David Rumsey Map Collection

China : Chung Hue Min Kuo = central flowery republican country. (Seen from the direction of Guam). Richard Edes Harrison. (inset) Migration of Chinese Universities. 1941.
Harrison, Richard Edes, New York

Color map. Title in Chinese and English. Published as supplement to Fortune Magazine, April 1941. Richard Edes Harrison designed the maps to be both visually appealing and politically charged, reflecting the urgency of the war. Map shows boundaries, major cities, ports, Chinese supply ports, overland supply routes and Japanese occupied territory. Includes notes and table of distances. Relief shown pictorially and by shadings.  View Map

Theatre geographique du royaume de France. Contenant les cartes & descriptions particulieres des provinces d'iceluy. Oeuvre nouvellement mis en lumiere : avec une table, où sont les noms de toutes les cartes de chacune desdites provinces. Les descriptions par escrit ont esté recueillies & dressées par Gabriel Michel de La Roche-Maillet angevin, ancien advocat au Parlement & au conseil privé de Sa Majesté. Le tout dedié au Roy. A Paris, chez la veufve Jean Le Clerc, ruë Sainct Jean de Latran, à la Sallemandre royalle. M. DC. XXXII. Avec privilege du Roy. 1632.
Michel de La Rochemaillet, Gabriel, 1561-1642; Le Clerc, Jean, (1560-1621) Paris

In 1594 Maurice Bouguereau issued the first national atlas of France with regional maps. Jean Le Clerc acquired the plates and re issued the maps with editions published by him and later his widow in 1621, 1626, and 1632 (this copy). Additional maps were added with each edition. Considered the first atlas of France to contain detailed maps of all the provinces. Sheets in French and/or Latin. Relief shown in sketches. View Atlas

Jerusalem. F. T. Treitel. Printed and published by: The Commercial Press. Jerusalem. Copyright 1942. Prop. Tewfic Habesch. Lay-out by Heller & Treitel ... Zincography by: Pikowsky. (Cover title) Jerusalem upon your palm : The new pictorial map and information guide, with compliments of the Arab Tourist Agency Ltd. Jerusalem, Jordan. Published by the Commercial Press Jerusalem. (on back cover) Map of Palestine. Copyright by Bauer, 1937.
Treitel, F.T.; Arab Tourist Agency, Ltd., Jerusalem

Pictorial map, 43x66, folded into pictorial cover 23x12.5. Shows roads, tracks, paths, old city, new quarter, garden, parks, public buildings, historic sites, places of interest, etc. Includes Index, abbreviations, and list of public and historic place names. On back cover: Uncolored map of Palestine. Shows boundaries, railways, roads, and airport.  View Map

Carte Historique De La France Et De L'Angleterre Depuis La Naissance De Jesus-Christ Jusqu'a L'An Milseptcent, qui contient en abrege les evenements principaux de ces royaumes pendant l'empire romain. ... Avec un triple moyen d'Appendre les histoires, scavoir de succes, de siecle, en siecle, et de signeurie en seigneurie par Jer. Andre Martigonoi. 1721.
Martignoni, Jerome Andre, Turin

Time line map, a chronological tree of French and English historical events since the birth of Christ until 1700. Prepared and published by the Italian scholar and poet Jerome Andre Martignoni. Includes in the upper left corner inset map of "modern" England, in the right upper corner "modern" France, and in lower panel coats of arms. The Channel and the Mediterranean are filled with ships and a scale. In the lower part the map continues with parts of North Africa, filled with dromedaries, elephants, etc. The title of his work translates as " Explanation of the historical map of France and Britain since the birth of Jesus Christ until the year 1700, which contains abbreviated key events of these kingdoms during the Roman Empire. Martignoni intended this work as a new means of teaching European History in an easy, comprehensible, and all-encompassing manner by means of historical maps composed in a special methodical way.    View Map

NavWarMap No. 1. The Mediterranean. NavWarMap No. 2. The South China Sea Area. NavWarMap No.3. World War 2 in the North Sea area. NavWarMap No.4. The North Pacific area. NavWarMap No.5. The South Pacific. (on verso) NavWarMap No.6. We fight a Global War. Distributed by the Educational Services Division, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Dept., Washington D.C. 1944.
Educational Services Division, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department, Washington

A series of 6 maps using bold graphics to show the status of the various war fronts during World War II. Full color. Relief shown by shaded relief. Also distributed by the Army Orientation Course.   View Maps

Atlas. Tot Amsterdam By Frederick de Wit in de Calverstraet bij den Dam inde Witte Paskaert. 1682.
Wit, Frederick de, Amsterdam

This atlas marks the appearance of a less expensive atlas in the Dutch atlas market. Without text and in small folio size, it begins a move away from the expensive and elaborate atlases of Blaeu and Visscher, towards the more concise atlases that appear in the 18th century. Date estimated. Relief shown in sketches. Outline color. Hand annotations in the margins of some maps. Image No. 12220059.jp2 is a map likely prepared specially for the atlas owner for whom this was a special locale; this would account for the extensive use of gold on the sheet..    View Atlas

Geographie Mathematique, Physique et Politique de Toutes les Parties du Monde, Publiee par Edme Mentille, de l'Institute national, Malte Brun, Geographe Danois. Atlas. Compose de 45 Cartes, gravees par J.-B.-P. Tardieu aine, sur les dessins de J.-B. Poirson, ingenieur-geographe, revues et corrigees d'apres les meilliurs autorite, par Edme Mentelle ... Paris, Chez Henry Tardieum Imprimeur-Libraire ... (Chez) Laporte. An XIII. 1804.
Mentelle, Edme, 1730-1815; Malte-Brun, Conrad, 1775-1826; Poirson, J.B., Paris

An atlas of 45 maps with numerous unusual additional maps from various sources and dates bound in (see two to the left). Additional maps have pages numbers labeled "... bis ...". Most have outline color. 1804 assigned to any undated sheet. Relief shown by sketches.   View Atlas

America: Being The Latest, And Most accurate Description Of The New World; Containing The Original of the Inhabitants, and the Remarkable Voyages thither. The Conquest of the Vast Empires of Mexico and Peru, And Other Large Provinces and Territories ... Collected from the most Authentick Authors, Augmented with later Observations, and Adorn'd with Maps and Sculptures, by John Ogilby, esq; His Majesty's Cosmographer, Geographick Printer, and Master of the Revels in the Kingdom of Ireland. London, Printed by the Author, and are to be had at his House in White Fryers, M.DC.LXXI. 1671.
Ogilby, John, 1600-1676; Montanus, Arnoldus, 1625?-1683, London

First edition, second issue, with the important Lord Proprietors map of Carolina by Moxon replacing the Arx Carolina plate and the Virginia pars Australis map of the first issue, with the addition of a map of Barbados, and with the plate list as in the first issue still listing Arx Carolina and Virginia pars Australis but not listing the Lords Proprietors Carolina or Barbados. This copy includes both the Arx Carolina plate and the Virginia pars Australis map, tipped in later. The work is an English translation of Arnold Montanus “De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld,” but with a number of additions concerning New England, New France, Maryland and Virginia. Many new maps and views were added. The Moxon map of Carolina is the first large format map of the newly established colony of Carolina. “America” was Ogilby’s finest foreign work; over 150 authors are credited although Montanus is lacking. “When it came to North America, particularly, he abandoned Montanus entirely for his own closer sources. His work used superior type and larger and finer paper than Montanus. Clearly some form of at least tacit agreement existed between Montanus and Ogilby as he acquired the same plates to illustrate his work. This is itself unusual as Ogilby was renowned for providing his own ‘sculptures’. The reasons may lie in the fact that the project clearly was already an expensive one, and that the work had been promised for some time and further delay was undesirable. The first map in the book, of the whole of America, was one of five plates provided by Ogilby himself. We may speculate that this was because Montanus did not actually own the Schagen plate, or that Ogilby wished to insert more English nomenclature” (Burden). Regarding Ogilby himself, he had a series of remarkably successful careers as a dancer, dance master, theatre manager/director, and translator of classics, and finally as author and publisher of travel and geography books.  View Atlas

Mappemonde dress es en 1450, par Fra Mauro cosmographe Venetien. Par order d'Alphonse V. Roide Portugal. Publiee pour la premiere fois de la grandeur de l'original avec toutes les Legendes par Le Vicomte de Santarem, 1854. J. J. Feuquieres, lith. Schwaerzle Sculp. Pl. I-VI. 1854.
Mauro, Fra; Santarem, Manuel Francisco de.

Large circular planisphere on 6 sheets, 85x107 or smaller. Title from sheet 5. Reproduced and printed for the first time at the size of the original with all the legends and notations by Viscount of Santarém in 1854. The original 1450 map was fully described and reproduced in manuscript for the first time by William Frazer in 1804, Manuscript on vellum, BL Add. MS 1126. This was deposited at the British Museum in 1807 by William Vincent, dean of Westminster. Vincent wrote a short account of this process in 1807 in his "The Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the Indian Ocean," 2 vols. London: Cadell and Davies, 1807, in an appendix = 2:661–79. Matthew Edney states "Santarém took his facsimile from a tracing of Frazer’s manuscript at the BM, as indicated by the placement of Eden in the lower-right corner, rather than in the lower-left where it actually sits: see: Cattaneo, Angelo. “L’Atlas del visconte de Santarém: Una storia culturale europa tra erudizione orientalismo e colonialismo,” in “A história da cartografia na obra do 2.º visconde de Santarém. Exposição cartobibliográfica, 24 de Novembro de 2006 a 10 de Fevereiro de 2007”, edited by João Carlos García, and Maria Joaquina Feijoo, 17–49. Lisbon: Biblioteca Nacional, 2006." Fra Mauro's map was also reproduced by Placido Zurla in II Mappamondo di Fra Mauro Camaldolese, 1818 in Venice ( see our copy), and later again by Santarem in his facsimile Atlas of 1849, "Atlas de Vicomte de Santarem," see lower left sheet 5. Unusual for medieval European maps, it is oriented with South at the top (Indian Ocean, top left; Mediterranean, right center) and so meticulously drawn and full of detail and legends that it has been described as a “medieval cosmography of no small extent, a conspectus of 15th century geographical knowledge cast in medieval form.” The coasts are drawn in a style recalling that of nautical charts. Includes 4 insets at each corner, numerous note boxes on the map and explanatory text at the margins. Shows place names, rivers, mountains, lakes, etc. Landmarks shown pictorially. Text and place names in Italian, publication information in French. Relief shown pictorially.   View Map

Imperia sive Monarchiae totius Mundi praecipuae - Die voornaemste rycken ofte Monarchien der gantscher werelt. Baptista a Doetechum; Franciscus Hoeus ex. 1606.
Doetechum, Baptist van, Amsterdam

Copper engraving broadside time chart, showing a diagram with the years of reign of the most important monarchs in world history, with letters and numbers to identify them, from the Assyrian rulers to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II of Habsburg (1552 - 1612), with text in Latin and Dutch language. Engraved by Baptist van Doetechum and printed by Franciscus van den Hoeye. This time table was issued in Amsterdam circa.1600-1606 and is derived from the one that appeared in Michael Eytzinger's book "Pentaplus regnorum inundi." The circular table is surrounded by notes and mannerist strapwork that enclose vignettes depicting mementos of time, such as hour glasses. The dating as 1600-1606 is due to the fact that Baptist van Doetecum lived in Amsterdam only during these years. It's thought that during that time he arranged for the Printer Frans van den Hoeye to print his time chart.   View Map

Rodoslovnoye Derevo Sovremennogo Sotsializma. pnt. I. Levenshteina. Knigoizdatelstvo "Utro" S. Peterburg. Ulitsa Zhukovskago, 38. (Cover title) Poiasneniia k Rodoslovnomu Derevu Sovremennago Sotsializma.. 1906.
Lowenstein, I.; Knigoizdatelstvo "Utro," Saint Petersburg

Uncolored pictorial map of the family tree of modern socialism, dated from 1889-1904. Folded into 21.5x12. With attached 15 page of explanation, notes and text on page 16.   View Map

United States of America. Covarrubias. (Copyright) A.A.A. 1942.
Covarrubias, Miguel (1904 - 1957), New York

Bird's-eye view pictorial map of the United States with parts of Canada and Mexico. On verso: descriptive text: Miguel Covarrubias. Date estimated. Decorative cartouche features an American eagle shield surmounted by a ribbon banner with the title of the map. Shows natural features, mountain ranges, trees, agricultural products, industry, plane, ships and boats, fishes in the oceans, flowers and domestic animals of various regions such as a crab in Maryland, a flamingo in Florida, and cacti in the desert Southwest. Skyscrapers of the big cities and landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty are shown. A Canadian Mounty, Native Americans and cowboys are depicted in the regions they are associated with. Compass rose on lower left. Relief shown pictorially.   View Map

Atlas Geographique contenant la Mappemonde et les quatre parties, avec les differents Etats, avec apprpbation & privilage du Roy MDCC.LXIII. A Paris, Chez Lattre Graveur, ordinaire de Mgr. le Dauphin, de Mgr. le Duc d'Orleans et de la Ville, rue St. Jacques, vis-a-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, a la Ville de Bordeaux. 1763.
Lattre, Jean, 1743 -1793; Bonne, Rigobert, 1727-1794, 1727-1794; Janvier; Rizzi-Zannoni, Giovanni Antonio, Paris

