; Lewis, Samuel, Philadelphia
63 maps. An early American atlas that went through several editions. It is an interesting example of collaboration between London (Arrowsmith) and Philadelphia (Lewis) map makers. View Atlas

Map of the United States, Exhibiting the Post-roads, 1809
Bradley, Abraham Junior, Washington, D.C.
Third edition. The map is dated 1804 but the delineation of the political geography indicates a date of 1809. An important road map showing the system of postal routes of the emerging United States. View Map. Compare this map to the fourth edition of Bradley's postal map, 1812.

New and Elegant General Atlas, 1812
Arrowsmith, Aaron; Lewis, Samuel, Boston
63 maps. A later edition of the Arrowsmith and Lewis atlas. View Atlas

Edinburgh Geographical and Historical Atlas, 1831
Lizars, Daniel; Hamilton, John, Edinburgh and London
66 Maps. Some of the finest maps of the period. This atlas was very accurate in this first edition; later editions were not always sufficiently updated. View Atlas

Land Sale Maps, San Francisco, California, 1860-1873
(California) Board of Tide Land Commissioners, Britton & Co, San Francisco
A group of six maps showing lands for sale in the city of San Francisco and in the tide-lands around San Francisco Bay. View Maps

Atlas of the Entire City of New York, 1879
G.W. Bromley & Co.; Geo. W. Bromley & E. Robinson, New York
62 Maps. Bromley published several atlases of New York City and this was his first. Shows land ownership and building locations in great detail. Various newspaper articles and other documents are attached to the versos of many maps, explaining the history of areas keyed in manuscript on the maps. Annotations or pasted-on notes on most maps. View Atlas

Allgemeiner Handatlas, 1881
Andree, Richard, Leipzig
72 Maps. First edition of an important 19th and early 20th century German world atlas. The maps are printed in color and simplified compared to the competing Stieler world atlases also published in Germany at that time. The atlas features many innovative thematic maps. View Atlas

Letts's Popular Atlas, 1883
Letts, Son & Co., London
152 Maps. An inexpensive and highly detailed popular British atlas, with especially detailed coverage of India and Russia, and many cities of the world. View Atlas

Atlas of New Hampshire, 1892
D.H. Hurd & Co., Boston
281 Maps and views. This massive state atlas uses a new style of view with the maps - a cross between photography and drawn views. View Atlas

The Times Atlas, 1895
Times (London, England); Andree, Richard, London
78 Maps. First edition of the Times Atlas of the World, with maps by Richard Andree of Germany, translated into English. Compare this atlas to the Andree Handatlas above. View Atlas. In later editions (1922), The Times used maps published by John Bartholomew of Edinburgh. The earlier collaboration with a German publishing house was unusual.

Atlas California Earthquake, April 18, 1906, 1908
California. State Earthquake Investigation Commission, Washington, D.C.
41 Maps and diagrams. Detailed maps and geologic profiles of the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906, plus reproductions of seismograms from many earthquake stations. View Atlas

Google Earth Adds Rumsey Historical Maps Layer

Google Earth launches a group of maps from the David Rumsey Map Collection in their 3D Globe. Read an article in PC Magazine, read the Google Earth Press Release, or read David Rumsey's entry in the Google Blog.