Atlas containing 51 maps; 49 folded leaves with 2 two preliminary maps inserted from other copies, 6 maps inserted at the end, table of contents and text. This is the folio version of Lattre's smaller atlas, see our 2612.000. Maps are hand-color in outline, many with additional original hand-color in part, with title cartouche, dated between 1759-1784, one map date 1816 later added to the atlas. Maps are made by De l'Isle, Buache, Janvier, Rizzi Zannoni, St. Angelo, Bonne, Jaillot, Robert de Vaugondy, and Lattre. Showing political and administrative boundaries, rivers, place names, canals, fortifications, forests, lakes, etc. Relief shown pictorially and by hachures. Bound in brown marbled half leather covers with title "Atlas Geogra" in gilt on spine. Lattre's dedication of the map to Benjamin Franklin, who as American ambassador to France, represented the United States at the peace negotiations.   View Atlas

Atlas selectus von allen Konigreichen und Landern der Welt : zum bequemen Gebrauch in Schulen, auf Reisen und bey dem Lesen der Zeitungen. Verfertiget und in Kupffer gestochen von Johann George Schreibern in Leipzig. 1790.
Schreiber, Johann George, 1676-1750, Leipzig

Atlas of kingdoms and countries around the world, for convenient use in schools, on trips and the reader of newspapers, prepared and engraved by Johann Georg Schreiber,1676-1750 - first cartographer in Saxony, was born 1676 and lived in Leipzig. His only work was the "Atlas Selectus" published first 1741 and reissued many times up to the end of the 18th century. Each subsequesnt edition increased the number of maps. This copy with date estimated at 1790 based on the number of maps. He died in 1745. Atlas published in 2 volumes, 149 pages, vol. 1: pages 1-76, vol 2: pages 77-149, including hand colored engraved pictorial title page, distance table with map of Germany, 2 pages of index and 148 hand colored copper engraved maps including a double hemisphere world, the continents, 26 maps of European countries, regional maps of Germany, the Russian Empire, the Black Sea and the Holy Land. The map of the Americas features the island of California. The maps on sheets 21x29, include a text panel describing the region, showing political and administrative divisions, cities, towns and villages, rivers, lakes, forests, churches, landmarks, roads, distances and canals. Include decorative cartouche and compass rose. Relief shown pictorially. Bound in brown leather cover with "Schreibers Atlas" on spine in gilt.  View Atlas

Air Communications. Air Age Chart No. 5. (View) (Poster of instrument landing with vignettes of navigational aids.) 1944.
Aviation Research Associates

Poster of instrument landing with vignettes of navigational aids. Prepared in collaboration with its Pilots and Air Transport Engineers by Aviation Research Associates.   View Map

Gold Medal Flour. Washburn Crosby Flour. 1929.
Anonymous

With unusual flour design. Color. Includes time zone clocks.   View Map

World Map of the Major Tropical Diseases. 1944.
Artzybasheff, New York

From Life Magazine, May 1, 1944.   View Map

Unique Media Maps. Unique Collection. 2000.
Unique Media Inc. Don Mills (Ontario, Canada)

Part of a series of 16 colorful, printed, watercolor, artistic, bird's eye maps of areas and cities of the United States and Canada.   View Maps

San Francisco Archipelago, showing the 200 foot sea level rise. Map by Brian Sloat and Burrito Justice (copyright) 2012.
Sloat, Brian; Burrito Justice, San Francisco

High resolution topographic map of the San Francisco Archipelago, released by Northern California Coast Survey, showing the 200 foot sea level rise compared to the 2012 sea level datum, and shows what the city would like after a catastrophic disintegration of the Antarctic ice cap that caused sea levels to rise 200 feet, transforming San Francisco from a peninsula into an archipelago. Depth shown by isolines and gradient tints.   View Map

12 Pictorial Maps of U.S. Cities, 1973 - 1983.
Archar, Inc. Scarborough, Ont., Canada

Pictorial maps, filled with noted illustrations of buildings and landmarks, bridges, scenic highlights and attractions. Includes modes of transportation such as cars, airplanes, ships and boats. Shows small figures of people engaged in activities.    View Maps

Geographical Fun: Being Humourous Outlines of Various Countries. With an Introduction and Descriptive Lines. By "Adelph." London: Hodder and Stoughton, 37, Paternoster Row. 1868.
Lancaster (Tennant), Lilian, 1852-1939; Harvey, William (pseudonym "Aleph") 1796-1873, London

The plates in this volume are based on pictures drawn by Lilian Lancaster in her fifteenth year to amuse and entertain her sick brother. Lilian had a very successful stage career but eventually returned to illustration under her married name, L. Tennant. She illustrated the 1912 volume "Stories of Old" by E.L. Hoskyn, see Pub List No. 12068.000.   View Atlas

18 Pictorial Maps by Jo Mora, 1928-2013.
Mora, Jo, Various Places

18 pictorial maps by Jo Mora, including 6 manuscript maps showing his original drawings for the printed maps.   View Maps

Mercurio Geografico overo Guida Geografica in tutte le parti del Mondo, conforme le tavole geografiche del Sansone, Baudrand e Cantelli. Data in luce con direttione, e cura di Gio. Giacomo de Rossi nella sua stamperia in Roma alla Pace, all'insegna di Parigi con Priu: del S. Pont. Tomo Primo. (Half title) La guida del Mercurio geografico per tutte le parte del mondo. 1692.
Rossi, Giovanni Giacomo de, 1627-1691; Rossi, Domenico de, 1647-1729; Baudrand, Michel-Antoine, 1633-1700; Cantelli, Giacomo, 1643-1695; Barbey, Antonio-fl. 1684-1714, Rome

A fine example of De Rossi's atlas, in 2 volumes, similar to Coronelli's atlas of the same period, with engraved decorative title page. Includes 150 engraved outline hand colored maps with decorative title cartouche, on 181 sheets. Some maps having 2-4 page numbers. Index includes plates 1-95 of the first volume, and plates 96-181 in the second volume. Maps dated between 1669 and 1715, issued by Giov. Giac. de Rossi and Domenico de Rossi, they are mainly derived from Cantelli da Vignola's maps, an important seventeenth-century cartographer who pioneered the Italian style of fine bold engraving that would eventually be embraced and expanded upon by Vincenzo Coronelli, and Nicolas Sanson (20 December 1600 – 7 July 1667) a French cartographer, termed by some the creator of French geography. Maps engraved by Baudrand, Franciscus Donia, G.B. Falda, Jean Lhuilier, Vin Mariotti, Gasparo Pietro Santa, Salomon Rogiers, & Giorgio Widman, Lubin, Titi, Ameti, Magini and Mattei. Bound in blue half leather binding. Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi (1627 - 1691) was an Italian printer and publisher active in 17th century Rome. Giovanni inherited the important Rome based printing business originally founded by his father, Giuseppe de Rossi (1570-1639). By the mid-17th century the Rossi firm was considered the most active and important press in Rome..  View Atlas

Carte Tectonique Internationale de L'Europe. Carte preparee pour la publication par la Commission des cartes tectoniques internationales de la Section des sciences geologiques et geographiques de l'Academie des sciences de L'URSS. Congres Geologique International, Commission de la Carte Geologique de Monde, Sous-Commission de la Carte Tectonique du Monde. 1:2,500,000. 1962.
Congres Geologique International, Commission de la Carte Geologique de Monde, Sous-Commission de la Carte Tectonique du Monde, Moscow

Commission for the Geological Map of the World. Subcommission for the Tectonic Map of the World. 16 sheets which join together to form one map. Color. Lambert conic conformal projection.  View Map

Memoires du Marechal Suchet, duc d'Albufera, sur ses Campagnes en Espagne, depuis 1808 jusqu'en 1814. Ecrits par lui-meme. Atlas. Paris. Adolphe Bossange, Rue Cassette, No 22; Bossange Pere, Rue de Richelieu, No 60; Firmin Didot, Rue Jacob, No 24. Decembre 1828.
Suchet, Marechal, Paris

French Marshall Louis-Gabriel Suchet was widely considered the most successful Napoleonic general at having pacified and held areas of Spain 1808-1814. His army consisted of about 55,000 regular and reserve troop. Relief in hachures. Black and white. The combination of maps with profile views creates a very clear understanding of the battle terrain that is exceptional for battle maps of this type.  View Atlas

Atlas general de la ville, des faubourgs et des monuments de Paris. Leve dessine et rapporte par Th. Jacoubet . Grave par D. Bonnet. Ecrit par Hacq. 1836.
Jacoubet, Theodore; Bonnet, V.; Hacq, J. M., Paris

The Jacoubet atlas of the city, the suburbs and monuments of Paris was made by the architect Theodore Jacoubet. The writing and engraving were done by J. M. Hacq and D. Bonnet. Jacoubet is the last architect to have been responsible for the establishment of a map of Paris. The maps are significant because all streets and buildings are drawn to scale thereby making the maps extremely accurate for the time. The atlas is a very large map of Paris in 54 sheets, mounted on linen, on sheets 71x157 or smaller, folded to 71x51, published between 1827 and 1836, delivered in 9 parts. Maps are heavily annotated to show the evolution of the city planing, expansion of the roads and changes in the buildings. Many sheets have annotations showing proposed new streets, widening of streets, and new public spaces. It is possible that this set was used in the early planning of the Haussmann designs for new wide boulevards that were constructed in the period 1853 to 1870. The new Opera house is shown in manuscript plan. Streets and roads, canals, public buildings and monuments are represented, some roads and monuments are anticipated by the architects: churches, opera house, the City Hall, for example, is shown as it will be completed in 1848. Library lacks sheets 1 and 2 that are title sheet (image online is from Princeton University copy); 3-54 are maps, Sheets 8-9 "Plan d'Assemblage" on 2 sheets folded, including delivery table and six small plans of Paris evolution over time and a plan of major operations that were used in the triangulation of Paris. Sheets 46-48 and 52 are index sheets "Nomenclature". Sheets 53 and 54, is the smaller Plan of Paris, "Plan reduit du plan general" reduced to scale 1:10,000, with text and index, with administrative boundaries in color, street, parks, museums, major buildings and landmarks are named. This copy is with the bookplate of Paris historian and collector Paul Lacombe (1848-1921) who was librarian at the National Library, a noted bibliographer, member of the Society of Friends of the books and of the Society of French bibliophiles. View Map

Atlas geographicus omnes orbis terrarum regiones in XLI tabulis exhibens : jussu Academiae regiae scient. et eleg. litt. Boruss. ad emendatiora, quae adhuc prodiere exempla descriptus atque ad usum potissimum scholarum et institutionem juventutis editus = Atlas geographique representant en XLI cartes toutes les regions de la terre : gravé par ordre de l'Académie royale des sciences et belles lettres de Prusse d'apres les meilleurs exemplaires qui ayent paru jusqu'icy a l'usage principalement des ecoles. Berolini : Ex officina Michaelis MDCCLIII (1753).
Euler, Leonhard; Sauerbrey, Nicolaus Friedrich; Rhode, Johann Christoph, Berlin

First edition of the Atlas by the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler. The Atlas was published on behalf of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin by Leonhard Euler, designed specifically for the use in schools. The maps were largely based on works of Johann Christoph Rhode and were mostly engraved by Nicolaus Friedrich Sauerbrey. This edition includes a title page, a 10-page preface by Leonhard Euler in Latin and French, 41 double-page engraved maps, plus 4 additional maps. Highlights are 4 maps of the world (one in two sheets) and the 4-sheet map of America. Each map is outline hand colored and has a stamp of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, most maps include decorative title cartouche, showing political and administrative divisions, cities, villages, place names, rivers, canals and mountains. Relief shown pictorially. Bound in brown leather covers with "Atlas geographicus Berolinensis" in gilt on the spine.  View Atlas

Atlas of the Chinese Empire : containing separate maps of the eighteen provinces of China proper on the scale of 1:3,000,000 and of the four great dependencies on the scale of 1:7,500,000, together with an index to all the names on the maps and a list of all Protestant mission stations, &c. Specially prepared by Mr. Edward Stanford for the China Inland Mission. The China Inand Mission, London, Philadelphia, Toronto, Melbourne, Shanghai. Morgan & Scott, Ltd., 12 Paternoster Building, London, E.C. 1908.
Stanford, Edward, London

22 color maps, eighteen maps of provinces, a circuit being followed from Kwantung in the South-East to its westerly neighbor Kwangsi. Four additional maps of Sinkiang, Manchuria, Tibet, and Mongolia. 6 are double page, 1 double page map with extending flap, index map and 16 pages of Index. Bound in red cloth, with gilt lettering to spine and cover in English and Chinese.  View Atlas

Maps of Various European Cities with Embossed Paper Showing Buildings and Other Features in 3D. 1841 - 1849.
Bauerkeller, Georg, fl. 1830-1870, Paris

Bauerkeller embossed his city maps and views to give a 3D effect for the buildings and some elevated features (city walls, etc.). This feature seems to be unique to Bauerkeller's maps, although he was copied in one map in our collection, the map of Cassel by Caesar (see our 12215.000). Bauerkeller also used very bright (and to our eyes very modern) printed colors to show the different districts and areas.  View Maps

Monialium Ebstorfensium mappa mundi : quae exeunte saeculo XIII. videtur picta, Hannoverae nunc adservatur, edidit Conradus Miller. Jos. Roth'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart. Chromolith Kunstandstalt v. Eckstein & Stahle, Stuttgart. Editio altera 1898.
Miller, Konrad; Gervase of Ebstorf

Circular pictorial map of the world, 101 diameter, on sheet 118x106, dissected into 20 sections 29x21, mounted on linen. The map, printed in Stuttgart, is a reproduction of the famous Ebstorf map which was destroyed in 1943. This large, circular "mappa mundi," by Gervase of Ebstorf is one of the most famous 13th Century historic maps of the world. With common medieval manuscript symbols and the medieval forms of place names, it reflects the contemporary religious ideas of the medieval map maker and represents cosmography and not cartography, which teaches the constitution of the whole order of nature, or the figure, disposition, and relation of all its parts. It visually portrays the Greek concept of the earth as flat, circular, popularized by the addition of Christian dogma. The original map, discovered in the Benedictine convent of Ebstorf, Germany, in 1830, dates from around the thirteenth century. Various dates have been given by authorities ranging from 1270 to 1350. Map showing the world is centered on Jerusalem, depicted with gold, eight-sided medieval wall, and the Tower of Babel, Bethlehem, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Mt. Sinai. Christ’s head represented in the East, at the top of the map, the direction of Paradise. His hands mark the northern and southern limits of the known world, and his feet are at Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. Europe is in the bottom left, Africa in the bottom right, and Asia at the upper half. In the East, near Christ’s head is located the Garden of Eden surrounded by mountains, the two figures bent to gather silk. Alexander the Great is consulting the Oracle of the Sun and the Moon. The map surrounded by water, depicts significant landmarks highlighted by gold, towns are shown by towers, wildlife, rivers, mountains shown pictorially and points of interest for the curious pilgrim. Also shown are the symbols for the four great rivers, the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Ganges.  View Map

Der Strom der Zeiten oder bildliche Darstellung der Weltgeschichte von den altesten Zeiten bis zum Ende des achtzehnden Jahrhunderts, von Friedrich Strass, Prf. der Geschichte ... 1804.
Strass, Friedrich

Hand color timeline chart by Austrian chronologer Strass,130x70. Folds into brown marbled case 37.5x26 with a label "Der Strom der Zeiten oder bildliche Darstellung der Weltgeschichte ..." A chronological representation of world history from the oldest times until 1800, with corresponding tables on both sides of the chart. The is the second edition by Strass, see our 1803 first edition (7921.000).  View Map

Palaestina - Wirtschafts - Atlas. 1926.
Trietsch, Davis

This is a scarce atlas with statistical maps showing Jewish immigration and populations in Palestine and Israel over time. Loose leaf sheets in folio style case..  View Atlas

Mond-Atlas entworfen nach den Beobachtungen an der Pia-Sternwarte in Triest von Joh. Nep. Krieger, Mitglied der astronomischen Gesellschaft. I. Band. Mit 28 Tafein und Ansicht der Sternwarte. Triest, 1898. Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers. In Commission bei Ed. Heinr. Mayer in Leipzig. 1898.
Krieger, Joh. Nep. (Johann Nepomuk), 1865-1902, Leipzig

This 1898 lunar atlas was followed by a two volume sequel in 1912, Pub List No 12133.000 and 12134.000. Text is available on Internet Archive. Index map to plates in this volume are shown on List No 12134.123.  View Atlas

Atlas geographique, astronomique et historique, servant a l'intelligence de l'histoire ancienne, du moyen age et moderne et a la lecture des voyages les plus recens. Dresse d'apres les meilleurs materiaux tant francais qu'etrangers conformement aus progres de la science, par J.G. Heck. - Paris, Engelmann & Compagnie, S.F. 1834.
Heck, Johann Georg, 1795 -1857, Paris

Johann Georg Heck was a German bookseller and publisher, lithographer, cartographer, geographer and author. He became known through his work the Illustrated atlas for Conversations lexicon, Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Arts, one of the largest German view works of the 19th century (see our copy). This atlas Geographique.. is his only known atlas. In the atlas, his thematic maps are especially noteworthy. Relief shown with hachures. Outline color.  View Atlas

(A fluxatlas : Spatial poem). This is the record of various directions to which people were simultaneously moving or facing around 10PM (Greenwich time) October 15th 1965. Mieko Shiomi. Event design, George Maciunas. 1965.
Shiomi, Mieko; Maciunas, George, New York

In 1964 Japanese artist Shoimi Mieko (Chieko) was invited to New York City by George Maciunas, founder of Fluxus network of artists to collaborate with him on a number of projects. This Fluxus map is the 1st. edition uncolored broadside issued in 1966, in 3 folds, with title on the cover "A fluxatlas. Mieko Shiomi. Event design, George Maciunas", now flattened. Includes outline maps of Japan, North America and Europe with notations indicating the locations of artists describing what they were doing at the time. In 1965 Shiomi conducted a series of nine events that she called "Spatial Poems" Each began with invitation to friends and colleagues to respond to a simple instruction, which took the form an intimate action poem, the accumulated responses she received constitute the work and give a glimpse of the network of artists who were connected through Fluxus activities. For Spatial Poem No. 2. Mieko contacted people around the world to record what they were doing and the direction they were facing in the morning Greenwich time on October 15, 1965.  View Map

Archiducatus Austriae inferioris geographica et noviter emendata accuratissima descriptio : Iussu et Sumptibus Inclytorum, Archiducat; Austriae Inferioris Dominorum Statuum Provincialium tabula haec Geographica nouiter emendata in Lucem data est. Anno ... MDC XCVII (1697). (inset views) Larpa Ceres spicas fragrantia vina ministrat Incopia Bachus, dat quo que terra Crocum. (with) Austria Cæsaribus foelix et patria regum archiducumque domus regno populis qz beata.. 1697.
Vischer, Georg Matthaus, 1628-1696, Vienna

1 map on 20 sheets 156x216, 16 sheets of map each 40x54, with 4 sheets index beneath map. Topographic map of lower Austria by Georg Matthaus Vischer an Austrian topographer, cartographer, engraver and parish priest in Leonstein (Upper Austria) and Vienna. He is regarded as one of the most important Austrian cartographers and topographers of his time. His map was one of the most important maps of lower Austria, which was copied by N. Visscher, Homann, Seutter and others the next 100 years. This 1697 issue is the second edition, after the first edition of 1670. The name of Georg Matthäus Vischer and Melchior Küsel were in this edition removed from the panel and replaced by the name of Jacob Hoffmann and Jacob Hermundt, although the two had their improvements made by Vischer's handwritten corrections. Several changes were made to the to the view panels in the second edition. Map shows administrative boundaries, cities, towns, landmarks, place names, rivers and mountains. Relief shown pictorially. Includes decorative cartouches, Australian insignia and notes.  View Map

Imago Romanii Imperii. S.S.P., et D. N. Clementi XI P.O.M. Rom. Imp. Imagin. Hier. Andreas Martignonus D.D.D. ; Barth. Ioseph Tasniere sculp. Taurini.  1721.
Canina, Luigi (1795-1856), Rome

Topographic map of the middle part of Ancient Rome, 207x240 on 15 sheets dissected in to 30 sheets 36x48. Title from sheet TAV XI. Large scale map of the archeological ruins in Rome by Luigi Canina, an Italian architect and archeologist, whose work provides an important view of the condition of the city and ancient artifacts in the mid-nineteenth century. The interesting plan depicts the ancient monuments overlaid on a base map of the modern city as it was in 1840. Showing the landmarks, streets, city blocks, etc. Map published for the first time in 1840, entitled " "Pianta topografica della parte media di Roma antica dimostrata colla disposizione di tutti quegli edifizj antichi di cui rimangono reliquie e delineata sulla proporzione di uno a mille dall'architetto Luigi Canina." The 2nd edtion published in 1842. This is the 3rd. and last edition published in 1847, included 15 sheets. in 2 sections. Canina published a smaller version of this map, surrounded by 157 fragments of Severiana plan, a huge plan dating back to the emperor Septimius Severus (193-211), discovered in 1562 behind the church of St. Cosmas and Damian in the Forum Roman. (see our copies of this map). The fragments of the Severiana plan are shown as shadows on both this larger map and the smaller map, although only the smaller map identifies the fragments. Luigi Canina, an architect and archaeologist, born in Casale Monferrato on Oct. 23, 1795, died in Florence on October 17, 1856. He studied in Turin with Ferdinando Bonsignore.  View Map

A Chart of the World upon Mercator's projection exhibiting all the new discoveries to the present time : with the tracks of the most distinguished Navigators since the year 1700, carefully collected from the best charts, maps, voyages &c. Extant. And regulated from the accurate Astronomical Observations made in three voyages performed under the command of Capt. J. Cook in the years 1768, 69, 70, 71. -72, 73, 74, 75. - 77, 78, 79, & 80. Compiled and published by A.Arrowsmith, Hydrographer ... London published as the act directs, April 1st, 1790. by A. Arrowsmith. 1808.
Arrowsmith, Aaron, London

Map printed on six full sheets and two half sheets, sheets 75x62 or smaller. This was Arrowsmith's first map when originally published in 1790, here in the last state, 1808. It was one of the best and most up to date maps of the world published at the end of the 18th century, incorporating all of the discoveries made on Cook's great voyages, exhibiting new discoveries in the Pacific, as well as in the Arctic and along the northwest coast of America. The map shows Cook's discoveries from all three of his voyages, and also incorporates many other Pacific voyages. Indeed, nearly 30 tracks of explorers are marked, dating from 1492 to 1787, including the voyages of Furneaux, Surville, Tasman, Chirikof, Bering and others. Shows boundaries in outline hand color, cities, rivers, and grid lines. Includes text and compass rose. Relief shown by hachures. Depth shown by soundings. Prime meridian is Greenwich.  View Map

Labour and life of the people. Appendix to volume II. Edited by Charles Booth. William and Norgate, London; Edinburgh. 1891. (on verso) London: G. Norman and Son. (with maps) Descriptive map of London poverty, 1889. (with) Map shewing degrees of poverty in London. 1891.
Booth, Charles, 1840-1916; Edward Stanford Ltd., London

5 color maps 68x88 or smaller, with 60+23 pages of text and index. Includes 1 map on 4 sheets, and 1 single map 68x88, folded into 21x12.5, mounted on linen in a band attached to the back cover. dated 1889-1891. Detailed town plan to show resident's means in 7 classes, wealth to poverty. Bound in olive cloth covered boards with title "Labour and life of the people : Maps etc. Appendix to Vol. 2." stamped on cover and on spine. Charles Booth's Inquiry into the Life and Labour of the People in London, undertaken between 1886 and 1903 was one of several surveys of working class life carried out in the 19th century. It is the only survey for which the original notes and data have survived and therefore provides a unique insight into the development of the philosophy and methodology of social investigation in the United Kingdom. Booth's four sheet Poverty map colour-coded streets according to the degree of wealth of the inhabitants, ranging from black ('Lowest class'), through shades of blue and purple ('Poor', 'Mixed', 'Fairly Comfortable'), to red ('Well to do') and yellow ('Wealthy'). Booth (1840-1916), owner of the Booth Shipping Line, acted in response to an 1886 Pall Mall Gazette article that claimed that 25% of Londoners lived in poverty. Booth regarded this figure as wildly exaggerated, so recruited a team of volunteer researchers (including his cousin Beatrix Potter) to compile an analysis of social conditions based on field visits and interviews with local police, clergy and employers. The First Series of 'Life and Labour' (1889 maps shown here), covering the East End, showed that 35% lived in poverty   View Map

Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe. By E.G. Ravenstein, F.R.G.S., First Victoria Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, with a Facsimile of the Globe Printed in Colours, Eleven Maps and Seventeen Illustrations. London, George Philip, Son & Nephew, Ltd., 45-51, South Castle Street, (1492) 1908.
Behaim, Martin, 1459-1507; Ravenstein, Ernest George, 1834-191, London

Martin Behaim's Erdapfel (earth apple) is the oldest surviving terrestrial globe. It exists in only one manuscript copy painted by Georg Glockendon, held Nuremberg, Germany. It shows the world according to Ptolemy and other sources, before the discovery of America by Columbus in the same year as the globe was made, 1492. Behaim's globe vividly shows the earth without America and illustrates why Columbus thought he could sail directly west from Europe and land in China and the East Indies. This facsimile of Behaim's globe gores and callots was made by E.G. Ravenstein in 1908 and is generally considered the best available facsimile. It is based on both the original globe and an earlier facsimile made in 1847 by E.F.Jomard, as well as other sources for the notes and place names. While it is by no means a completely faithful copy of the original, it does express the overall intent of Behaim's globe. We have georeferenced the 12 globe gores and 2 polar callots, allowing the reprojection of the 14 separate sections into continuous world maps on several different projections. We have also placed a virtual globe version in Google Earth.  View Map

The world according to Ronald Reagan. Horsey. 1982 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 1982 AA Graphics, Inc., Seattle, Wash., USA. PC237 (with) The world according to Ronald Reagan. By David Horsey. 1987 AA Graphics, Inc., Seattle, Wash., USA. PC0288, Regan's world II. 1982. 1987.
Horsey, David, Seatlle (Washington)

2 Political satire maps, depicting the world as Ronald Reagan (US president 1980-1988) might have imagined it, showing various political humor. These are the first and second of Reagan's World maps, by David Horsey, published in 1982 and 1987. David Horsey was a Pulitzer-winning Seattle Post-Intelligencer cartoonist.  View Maps

L'Atlas Curieux ou Le Monde Represente dans des Cartes Generales et Particulieres du Ciel et de la Terre Divise Tant en ses Quatre Principales Parties que par Etats et Provinces ... Par N. de Fer, Geografe de Monseigneur le Dauphin ... Dedie a Nosseigneurs les Enfans de France ... A Paris, chez l'Auteur dans l'Isle du Palais .... (The Atlas or The Curious World Represented by General and Particular Maps of Heaven and Earth Divided Both in Four Major Parts by States and Provinces ... By N. de Fer, Geographer to Monseigneur the Dauphin ... Dedicated to our Lords, the Children de France ... in Paris, at the House of the Author in Isle Palace ... 1700.)
Fer, Nicolas de, 1646-1720, Paris

This is volume one of the normally two volume Atlas Curieux, here in the "Suite" edition. De Fer's Atlas Curieux is a fascinating mix of maps, views, and plans unlike any other during its time. Black and white, except title page. Relief shown in sketches.  View Atlas

City Markets, A Study of Thirty-Five Cities. Advertising Department, The Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Penna. 1932.
Curtis Publishing Company, Philadelphia

Maps are color keyed to show value of single family homes and corresponding rental rates, as well as the location of "Foreign or Colored" residents. Ostensibly for marketing purposes at the time, today the maps show vividly the segregation of 35 American cities by income levels in 1932. Refer to the text pages on how to interpret the maps.  View Atlas

The Atlas of India, revised by J. Walker ... selected from the maps published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, compiled from the latest and most authentic sources, including all the recent geographical discoveries. London: Edward Stanford, 6, Charing Cross. 1856.
Walker, John; Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain); J. and C. Walker (Firm), London

Revised edition of the Atlas of India, produced by Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge to encourage broad use of maps in education. Date estimated. Includes 26 double page maps, including: 13 of India (an index map and 12 regional maps), 10 maps covering surrounding territories in the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East (including one showing Canton and Macao with an inset of Hong Kong), 1 map of the islands of the Pacific and a map of the world on Mercator's Projection in two sheets. Most sheets engraved by J. and C. Walker. Atlas is bound in half leather dark brown cloth covered boards with "Indian atlas" stamped in gold on the front cover. Maps are hand colored, showing political and administrative divisions, roads, railroads, major cities and towns, fortifications, rivers, canals and lakes. Relief shown by hachures, shading, and pictorially. View Atlas

Atlas geografico de Espana : que comprende el mapa general de la peninsula, todos los particulares de nuestras provincias, y el del reyno de Portugal. por Don Tomas Lopez, geógrafo que fue de los dominios de S.M. e individuo de varias academias y sociedades. Tomo Primero. Ano 1810. Se hallara en Madrid, Calle de Atocha frente a la plazuela del Angel no. 1, y a la casa de los Gremios no. 3. 1810.
Lopez de Vargas Machuca, Tomas (1730-1802), Madrid

Second edition of the geographic atlas of Spain, published in 1810, with half title page, 4 pages of index, contents and text. Comprising 38 maps on 98 sheets, Madrid (sheet 99) added later by owner, along with three other maps later removed. Some maps on multiple sheets. Maps dated 1765 - 1802. Contains the general map of the peninsula, all the provinces, and the kingdom of Portugal By Don Tomas Lopez. Maps are engraved outline hand colored, with decorative title cartouche, text and tables, showing administrative divisions, major cities, towns, villages, landmarks, public buildings, roads, rivers, canals and mountains. Bound in half leather marbled paper covers with title " Atlas geografico de Espana I” on spine in gilt. Relief shown pictorially. Don Tomas Lopez (1730-1802) a Spanish cartographer, began his studies at the Imperial College of the Spanish capital. In 1752 he went to continue his training in Paris to learn cartography with the great French mapmaker Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (1697-1782). In Paris he was accompanied by, among others, Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, Manuel Salvador Carmona and Alonso Cruzado. In 1804, Lopez published his “Atlas Geographic of Spain”, the first atlas of Spain that produced by a Spaniard. The children of Lopez reposted this work in a new edition in 1810 and again in 1830. View Atlas

Voyage de MM. Alexandre de Humboldt et Aime Bonpland. Atlas Geographique et Physique, pour Accompagner la Relation Historique. Sixieme livraison. Paris, J. Smith, Rue Montmorency, No. 16; Londres, Dulau et Compie., Soho-Square. 1831. Imprimerie de J. Smith. 1831.
Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859; Bonpland, Aime, Paris

“This atlas was issued as part of Humboldt and Bonpland’s Voyage aux régions équinoxiales du Nouveau Continent fait en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804 (Paris, 1808-1834), which was published in over thirty volumes over several decades…This atlas is important for many reasons, and its illustrations showed Europe and the entire world new scientific information for the first time. Humboldt’s groundbreaking exploration of the Orinoco River, for example, is delineated on two maps, one of which was the first to establish the precise location of and to show the connection between Rio Orinoco and Rio Negro, a question that had baffled geographers for three centuries…The Orinoco river maps are supplemented by maps of other rivers, many accurately depicted for the first time. Also significant are the profiles and maps of mountain ranges, which are depicted with scientific precision showing new information in novel ways. Many of the profiles are dramatically hand colored… The dramatic volcano plates are supplemented by several large-scale maps, which are masterful depictions of land forms. These studies were crucial to Humboldt’s later conclusions about the origin and nature of these natural structures and constitute one of his major contributions to the field of geology. Humboldt mapped many areas in an accurate fashion for the first time. Because riverbeds and stream courses interested him immensely, those features are often shown in great detail on the maps, which also depict other natural and man-made features, such as mountains, missions, roads, and settlements. His map of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, for example, was from the latest available surveys recently done by the Mexican government (Humboldt was for fifty years an advocate of an interoceanic connection between the Atlantic and Pacific). The Cuba map is also an updated version and reflects his recent explorations of the island. Despite a few secondary sources, most of the maps are based directly on his extensive travels and observations during the course of his explorations. Perhaps the most remarkable map in this atlas is the first printing of a manuscript map that harks back to the very earliest European cartographic representation of the New World. This is the manuscript world map made by Spanish conquistador, cartographer, and explorer Juan de la Cosa (ca. 1460-1509), who sailed with the first three voyages of Columbus and was the owner of the Santa María. This portolan world chart incorporates lands discovered in America up to 1500 during expeditions by Spanish, Portuguese, and English expeditions to America. Juan de la Cosa’s mappa mundi is painted in ink and colors on ox hide (93 x 183 cm) and richly decorated. His map is believed to be “the earliest extant map showing any part of the continent of North America” (Schwartz & Ehrenberg, The Mapping of America, Plate 1, pp. 18-19)… Finally, going back to the beginning, the emblematic frontispiece engraving Humanitas. Literæ. Fruges (after the art work of artist Barthélemy Joseph Fulcran Roger) is not just another pretty, classical picture, but rather an expression of Humboldt’s deep philosophical concept of America and Europe expressed in iconography.” (Dorothy Sloan, Auction 22, 2009). This copy is unbound in original paper covers with multiple title pages. See our “Atlas Geographique Et Physique Du Royaume De La Nouvelle-Espagne,” 1811 for the other atlas volume in this series, concerning Mexico.  View Atlas

Nova illustrissimi principatus Pomeraniae descriptio cum adjuncta Principum genealogia et Principum veris et potiorum Urbium imaginibus et Nobilium insignibus. N. Geilkerckius sculpsit. [With] Pomeraniae et rerum in ea memorabilium brevis descriptio E. Lubini. 1618 (1758).
Lubin, Eilhard (1565-1621); Geelkercken, Nicolaes van, Hamburg

Composite map of Pomerania, sheets 1-12. Large and impressive outline colored copperplate engraving map of Pomerania on 12 sheets, 42x54 or smaller, by Eilhard Lubin, Professor at the University of Rostock. In 1610 he was asked by Philipp II, the Duke of Pomerania to create a large scale map of the geography and history of the duchy. In 1612 map was completed, it was decorated with 49 town views, and coat of arms of the noble families. In 1618 the Dutch engraver Nicolas van Geelkercken, engraved the copperplates in Amsterdam, and a small number of sheets were printed. The plates disappeared in the thirty years war and were rediscovered by the historian Johann Carl Conard Oelrichs in 1758. The map shows 49 town views on the border, the family tree of the house of Griffins, dukes of Pomerania, with 157 names and small portraits, a small family tree of the house of Rugen, 5 large portraits of living dukes of different parts of Pomerania, and on the lower middle left sheet probably the portrait of Lubin himself. The map shows towns and villages, landmarks, churches, forest, rivers and mountains. Relief is shown pictorially. Lubin's Pomerania remained the most accurate map of the region from its inception in 1618 until the Prussian topographical survey of the eighteenth century. The map is extraordinary in the way that it combines the "mapping" of the history of the ruling families with the mapping of the topography of Pomerania.  View Map

Shinkoku Taihei Take Mori Mata Akira. 1854.
Anonymous

Wood block print, pictorial map of the coast defense of Tokyo Bay. Kawaraban Broadside Map depicting arrival of Perry's "Black Ships," describing the arrival of the American Commodore Matthew Perry to Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) in 1854 (Kaei 6), after his earlier brief visit in 1853. The defensive ships identified by the warlord in charge and his armorial crest are around the bay to intimidate the invaders. Includes notes describing the troops and list of names of Samurais in charge of defense of Tokyo Bay. Includes an illustration in the upper right depicting an American soldier. Perry's ships were the first major western intrusion into Japan. “Perry, on behalf of the U.S. government, forced Japan to enter into trade with the United States and demanded a treaty permitting trade and the opening of Japanese ports to U.S. merchant ships. This was the era when all Western powers were seeking to open new markets for their manufactured goods abroad, as well as new countries to supply raw materials for industry. It was clear that Commodore Perry could impose his demands by force. The Japanese had no navy with which to defend themselves, and thus they had to agree to the demands… Upon seeing Perry's fleet sailing into their harbor, the Japanese called them the "black ships of evil mien (appearance)." Many leaders wanted the foreigners expelled from the country, but in 1854 a treaty was signed between the United States and Japan which allowed trade at two ports. In 1858 another treaty was signed which opened more ports and designated cities in which foreigners could reside. The trade brought much foreign currency into Japan disrupting the Japanese monetary system. Because the ruling shogun seemed unable to do anything about the problems brought by the foreign trade, some samurai leaders began to demand a change in leadership. The weakness of the Tokugawa shogunate before the Western demand for trade, and the disruption this trade brought, eventually led to the downfall of the Shogunate and the creation of a new centralized government with the emperor as its symbolic head.” Source: Asia for Educators, Columbia University. View Map

Handatlas der Allgemeinen Erdkunde, Laender- und Staatenkunde, In 80 Karten. Herausgegeben von L. Ewald ... Nebst einem Handbuch der allgemeinen Erdkunde. Laender- und Staatenkunde von Dr. E. Eder. Darmstadt, 1860. Verlag von Jonghaus & Venator's Kartogr[aphisch].-artist[ischen]. Anstalt. 1860.
Martignoni, Girolamo Andrea; Tasniere, Barth. Joseph, Rome

Looseleaf color atlas with accompanying text sheets, all in unbound original publisher's parts/sections. Relief depicted with hachures. Atlas was conceived of and initiated by Georg Leonhart Bauerkeller beginning in 1844 by subscription. From at least 1845, Ludwig Ewald was a primary author and was responsible for drafting the maps. Considered by authorities to be one of the most beautiful atlases of the 19th century, it is particularly noteworthy for its quality registration, sharp images, use of brown for relief and solid blue for water, multi-color lithography, and it's scope of content. Particularly noteworthy presentations being: map, diagrams and illustrations of glaciers in the Alps (No.14. Die Gletscher der Alpen - List No 12189.036); an elevation diagram of major mountains and sea depths (No.39. Hoehen und Tiefen - List No 12189.061); map of Switzerland with relief depicted with hachures and giving a shaded relief 3-D effect (No. 54. Die Schweiz - List No 12189.076). Most of the text planned to accompany the maps was never completed. The atlas was largely ignored by contemporary and subsequent scholars despite its high quality. This is Espenhorst version 19.1.0-19.1.1.3. It consists of the initial set of 80 maps plus two sets of supplemental maps totaling 12 sheets - mostly revisions of previous editions. This scanned set has most of the section title pages at the end because the 80 sheets were not originally issued in the table of contents order that we present. Bauerkeller was also known for his three dimensional maps of cities, see our copies of London, Paris, Hamburg, and others.  View Atlas

42 Los Angeles Times World War II Maps, 1942-1945.
Los Angeles Times; Various Authord, Los Angeles

Group of pictorial newspaper maps issued during World War II by the Los Angeles Times. Many are by Charles Owens. A few of the maps are post war. View Maps

Britannia, Volume the First. Or an Illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales: By a Geographical and Historical Description of the Principal Roads thereof. Actually Admeasured and Delineated in a Century of Whole-Sheet Copper-Sculps. Accomodated With the Ichnography of the several Cities and Capital Towns; and Compleated By an Accurate Account of the more Remarkable Passages of Antiquity, Together with a Novel Discourse of the Present State. By John Ogilby Esq.; His Majesty's Cosmographer, and Master of His Majesty's Revels in the Kingdom of Ireland. London, Printed by the Author at his House in White-Fryers. M.DC.LXXV (1675).
Ogilby, John, 1600-1676, London
First edition, large paper copy.  "This is the first survey of the roads of England and Wales. It is composed of 102 copper plates and 200 pages of text. The maps are engraved on strips representing bands of ribbon of about 2 1/2 inches in width. On most plates six strip maps are given; but in some cases there are seven. They show the main roads only with the side roads indicated. The distances are shown in miles along the roads, and the villages and mansions named, and in some cases the names of residents are given." (Chubb). Ogilby was one of the finest mapmakers of his day in England and he intended to publish (but did not) two additional volumes in this series: a volume of city views and a volume of topographical descriptions of all of England and Wales. Ogilby's method of strip maps to show roads was copied well into the twentieth century. While it is familiar to us today, in 1675 it was a radical departure from conventional cartographic methods.  View Atlas

(Cosmological Diagram - The World of Mortals.)  1850.
(Jain Culture) Manuscript
Date estimated. From a description of a similar Jain painting at the Johnson Museum at Cornell University: "This large painting consists of a map-like rendering of the middle world, one of three worlds that comprise the Jain universe. Located between the celestial realm and the lower world of the damned, this middle world is where mortals and all sentient beings live and is the place from which liberation becomes possible. The composition takes the form of a series of concentric circles representing continents and oceans. In the center lies the continent of Jambudvipa, location of India and Mount Meru, surrounded by two oceans and two-and-a-half more continents. The oceans are filled with various aquatic creatures, while the continents contain humans, animals, rivers, and land features, including the five cosmic mountains, shown along the horizontal axis of the painting as yellow disks with pairs of multicolored, arch-like forms. Enshrined Jinas occupy the vertical axis of the continents and also appear in the four corners of the painting." Our Jain map is similar, it also depicts Jambudvipa with the region of Mahavideha, bounded north and south by mountain ranges with Mount Meru at its center and "elephant tusk" shaped mountains encompassing the regions of Uttarakuru to the north and Devakuru to the south. At the lower part of the map is the bow-shaped region of Bharata, representing India itself.  View Map

The World Described; or, A New and Correct Sett of Maps. 1732.
Moll, Herman, d. 1732, London
This is Moll's most impressive atlas, although it is largely just a collection of maps with a paste down title on the inside front cover. The maps are filled with Moll's observations, opinions, and knowledge and these annotations make the maps special and very personal, compared to other maps of the same period. The "beaver" map in this copy is state 6 and dates the overall atlas at 1732. Moll first issued the atlas ca. 1715-17 and it had a republishing history of over 30 years. Moll was born in Germany and came to London around 1680. He published a large group of geographic books, atlases, and maps. At the bottom of the paste down listing of the atlas contents, Moll states "These maps are the most correct, entertaining, and historical of any yet made..." Outline color. Relief in sketches.  View Atlas

Atlas Maior Sive Cosmographia Blaviana, Qua Solvm, Salvm, Coelvm, Accvratissime Describvntvr.  1665.
Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673, Amsterdam
Blaeu's 11 volume Atlas Maior is considered by many to be the greatest atlas ever published, both in its own time and even today. It excels in comprehensiveness, engraving, color, and overall production. Each vol. has title page. with general title: Geographiæ Blavianæ volumen primum.... Each volume has an engraved special title page, hand colored. The first Latin edition was published in 1662. Subsequently it was published in French, Dutch, German, and Spanish; the Latin version was also sold with v. 1 dated 1665 and v. 2-11 dated 1662 (this copy). Bound as issued in vellum stamped in gilt with Blaeu device. Issued in 11 volumes. Contents: v. 1. Arctica --Europa, liber 1-2:. Norvegia. Dania. Sleswic -- v. 2. Europa, liber 3-7: Suecia. Russia. Polonia. Regiones orientales ultra Germaniam circa Danubium. Graecia -- v. 3. Europa, liber 8: Germania - -v. 4. Europa, liber 9-10: Belgica regia -- v. 5. Europa, liber 11: Anglia -- v. 6. Europa, liber 12-13: Scotia. Hibernia -- v. 7. Europa, liber 14-15: Gallia. Helvetia -- v. 8. Europa, liber 16: Italia -- v. 9. Europa, liber 17: Hispania. Africa -- v. 10. Asia -- v. 11. America. This copy is from the National Library of Scotland and we are grateful to them for providing scanned images of the atlas as part of a joint project under the guidance of Christopher Fleet, Senior Map Curator at the NLS.    View Atlas

Imago Romanii Imperii. S.S.P., et D. N. Clementi XI P.O.M. Rom. Imp. Imagin. Hier. Andreas Martignonus D.D.D. ; Barth. Ioseph Tasniere sculp. Taurini.  1721.
Martignoni, Girolamo Andrea; Tasniere, Barth. Joseph, Rome
Circular historical diagram of the Imperial Roman Empire, with 2 maps of the Mediterranean at the center. Though the diagram is dated 1718, this is the revised edition published in Rome by Antonio de Rossi, 1721. This complex graphic timeline depicts the development of the territories belonging to the Roman Empire, and includes small birds-eye views of Constantinople, Madrid, Vienna, Rome, Paris, and London, with dozens of additional city names appearing in blank bubble, apparently in anticipation of views being added in subsequent states. In the lower half of the map, there are 6 coats of arms and many blank coats of arms, again apparently in anticipation of further engraving.  View Map

Our great motherland is thriving. Wei da zu guo xin xin xiang rong. Published by the Shanghai People's Fine Art Publishing House, Shanghai, China. Distributed by Guozi Shudian, Peking, China. Printed in the People's Republic of China 86-615. 1986.
Shanghai People's Fine Art Publishing House, Shanghai
Pictorial map. The national emblem is shown against a background of agricultural and industrial achievement. The crowds at front are an idealized cross-section of professions, ages, and nationalities. Title in Chinese and English. Date estimated, based on 86-615 printed in lower border. View Map

(Terrestrial Globe 42 Inches in Diameter) Globo della Terra di tre piedi, e mezzo di diametro.  1688.
Coronelli, Vincenzo (1650-1718),  Venice
Date estimated. Images provided by the State Library of New South Wales where the original printed globe gores reside. From the catalog record of the library: "1 globe on 26 sheets ; 24 globe gores each 27.5 x 64 x 9.5 x 64 cm. and 2 polar calottes 36 cm. diam. Relief shown pictorially. Title from 'The works printed by Father Coronelli' in Epitome Cosmografica M DC LXXXXIII. 24 gores and 2 polar calottes to make up a 42 inch (107 cm.) terrestrial globe. Includes text and illustrations. This illustrated globe is among the largest printed, and contains up-to date discoveries by La Salle and Chaumont. The large and small medallions near the dedication to Cardinal Cesare D'Estrees dated 1688 are blank. Coronelli's portrait incl. parchment with "Atlante Veneto" [1690 - 1696]; this terrestrial set dated 1688 is therefore contemporary with the accompanying Celestial globe gore set which is dated 1693.  Georeferencing of globe gores done by Cartography Associates in 2016. Gores georeferenced in Cassini-Soldner projection, then converted to Geographic, Robinson, and Times projections. Accompanied by a set 26 Celestial Globe Gores and Calottes dated 1693. View Globe

(Composite map of) Le cours de Missisipi, ou de St. Louis (with) Partie meridionale de la Riviere de Missisipi.  1718. (In)  Atlas ou Recueil de Cartes Geographiques Dressees Sur les Nouvelles Observations de Mrs. de L'Academie Royale des Sciences Par N. de Fer, Geographe de sa Majeste Catolique et de Monseigneur le Dauphin. A Paris chez l'Auteur dans l'Isle du Palais sur le Quay de l'Orloge a la Sphere Royal, avec privilege du Roy 1748.
Fer, Nicolas de, 1646-1720, Paris
A composite of two maps that Nicolas De Fer published separately but also appeared joined together to show the entire course of the Mississippi River.  De Fer's 2 sheet map is one of the most important maps of the region and one of the earliest maps to incorporate the reports of Jesuit missionaries and explorers active in the early 18th Century. Pastoureau describes the large atlas that these map appear in as De Fer's folio atlas. It is described by De Fer in his catalog of 1716 as his highly detailed atlas showing all parts of the world, with all the maps available separately. The collation of the atlas seems to vary by copy - our copy has a title page but no table of contents. Our copy collates to parts of Pastoueau FER II C - FER II D, with our latest map dated 1748. The maps range in date from 1690 to 1748 with most of the maps in the 1700 to 1720 period. All maps are numbered in manuscript. Of special note in our copy is the two sheet map of the Mississippi River which is rare to find with both north and south sheets present.  View Map  View Atlas

(United States) Daily Weather Maps with Washington, Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco Forecasts. January 1, 1901 to June 30, 1901. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau. 1901.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C.
181 daily weather maps for the first six months of 1901.  View Atlas

Carte Panoramique de la Region metallifere de Washoe (Etat de Nevada) par E. Guillemin-Tarayre. Cette carte est executee en projection gnomonique sur l'horizon du Mt. Davidson. Grave chex Erhard, Paris - Impr. Lemercier r. de Seine 57.  1864.
Guillemin-Tarayre, Edmond,  Paris
Early map of Lake Tahoe and the Washoe Mining District on a Gnomonic Projection. One of the earliest geological and mining map of the region. Centered on Virginia City and extending to the Truckee River, Lake Tahoe, the Walker River and the Carson River. The outer ring of mountains locates Sevier Mountain, Pyramid Peak, Mt. Washoe, the Valley of the Carson River, and "Massif Palmyra." Towns named on the map include Washoe City, Fort Churchill, Genoa, Carson, with several dozen mines also named. Relief shown pictorially, by hachures and spot heights. Includes key to geological formation and notes. Guillemin-Tarayre's map is part of a rare set of scientific works published by the French government.  View Map

Cartes et Tables de la Geographie Ancienne et Nouvelle ou Methode pour s'Instruire Avec facilite de la Geographie, et Connoistre des Empires, Monarchies, Royaumes, Estats, Republiques, et Peuples ... Par les Srs. Sanson, Geographes du Roy ... A Paris. Chez l'Autheur ... 1697. (Maps and Tables of Geography Ancient and Modern or Methods for Easy Instruction of the Geography and Understanding of Empires, Monarchies, Kingdoms, States, Republics, and Peoples ... By Srs. Sanson, Geographers to the King ... In Paris ... House of the Author ... 1697.
Sanson, Nicolas, 1600-1667; Sanson, Guillaume (1633-1703), Paris
This is a very rare edition of Sanson's maps, published by his son, Guillaume Sanson. The title page is dated 1697 but the latest date on a map in the atlas is 1709. In French and Latin. Three volume set. Volume 1 is a huge set of hierarchy diagrams presenting the relative arrangement of thousands of places. Each page has from four to six levels of places, for example ranging from a country level down through states and counties on down to cities and towns. In cataloging, for the title of each page, we just list the first highest level place on the page. In the Short Title, liberty as been taken to explain the subjects of the page in English in more detail. Volumes 2 and 3 contain both current and historical maps. Relief shown by sketches. Outline color.  View Atlas

Department of the Interior, General Land Office. Geographical and political atlas of the states and territories of the United States of America in which the Public Land Surveys are now in operation. S.S. Burdett, Commissioner. Washington City. 1876. Julius Bien, Photolith. & Print.  1876.
U.S. General Land Office, Nancy, Washington, D.C.
The Wyoming map shows the vast Indian Reservations before they were systematically reduced in size in ensuing years. The Atlas has 20 plates,19 color maps. Including:1- New Mexico. 2-Idaho. 3-Kansas. 4-Washington. 5-Louisiana. 6-Dakota. 7-Nebraska. 8-Wyoming. 9- Arizona. 10-Utah. 11-Nevada. 12-Indian Territory.- 13-Oregon. 14-Montana. 15-Florida. 16-California in 2 shoots. 17-Minnesota. 18-Colorado. Maps showing land offices, townships subdivided, county seats, cities, towns, boundaries of land districts, railroad limits, military reservations, boundaries of counties, and Indian reservations. "Compiled from the official records of the General Land Office and other sources by C. Roeser, Principal Draughtsman G.L.O."   View Atlas

(The Siege of the Citadel of Saint Martin on the Isle de Re) (1675). 1631.
Callot, Jacques (1592-1635), Nancy, France
These are a set of six joined prints illustrating the Siege of the Citadel of Saint Martin on the Isle de Re. Callot also engraved the Seige of La Rochelle at the same time, also in six prints with decorative borders (Lieure 655). Both are remarkable, but the Seige of Saint Martin view is extraordinary in its use of engraving line darkness to indicate depth of space, a technique that Callot pioneered. These famous battle scenes were drawn and etched by Callot as bird's-eye views and maps. Callot received commissions to commemorate these two spectacular battle scenes from Louis XIII in 1628. The Siege of La Rochelle and St. Martin on the L'Ile de Re took place between the French Royal forces of Louis XIII and the Huguenots of La Rochelle and the English forces of Charles I at St. Martin in the years 1625-1628. The Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, occurred in the French isle of Ile de Ré around the fortress of the city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, when Duke of Buckingham tried to occupy the island in 1627. After three months of combat and sieges however, Governor Toiras and a relief force of French ships and troops managed to repel the Duke of Buckingham, who was forced to withdraw in defeat. This encounter followed another defeat for Buckingham, the 1625 Cádiz Expedition, and is considered as the opening conflict of the Anglo-French War of 1627-1629, itself a part of the Thirty Years' War.  View Map

Travel Guide of Negro Hotels and Guest Houses. Published by Afro-American Newspapers. 1942.
Afro-American Newspapers, New York?
Folding pamphlet and map showing the location of hotels and guest house that would rent to African Americans in the eastern United States during WW II. Twenty two years later the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination in housing. View Map

Over 2,000 Pictorial Maps added to the collection. Various dates.
Various Authors and places of publication
A group of more than 2,000 pictorial maps from all dates has been added to the collection, bringing the total pictorial maps online to 4,333.
View Latest 2,000 Pictorial Maps

(Two Atlases by Matthaeus Seutter): Atlas Novus sive Tabulae Geographicae Totius Orbis Faciem, Partes, Imperia, Regna et Provincias Exhibentes Exactissima Cura Juxta Recentissimas Observation Aeri Incisae et Venum Expositae a Matthaeo Seutter Chalcogr. Augustae Vindelicorum. 1730. (and) (Composite Seutter Atlas.) 1740
Seutter, Matthaeus, 1678-1756, Augsburg
This is the first issue of Seutter's Atlas Novus with the first issue of the title page and first issues of many of the maps. Page numbers of maps shown on tabs - missing tabs shown in parentheses. Corresponding alphabetical index sheets numbered in Full Title field to match map numbers. Color. Relief shown by sketches. In German and/or Latin. (and) A composite atlas of maps primarily by Mattaeus Seutter, but also includes maps by other authors. Date estimated. In two volumes: TOM III and TOM IV. No title page. In Latin, French, German, Italian; varies by sheet. Full color.  View Atlases

Atlas Novus Coelestis in quo Mundus Spectabilis, et Eodem tam Errantium quam Inerrantium Stellarum Phoenomena Natabilia ... Secundum Nic. Copernici, et Tychonis de Brahe Hypothesin ... a Joh. Gabriele Doppelmaiero ... Norimberg A.E, Sumptibus Heredum Homannianorum A. 1742.
Doppelmayr, Johann Gabriel, 1677-1750, Nuremberg
"Johann Doppelmayr (1677-1750) was a Professor of Mathematics at the Aegidien Gymnasium in Nuremberg. He wrote on a number of topics, including astronomy, geography, cartography, spherical trigonometry, and scientific instruments, and he collaborated in the production of terrestrial and celestial globes. He was a member of the Royal Society of London and the Berlin and St. Petersburg Academies of Sciences. In the early 1700s, Doppelmayr prepared a number of astronomical and cosmological plates that appeared in several works by cartographer Johann Baptist Homann (1664-1724), who founded a famous cartographic publishing firm that continued through his heirs until 1848. In 1742, these plates were collected and issued as the Atlas Novus Coelestis in quo Mundus Spectabilis…. This atlas had a total of 30 plates, 20 that dealt with various astronomical themes (e.g., cosmological systems of Copernicus and Tycho Brahe, planetary and other bodies in the solar system), and 10 that were constellation maps showing the positions of the stars and the paths of comets." (Kanas, Nick).  View Atlas

(Muggletonian Celestial Planetary Motion Prints). Drawn by Isaac Frost. Printed in oil color by G. Baxter, 11, Northampton Square, R., London. Engraved by W. P. Chubb & Son. 1846.
Frost, Isaac; W. P. Chubb & Son, London
A series of six oil color prints, celestial charts engraved in tones of blue, white, yellow, and green, intended to demonstrate that the earth is at the center of the universe, based on planetary charts drawn by Isaac Frost. They were printed by George Baxter, who employed his innovative oil color printing technique that permitted subtle gradations for a glowing effect and engraved by Chubb & Son, London. Isaac Frost was a scientist and prominent member of the the religious sect known as "Muggletonians" in the mid 19th Century, who was instrumental in the refinement of the Muggletonian's astronomical theory, as represented on these prints. Each sheet individually titled, they were originally published under the title "Two Systems of Astronomy", 1846 and were likely circulated only to members of the sect. George Baxter was a London printer who developed and patented an unusual method of printing using oil pigments. His works are rare, because although the graduations of color produced are quite beautiful, the process was too expensive to sustain commercial manufacture. Some plates include text.  View Maps

(A Group of Maps, Illustrations, Diagrams, and Celestial Charts.)
Reynolds, James; Emslie, John; and others. London
James Reynolds was a prolific London publisher of a wide variety of maps, illustrations, diagrams, and celestial charts. He was active from about 1840 to 1860. He primarily published the work of illustrator John Emslie whose images exhibited extraordinary imagination. Many of the works were used in schools for teaching.  View All Works

Japanese World War II Military Mail Envelope and Map. 1943.
Daito Shoji (Big East Commercial Company) (Tokyo)
A clever preprinted envelope for use by Japanese Imperial military, listing and illustrating the battles and victories of the Imperial forces. Printed February 1943 (Showa 18). A remarkable envelope in that as it is unfolded two sticks pop up with a string strung between them, spanning the Pacific and Indian oceans. Little paper flags hang from the string including those of Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and Vichy France. The background is a map of the world with vignettes of battle scenes. Watermark on area reserved for writing a message reads, "Willing to keep shooting [fighting] until I die" - apparently a motto of the military. Label shows it is military mail. Text indicates where to put paste. Has the cypress figure of East Asia Messenger Army and patent application and design registration numbers. View Maps

Mappemonde dress es en 1450, par Fra Mauro cosmographe Venetien. Par order d'Alphonse V. Roide Portugal. Publiee pour la premiere fois de la grandeur de l'original avec toutes les Legendes par Le Vicomte de Santarem, 1854. J. J. Feuquieres, lith. Schwaerzle Sculp..  1450 (1854).
BMauro, Fra; Santarem, Manuel Francisco de.,  London?
Unusual for medieval European maps, it is oriented with South at the top (Indian Ocean, top left; Mediterranean, right center) and so meticulously drawn and full of detail and legends that it has been described as a “medieval cosmography of no small extent, a conspectus of 15th century geographical knowledge cast in medieval form.” The coasts are drawn in a style recalling that of nautical charts. Includes 4 insets at each corner, numerous note boxes on the map and explanatory text at the margins. Shows place names, rivers, mountains, lakes, etc. Landmarks shown pictorially. Text and place names in Italian, publication information in French. Relief shown pictorially. View Maps

Joannis Elerti Bode. Uranographia sive Astrorum Descriptio viginti tabulis aeneis incisa ex recentissimis et absolutissimis Astronomorum observationibus. Sumtus commodante Illustrissimo Astronomiae Patrono Generosissimo Equite Megalopolitano Frederico de Hahn Dynaste Remplini ... Berolini, MDCCCI. Apud Autorem.  1801.
Bode, Johann Elert, 1747-1826, Berlin
Star atlases by Bayer and Hevelius showed only the brightest stars. Bode in his Uranographia showed all the stars that could be seen without a telescope - he listed 17,240 in his catalog that accompanies the 20 sheet atlas. Bode also was one of the first to show the boundaries of the constellations. Uranographia was both the most elaborate atlas of stars and constellations published to date, and perhaps the last great star atlas. Outline and full color of constellations..  View Atlas

L'Hydrographie Francoise Recueil des Cartes Generales et Particulieres qui ont ete Faites pour le Service des Vaisseaux du Roy. Par ordre des Ministres de la Marine depuis 1737. jusqu'en 1765. Par le S. Bellin Ingenieur de la Marine et du Depost des Cartes, Plans et Journaux de la Marine, Censeur Royal, de l'Academie de Marine et de la Societe Royale de Londres. Premiere Partie Contenant Les Cartes Marines pour l'Europe et l'Asie. Seconde Partie Contenant Les Cartes Marines pour l’Afrique et l’Amérique. A Paris chez M. Bellin, rue du Doyennen pres St. Louis du Louvre.  1765.
Bellin, Jacques Nicolas, 1703-1772, Paris
"Exceptional onboard document of this rare and fabulous maritime atlas, a masterpiece by the greatest French hydrographer of the 18th century, with maps of all the coastlines known at the time. Bound with the coat of arms of the King of France, the atlas was taken by the English aboard the frigate la Nymphe, off the coasts of Ushant August 10, 1780, during one of the naval battles of the American War of Independence which took place on European waters. In the context of the war at the end of the 18th century, and of the rivalry between the French and British Navy, maritime atlases, were strategic tools, and this “Hydrographie Françoise” more so than any other, because its purpose was to provide the best maritime charts for the French ships that were fighting on the American side against the British. (The handwritten captions throughout most of the atlas are prices for individual maps and all include the same mention: “for sailors”). These atlases were not the kind to be kept in a library, but precious tools, based on the observations of the travelers and continuously improved upon, as reflect in the present copy. It was bound with the engraved title page of the edition of 1737-1765, but the index includes maps printed after 1765 (until 1772), and the copy was augmented by six maps that do not appear in the index (until 1776), as well as 14 pages of text from the Versailles edition of 1773. The later maps are signed by Verdun de la Crenne and were done during the campaigns of the Flore (1771-1772) and of the Isis led by Fleurieu in 1768-1769. The captions explain that the maps were created using the latest technology of the day that could measure longitude (maritime clocks)." (J.F. Letenneur)  View Atlases

Le Neptune Francois, ou Atlas Nouveau des Cartes Marines. Levees et Gravees par Ordre Expres du Roy. Pour l'Usage de ses Armees de Mer. Dans lequel on voit la description exacte de toutes les Cotes de la Mer Oceane, & de la Mer Baltique, depuis la Norwege jusque au Detroit de Gibraltar ... A Paris, Chez Hubert Jaillot aux deux Globes. M.DC.LXXXXIII. (Volume 2) Atlas Marines a l'Usage des Armees du Roy de la Grande Bretagne ... A Amsterdam. Chez Pierre Mortier ... M.DC.LXXXXIII.  1693.
Jaillot, Alexis Hubert, 1632?-1712; De Hooge, Romain, 1645-1708, Amsterdam
Two complimentary volumes bound together as one. Although the title page of the first volume says it was published in Paris by Jaillot, it was actually published in Amsterdam by Pierre Mortier. There is another version of this combined atlas that adds a third volume of charts. Outline color.  View Atlas

Composite Atlas of Homann Maps.  1788.
Homann, Johann Baptist (1663-1724) Nuremberg
An unusual composite atlas of maps primarily by Homann, but also Seutter, Lotter, and others. The two title pages are in manuscript, presumably made by the person who assembled the maps. The date of 1788 on the title page is later than most dated map sheets in the atlas, which range from 1702 to 1791. Color. Relief shown as sketches or hachures. Places of publication for sheets in this Homann atlas include Nuremberg (Nuernberg), Noribergae (Amsterdam), and Norimbergae (London). First section title page lists Frankfurt am Main as the place of publication. Publication date is 1788, based on the date shown on the first section title page. Date assigned to each atlas sheet matches what is printed, unless there is no printed date, in which case the publication date of 1788 is used.  View Atlas

Receuil Des Principaux Plans des Ports, et Rades de la Mer Mediterranee, Estraits, de ma Carte de Douze Feiiilles. Dediee a Monsgr. le Duc de Choiseul, Ministre de la guerre et de la Marine gravee avec Privilege du Roy. Par Son tres humble Serviteur, Joseph Roux, Hidrographe du Roy. A Marseille, 1764. (Compilation of the Plans of the Principal Ports and Natural Harbors of the Mediterranean, Straits. Map in Twelve Sheets. Dedicated to Monsieur the Duke de Choiseul, Minister of War and Navy engraved with the Privilege of the King. By His very humble servant, Joseph Roux, Hydrographer to the King. In Marseille,  1764.
Roux, Joseph, Marseille
A small format atlas with one port per page. In French. Most editions of this atlas have fewer than the 170 charts of ports found in this copy.  View Atlas

Atlas Nouveau Contenant Toutes Les Parties du Monde, ou Sont exactement Remarques Les Empires, Monarchies, Royaumes, Estats, Republiques & Peuples qui fy trouuent a present. Par le Sr. Sanson, Geographe ordinaire du Roy. Presente a Monseigeur le Dauphin ... Hubert Jaillot Geographe du Roy. A Paris, Chez Hubert Jaillot .... (1675).
Jaillot, Alexis Hubert, 1632?-1712; Mortier, Pierre; Sanson, Nicolas, 1600-1667, Amsterdam,Paris
This issue of the Mortier/Jaillot Atlas Nouveau has 169 maps (1 more than the normal count of 168) plus diagrams, text pages, decorated titles and index pages. It is noted for the large number of multi-sheet "Theatre de la Guerre" (Theater of War) maps covering the battles raging in Europe and the Americas during the Spanish War of Succession (1701-1713) and the Northern War (1700-1721). The Atlas Nouveaux was first published by Jaillot in Paris in 1681(46 maps) with later issues by him in 1684 (72 maps) and 1689 (80 maps). In 1692 Pierre Mortier published his first edition of the Jaillot atlas with 99 maps, another edition followed in 1696 with 111 maps. In 1707/1708 Mortier issued our edition with 168 maps. Later editions by Mortier expanded the atlas even further - 1708, 200 maps; ca 1721, 300 maps; ca 1735, 400 maps. The atlas maps are large folio size with most maps made of two sheets and many maps combining 4 or 6 sheets (those also issued as wall maps separately). The atlas is most impressive for its large size and number of maps as well as being up to date for its time. This copy colored in outline with relief shown pictorially.  View Atlas

Theatrum geographiae veteris, duobus tomis distinctum, edente Petro Bertio Bevero. Christianissimi Galliarum regis Ludovici XIII. Cosmographo. (decorative title) Theatri geographiae veteris : tomus prior in quo Cl. Ptol. Alexandrini, Geographiae libri viii. Graeca ad codices Palatinos collata aucta et emendata sunt Latina infinitis locis correcta, opera P. Bertii Christianissimi Galliarum regis cosmographi. Lugduni Batavorum, Excudebat typis suis Isaacus Elzevirius, sumptibus Iudoci Hondii, anno MDCXVIII.  1618.
Bertius, Petrus, 1565-1629; Mercator, Gerhard, 1512-1594; Ortelius, Abraham; Welser, Marcus, London
Three parts bound together in a single volume. The first part (tomus prior) includes a decorative colored title page which is filled with geographers with mapping instruments and globes at the top and bottom within an architectural surrounding. Includes 28 maps of Ptolemy, engraved by Gerhard Mercator, with an engraved portrait of Mercator for his edition of Geographia in 1578. The second part contains the engravings of the Peutinger Roman World Map from the plates Ortelius used on four sheets, and an extra 9th map which was made specifically for this atlas and does not occur anywhere else. Finally, in the third part there are 14 historical maps of Europe with accompanying text, 12 of them borrowed from the Parergon maps of Ortelius, a Low Countries map of Kaerius, and an Italy map of Cluverius, both based on Ortelius. Willebrord Snellius of Leiden also belonged to the contributors of this atlas.  Petrus Bertius was born at Beveren, Flanders, Nov. 14, 1565. Became professor of mathematics and librarian at University of Leiden. In 1618 became cosmographer and histographer to Louis XIII of France. He was the author of many geographical and theological works. This three part atlas is the most celebrated work of Petrus Bertius (1565-1629). It is based primarily on Ptolemy's Geographia, produced around 150 AD. It includes engraved folding maps, drawn from earlier work by Mercator and Ortelius.  View Atlas

This is Ann ... she drinks blood. Her full name is Anopheles Mosquito and she's dying to meet you! ... Prepared and distributed by Army Orientation Course, Special Service Division, Army Service Forces. War Dept., Washington, D.C. Government printing Office, 1943, 538110. (on verso) Newsmap : Monday, November 8, 1943 : week of October 28 to November 4 : 217th week of the war : 99th week of U.S. participation. Volume II, No. 29. Drawn by Richard Edes Harrison, 1940. Time Inc. (Fortune). 1943.
Harrison, Richard Edes; Army Orientation Course, Special Service Division Army Service Forces; Geisel, Theodor Seuss,  Washington, D.C.
4 maps on 1 sheet, both sides, sheet 88x119. Map of the world printed in red and black, by Theodore Geisel and Munro Leaf; Army Orientation Course, Special Service Division. With color coded reference: "Malaria found wherever you see red on the map". One element of the anti-malaria campaign was an effort to educated front-line soldiers and to control the disease through aggressive prevention and public health measures. On verso: Maps: Bougainville : last stop in the Solomons; Crimea is cut off; Atlantic Ocean. Includes text: War fronts: Russia, Italy, Air offensive, Southwest Pacific, Burma. Photographs: Navy's new Hellcat fighter plane brings down a Japanese fighter plane nicknamed "Emily" near the Gilbert Islands. "Prepared from public sources of information.".  View Maps

Atlas minor Gerardi Mercatoris, a I. Hondio plurimis aeneis tabulis auctus et illustratus. Amsterodami Excusum in aedibus Iudoci Hondij, venunt etiam apud Corneliu Nicolai, item apud Ioannem Ianssoniu Arnhemi. 1607. 
Mercator, Gerhard, 1512-1594; Hondius, Iodocus, 1563-1612,   Amsterdam
This Atlas was published by Ioannes Janssonius, in 1607 (2nd prelim. leaf, is dated March 1607. Pagination irregular), with 8 + 656 p., 152 black and white maps, 1 color map, text and index. Decorative colored title page that is filled with allegorical female figures of the continents, geographers measuring the globe within an architectural surrounding. Maps with title cartouche, showing the boundaries, territories, topographical features, cities and towns, landmarks, rivers, forests, compass rose, coat of arms, sea monsters, sailing vessels, etc. In full vellum binding with title " Atlas minor Gr. Mercatoris Hondius." on spine. Gerardus Mercator can confidently be called the greatest cartographer of the sixteenth century. He helped to establish Amsterdam as the leading center of 16th Century cartography. Gerard Mercator originally was a student of philosophy, then became an expert in land surveying and cartography, as well as a skilled engraver. His first maps were published in 1537 (Palestine), and 1538 (a map of the world). His most famous contribution to science is a technique of rendering the globe on a flat surface. In 1569 he published his masterpiece, the twenty-one-sheet map of the world, still known as "Mercator’s projection." Shortly after the publication of the big folio-atlases (the Atlas, Sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi et fabricati figura 1585-9, and the edition of Ptolemy's Geographia 1578) the need was apparently felt for a smaller-sized atlas, one that would be handier and, above all cheaper, so that a larger public might have access to the use of maps. During the preparation of the publication of Mercator's large Atlas, Hondius had the maps reduced, in order to publish them as the Atlas Minor in 1607. The publisher, Cornelis Claesz, also participated in this enterprise.  View Atlas

Historia mundi: or Mercator's atlas : Containing his cosmographicall description of the fabricke and figure of the world. Lately rectified in divers places, as also beautified and enlarged with new mappes and tables; by the studious industry of Iudocus Hondy. Englished by W.S. generosus, & Coll. Regin. Oxoniae. London Printed for Michaell Sparke, and are to be sowld in Greene Arboiure, 1637. Second edytion. 
Mercator, Gerhard, 1512-1594; Hondius, Iodocus, 1563-1612; Saltonstall, Wye;, London
Second edition in English, translated from the Mercator Hondius 1607 Atlas Minor (see our copy 11201.000) by Wye Saltonstall. With engraved decorative title page dated 1637 that is filled with allegorical female figures, geographers measuring the globe within an architectural surrounding, and additional title page from the first edition, dated 1635, with the imprint: Printed by T. Cotes for Michael Sparke and Samuel Cartwright. The atlas is in 1032 pages, includes frontispiece "Englished by W.S.," dedications signed by Wye Saltonstall. Also includes preface, notes, 26 pages of tables, index, illustrations, diagrams, portrait, 930 pages of text and 184 maps. In full leather binding with raised spine. Maps with decorative cartouches, showing the boundaries, territories, topographical features, cities and towns, landmarks, rivers, forests, some maps with illustrations of sea monsters and sailing ships. Relief shown pictorially. Numerous errors in pagination. P. 905 bears a map of New Spain, a duplicate of that on p. 907, description of New Spaine read New Virginia, but there is no Map of Virginia. There is map of Virginia and Florida, which covers the area south of Chesapeake Bay, used first in the "Atlas Minor" of 1607. The map of Egypt: At Page 818. the single Map of Aegypt is to be pasted on the Page. Second printing in English, with a duplicate map of New Spain in place of the later issued map of Virginia by Ralph Hall: "there is no Map for Virginia in regard there is a more exact Map drawing in that Country, whose Platforme is not yet come over, but when it comes, every buyer of the Booke shall have it given him gratis" (see errata on verso of final leaf). "Wye Saltonstall intended in his first edition of the "Historia Mundi" a map of Virginia. In acquiring the Mercator-Hondius copperplates used first in the "Atlas Minor" of 1607, he only possessed one of Virginia and Florida, which covers the area south of Chesapeake Bay. Since that time the Jamestown colony had become important, and a map would be needed to illustrate it… [Hall's] map was included in future editions of the "Historia Mundi" in 1637 and 1639" (Burden 244). Without the ninth state of the rare map of New England by John Smith found in some copies. This edition, with the first edition printed title page and the second edition decorative title, is a mixed edition and does not yet include the later added Hall map of Virginia.  View Atlas

Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica mundi et fabricati figura. De novo multis in locis emendatus novisque tabulis auctus. Amsterodami, apud Iohannem Ianssonium van Waesberge. Anno, 1673.
Mercator, Gerhard, 1512-1594; Wye; Janssonius van Waesberge, Johannes; Cloppenburg, Johannes, 1592-1652,  Amsterdam
First reworked edition of Mercator's Atlas Minor issued by the Janssonius heirs (Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge) in 1673, without text or printed index. With engraved architectural and emblematic title page, and 183 copperplate engraved maps. Printed from the plates of the Cloppenburg editions of the Atlas Minor (1630, 1632, 1636), with a new map of the United Provinces and additional decorative elements to some maps, along with some updates to the maps. This edition of Mercator's 'Atlas'... was a changed format edition. Its newly engraved maps fell in between the folio maps in the Mercator-Hondius Atlas and the Atlas Minor. The Cloppenburg edition seems to have been suppressed after 1636. It was continued with this copy after 1673 by the Janssonius heirs. Because the maps are all taken from the Cloppenburg plates of the 1636 edition, these maps are dated 1636, while the atlas is dated (Pub Date) as 1673. The maps include decorative cartouches, latitudinal and longitudinal lines, coats of arms, compass rose, and show political boundaries, cities, towns, topography, vegetation, waterways and landmarks. Relief shown pictorially.  View Atlas

The Navigator: Containing Directions For Navigating The Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers With An Ample Account Of These Much Admired Waters, From The Head Of The Former To the Mouth Of The Latter... With Accurate Maps Of The Ohio And Mississippi. To Which Is Added An Appendix, Containing An Account Of Louisiana, And Of The Missouri And Columbia Rivers, As Discovered By The Voyage Under Captains Lewis And Clarke. Sixth Edition - Improved And Enlarged. (Copy-right secured according to law.) Pittsburgh, Published by Zadok Cramer and sold at his Bookstore, Market-Street. [Price one Dollar.] From the Press of Cramer & Spear. 1808. 
Cramer, Zadok, Pittsburgh
6th edition, improved and enlarged. 1st and 2nd editions never found, 3rd is 1802, 4th is 1804, 5th is 1806, thus this 6th edition is actually the 4th and the first to contain information on the Lewis and Clark expedition. See Yost for a good description of this book and Cramer himself. Manuscript notations on several maps indicate this copy was used for several trips down the river. The Navigator was the first of a long run of guides to the western rivers. Repairs to some leaves. Book rebound with quarter leather and "Cramer's Mississippi Navigator" embossed on the spine.  View Book

318 City Maps by Hermann Bollmann. 1948 to 2014.
Bollmann, Hermann,  Braunschweig
Hermann Bollmann (1911-1971) was a German cartographer who brought his training as a graphic artist to bear on the German tradition of Vogelschaukarten (bird's-eye-view maps). From the exact same point-of-view, he repeatedly revised the maps, demonstrating the post-war development of urban Germany. He also made similar views of New York, Zurich, Amersterdam, and other cities outside of Germany. View Maps

Leo Belgicus. 1617. (In) Petri Kaerii Germania Inferior id est, XVII Provinciarum ejus novae etc exactae Tabulae Geographicae, cum Luculentis Singularum descriptionibus additis. a Petro Montano. Amstelodami impensis Pet. Kaerii. 1617.
Keere, Pieter van den, 1571-approximately 1646'  Amersterdam
First edition, and one of the first complete atlases of an entire country. Includes the Leo Belgicus plate..  View Atlas

The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Presenting An Exact Geography of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland, and Ireland and the Isles adjoyning with the Shires Hundreds Citys and the Shire townes within the Kingdome of England devided and described. As also A Prospect of the most famous Parts of the World. By John Speed ... London. Printed for Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell. 1676.
Speed, John, 1542-1629  London
This book contains two of John Speed's most important atlases, "The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine," and "A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World." Published by Bassett & Chiswell in 1676, it is a late edition of both works which were originally published in 1612 for the Theatre and 1627 for the Prospect. This edition of the Prospect expands the maps from the original 21 maps in the 1627 edition to 28 maps, including new maps of British possessions in North America. These two Speed atlases are considered the most important English language atlases of the 17th century. They both went through many editions up to 1743. Relief shown by sketches.  View Atlas

Poly Olbion. A Chorographicall Description of All the Tracts, Rivers, Mountains, Forest, and other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britain ,,, Divided into Two Bookes ... by Michael Drayton. London, Printed for John Marriott, John Grismand, and Thomas Dewe. 1622.
Drayton, Michael, 1563-1631  London
Poly Olbion may be the first book of pictorial maps. The maps illustrate a topographical poem by Michael Drayton, first published with 18 maps in 1612, then reissued with an additional 12 maps in 1622, plus additional text. The maps usually show two English counties and use various figures to illustrate places, rivers, and other features. The text is full of interesting historical detail often not found in other sources of the time.  View Atlas

L'Atlas de la Mer, ou Monde Aquaticque, Representant toutes les Costes Maritimes de l'Univers descouvertes & cogneues. Tres necessaire & commode Pour tous Pilotes, Maistres de Navire & marchands. Mis nouvellement en Lumiere & Imprime. A Amsterdam, Chez Pieter Goos.  1667.
Goos, Pieter, 1616-1675  Amsterdam
Outline color. Title page and index in French; maps in Dutch. Goos (1616-1675) was one of the leading engravers of the age, producing work for everyone from the house of Visscher to John Speed. His father, Abraham, worked with Henricus Hondius. After the success of both Willem Blaeu and Jacob Colom's pilot-books in the early seventeenth century, a host of imitators appeared, who mainly reworked the information available in existing books. Like many of his contemporaries, Goos bought, borrowed, and copied from his colleagues, and neither the texts nor the charts in his atlas are unique products of his work, but rather derived from many sources. It is unlikely that this atlas was used at sea given its fine coloring and engraving. Instead, it was probably used on land by business people and those who could afford to have it in their libraries. View Atlas

Atlantis Appendix, sive pars Altera, continens Tab: Geographicas diversarum Orbis regionum, nunc primum editas. Amsterdami, Apud Guiljelmum Blaeuw. Anno (1630).
Blaeu, Willem Janszoon, 1571-1638  Amsterdam
This is Willem Blaeu's first world atlas, without text on the versos of the maps. Koeman identifies 5 copies. Most of these copies have 60 maps - our copy has an additional 7 maps. The collation of all the copies identified varies considerably. Our copy does not include a map or maps of France which may indicate that it is a very early example. 37 of the maps have been printed from plates acquired from Jodocus Hondius II, substituting Willem Blaeu's name as maker. All of the plates are very strong impressions, indicating early states of all the maps. A second edition of the Appendix was published in 1631 in two states, one with 98 maps and the other with 99 maps arranged in different order (Koeman). Uncolored. View Atlas

An Atlas of Astronomy. A Series of Seventy-two Plates with Introduction and Index. By Sir Robert Stawell Ball, LL.D., F.R.S. ... London: George Philip & Son. 1892.
Ball, Robert Stawell  London
Ball’s Atlas uses the latest printing advances to show the Moon and the planets in great detail. It reflects the state of late 19th century knowledge of the solar system.  View Atlas

Claudii Ptolemaei Alexandrini Geographicae enarrationis libri octo. Sed ad Graeca & prisca exemplaria a Michaele Villanouano secundo recogniti & locis innumeris denuo castigati. Adiecta insuper ab eodem Scholia, quibus & difficilis ille Primus Liber nunc primum explicatur, & exoleta Urbium nomina ad nostri seculi morem exponuntur. Quinquaginta illae quoque cum veterum tum recentium Tabulae adnectuntur variisque incolentium ritus & mores explicantur. Accedit index locupletissimus hactenus non uisus. Prostant Lugduni Apud Hugonem a Porta. M.D.XLI. (1541).
Ptolemy, Claudius; Fries, Lorenz; Servetus, Michael  Vienna
Second edition of Michael Servetus' Ptolemy 's Geographia utilising Lorenz Fries's woodcut maps, was published by Gaspar Trechsel in Vienna in 1541 and sold by Hughes de la Porte in Lyons. This atlas is divided into three parts: First, the text comprising the new Latin translation by the humanist Wilibald Pirckheimer of the 1525 edition, which has been edited by Michael Servetus, for the first time for the 1535 edition and the second time for this 1541 edition. The second part consists of 50 maps, comprising 27 Ptolemaic and 23 modern maps. The maps were printed from the same wooden blocks which were made for the first edition in 1522 by Lorenz Fries, the famous physician, astrologer and geographer, many with descriptive text on recto and verso. With half title index before or after the maps varies. A special feature of the 1541 edition is the missing text on verso of some modern maps. This is due to the action of Calvinism, especially since the text on verso of the Holy Land map provoked controversy. The third and final part consists of a comprehensive index. Many of the first three editions were burned, which led Servetus to abdicate on some text on the map versos. Maps Showing rivers, canals, waterways, place names, fortifications, and administrative boundaries. Relief shown pictorially. Some maps drawn in a trapezoidal projection.  View Atlas

Ptolemeo. La geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo alessandrino, con alcuni comenti & aggiunte fatteui da Sebastiano Munstero alamanno, con le tauole non solamente antiche & moderne solite di stamparsi, ma altre nuoue aggiunteui di messer Iacopo Gastaldo piamontese cosmographo, ridotta in uolgare italiano da m. Pietro Andrea Mattiolo senese medico eccellentissimo. Con l'aggiunta d'infiniti nomi moderni, ... fatta con grandissima diligenza da esso meser Iacopo Gastaldo, il che in nissun altro Ptolemeo si ritroua. Operueramemte non meno util che necessarid. In Venetia, ... per Gioan. Baptista Pedrezano ... Anni x. M.D.XLVIII (1548).
Ptolemy, Claudius; Gastaldi, Giacomo; Mattioli, Pietro Andrea, 1500-1577; Pedrezano, Giovanbattista  Venise
The first pocket atlas and the first edition of Ptolemy's Geographia in Italian, also the first engraved Ptolemy edition since Berlingheri in 1482. Maps engraved on copper by Giacomo Gastaldi, the foremost Italian cartographer of the 16th century, marking a turning point in the history of cartography, mostly based on those of Munster woodcuts in the Latin edition of 1540. Nordenskiold noted that "Copper engraving was reintroduced into the service of cartography" as it was the first atlas in the 16th century to use this process. Maps are accompanied by descriptive text printed on the backs. It is likely the most important atlas published between Waldseemuller's 1513 Ptolemy and Ortelius's Theatrum of 1570. The translation was made by Pietro Andrea Mattioli, the famous botanist. The atlas contains 60 double page copperplate maps, 26 of Ptolemy, supplemented by 34 Modern maps, woodcut title page, illustrated page of "Ptolemeo degli astronomi prencipe ..." and text. Bound in contemporary limp vellum covers with title inked on spine. Most of the Ptolemy and Modern maps showing illustrations of ships, sea monsters, fishes, trees, figures, landmarks and place names. Everywhere in this atlas are indications of Gastaldi's effort to use the most up-to-date geographical information available. Atlas includes the first engraved maps of part of North America and South America, Tierra Nueva map of the East coast of North America from Florida to Lavrador, is considered the earliest map to focus on the East Coast of North America. Nordenskiold calls it "the very first atlas of the New World". It also has the earliest maps to reflect Verrazano and Cartier's explorations. One of the two world maps in the atlas, the "Universle Novo is the reduction of an extremely rare map published just two years earlier that Tooley described as "one of the most important map of the sixteenth century." Borri provides a thorough analysis of both general maps of Italy. Gole described Calecut Nova Tavola as the first separate map of Indian peninsula. Although only one edition of this atlas is known, a somewhat enlarged edition first published by G. Ruscelli in 1561 (see our copy). In this form the atlas was issued five more times by various publishers.  View Atlas

La geografia di Claudio Tolomeo Alessandrino, nuouamente tradotta di Greco in Italiano, da Girolamo Ruscelli ; con Espositioni del medesimo, particolari di luogo in luogo, & uniuersali sopra tutto il libro, et sopra tutta la Geografia, o modo di far la descrittione di tutto il mondo ; et con nuoue & bellisime figure in istampe di rame, oue, oltre alle XXVI antiche di Tolomeo, se ne son'aggiunte XXXVI altre delle moderne ; con la carta da nauicare, & col modo d'intenderla, & d'adoperarla ; aggiuntoui un pieno discorso di M. Gioseppe Moleto matematico ; nel quale si dichiarano tutti i termini & le regole appartenenti alla Geografia ; et con una nuoua & copiosa tauola di nomi antichi, dichiarati coi nomi moderni, & con molte altre cose utillissime & necessarie, che ciascuno leggendo potra conoscere. Al Sacratissimo et Sempre Felicissimo Imperator Ferdinando Primo. Con privilegio dell'Illustrissimo Senato Veneto, & d'altri Principi per anni XV. In Venetia, Appresso Vincenzo Valgrisi, M.D.LXI. (1561).
Ptolemy, Claudius; Ruscelli, Girolamo; Giuseppe Moletti, M.  London
The first edition of Girolamo Ruscelli's translation of Claudius Ptolemy's Geographia, published in Italian. It was printed by Vincenzo Valgrisi in Venice, with the text translated from Greek by Ruscelli. The 64 double page copperplate maps were partly based on those of Jacopo Gastaldo in the edition of 1548, with descriptive text on recto of first leaf and verso of last leaf. 27 Ptolemy maps and 37 'modern' map, including 3 world maps, 6 maps of America (South America, Mexico with Florida, Brazil, east coast of North America, Haiti, Cuba), 27 European maps (including the North-Atlantic map with parts of Labrador), 9 maps of Africa and 19 maps of Asia. Maps showing settlements, landmarks, rivers, mountains, ports, forests, illustrations of wildlife,etc. Includes index. Relief shown pictorially. Bound in half leather marbled paper covered boards, with title "Geografia di Tolomeo" on spine. Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 CE) was a Roman geographer and mathematician living in Egypt, who compiled his knowledge and theories about the world's geography into one seminal work. Although his maps did not survive, his mathematical projections and location coordinates did. Girolamo Ruscelli (c. 1504-1566) was a Venetian editor, whose maps are primarily based on those by Jacopo Gastaldi (1548) but with many of his own additions and reproduced on a larger scale. Ruscelli introduces several important innovations in this volume through his 37 "modern" maps, which cover Europe, Africa, Asia and the New World. Ruscelli includes a double hemisphere world map, which was the first of its kind to be used in an atlas, and "Carta Marina Nuova Tavola", a rare sea chart of the world.  View Atlas

Geographia di Clavdio Tolomeo alessandrino, tradotta di Greco nell'idioma volgare Italiano da Girolamo Ruscelli ; et hora nuouamente ampliata da Gioseffo Rosaccio, con varie annotationi, & espositioni, & tauole di rame ... ; et vna geografia vniuersale del medesimo, separata da quella di Tolomeo ... ; et vna breue descrittione di tutta la terra, distinta in quattro libri ... ; con due indici copiosissimi di tutto quello, che di notabile si contiene nell opera. Conlicentia, et privilegio. In Venetia, MDXCIX (1599) Appresso gli heredi di M. Sessa.
Ptolemy, Claudius; Ruscelli,Girolamo; Rosaccio, Giuseppe, Venice
Ruscelli's Italian translation from the Greek of Ptolemy's Geographia. The fourth edition of Ruscelli's Ptolemy, revised, enlarged, and edited by Giuseppe Rosaccio, 4 parts in one volume, with 69 engraved double-page uncolored maps, five entirely new maps, including one of the Americas. With various pagination, showing landmarks, rivers, ports, fortifications, major cities and towns, some with decorative cartouches, illustrations of sea monsters and ships. Relief shown pictorially. Bound in full leather covers. Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 CE) was a Roman geographer and mathematician living in Egypt, who compiled his knowledge and theories about the world's geography into one seminal work. Although his maps did not survive, his mathematical projections and location coordinates did. Girolamo Ruscelli (c. 1504-1566) was a Venetian editor, whose maps are primarily based on those by Jacopo Gastaldi (1548) but with many of his own additions and reproduced on a larger scale. Ruscelli introduces several important innovations in this volume through his 37 "modern" maps, which cover Europe, Africa, Asia and the New World. Ruscelli includes a double hemisphere world map, which was the first of its kind to be used in an atlas, and "Carta Marina Nuova Tavola", a rare sea chart of the world.  View Atlas

Atlantis Majoris Quinta Pars Orbem Maritimum seu... by Johannes Janssonius Atlantis Majoris Quinta Pars Orbem Maritimum seu Omnium Marium totius Orbis Terrarum Navigationibus hodierno tempore frequentatorum descriptionem accuratisimam continens : cui adjunctus est Orbis Antiquus et Graecia Parallela.) Amstelodami. Apud Ioannem Ianssonium. 1650.
Jansson, Johannes, 1588-1664 Amsterdam
This is the first true sea atlas, published as the fifth volume of Jansson's Atlas Novus. It consists of two parts, the Atlas Maritimus with 23 maps and a second part, the Atlas Antiquus with 10 maps. The title page does not show the title but does show the place of publication and the publisher and date. In Latin and Dutch.  View Atlas

Picture of Organized Nature as Extending Over the Earth. Translated from the German for C. Smith & Son. 172, Strand. 1828.
Smith, Charles  London
This unusual chart diagram combines several methods of information visualization. The heights of the world's mountains are shown more or less in the same manner as Smith's mountain charts (see our various copies). Superimposed on the mountains is a series of lines that represent latitude from 0 to 90 degrees north and south. Crossing the latitude lines are straight lines of varying thickness which show the appearance on earth of flora and fauna at various latitudes. The snowfall line is also shown. On the central axis elevations from 0 to 27,000 feet are listed. The whole effect is quite stunning and unlike anything we have seen. Smith credits the German scientists Johann Bernhard Wilbrand and Ferdinand August Max Franz von Ritgen as the source for the information in his diagram (although not the diagram itself, that appears to be uniquely Smith's creation) via their book published in 1928 "Ubersicht des Thierreiches nach naturlichen Abstufungen und Familien (Overview of the animal kingdom by the natural gradations and families). Smith's chart was accompanied by a translation of Wilbrand and Ritgen's book titled "Picture of Organized Nature, in its Spreading over the Earth. Translated from the German of Wilbrand & Ritgen," published by Smith in the same year, 1828.   View Map

Civitates Orbis Terrarum. 1623-1640.
Braun, Georg, 1541-1622; Hogenberg, Franz, 1539-1590, Cologne
The Civitates Orbis Terrarum was the first atlas of world cities and one of the most important books published in the late 16th century. Although led by Braun and Hogenberg, the books were created by a large team of writers, engravers, and artists. R.V. Tooley writes: "The Civitates is one of the great books of the World... it was the first serious attempt to give graphic representations of the main cities of the World, with a wealth of factual detail. In the main, the buildings in each view are shown in elevation, and while the ordinary buildings are stylized, the principal buildings are reproduced from actual drawings on the spot, and these, and the main streets, can be recognized today. Further, the editors gave additional factual information as a deliberately planned policy, such as the heraldic arms of the city, and the nature of the surrounding countryside, whether wooded or arable, grazing land, vineyards, or gardens. The importance of waterways is stressed by the careful delineation of stone bridges, wooden pontoons, flat-bottomed ferries, moles, wharves and jetties; the ports with ocean-going craft, the inland waters with river traffic. Varieties of land travel are depicted, pedestrians, horsemen, wagons, coaches, and palanquins. Small vignettes illustrate the trade, occupations and habits of the locality, agriculture, paper-making and textiles. The law is represented by various forms of punishment, gibbets, wheels, floggings etc. A distinctive feature of the plates is the insertion of large figures in the foreground to illustrate local costume. Those figures are out of proportion necessarily. The general multiplication of detail slightly offends certain commentators who fail to appreciate the purpose of the editors. Their primary aim was not to produce well-balanced landscapes, but to give as much information as possible in a pleasing visual form, in reality a kind of super guide book. This was done so magnificently that the result was an art as decorative as it was informative. The whole forms a wonderful compendium of life in Europe in the sixteenth century. And as city growth in early times, with a few obvious exceptions, was more or less static, even further it gives a visual printed record of mediaeval Europe, and is one of the most valuable sources remaining to the student and historian of these periods." (R.V. Tooley, preface to the reproduction edition of Civitates Orbis Terrarum, World Publishing, 1966) View Atlas

Plan de Paris, commence l'annee 1734 dessine et grave sous les ordres de Messire Michel Etienne Turgot,... acheve de graver en 1739 leve et dessine par Louis Bretez, grave par Claude Lucas, et ecrit par Aubin.  1739
Turgot, Michel-Etienne; Bretez, Louis; Lucas, Claude  Paris
"In 1734 Michel-Etienne Turgot, chief of the municipality of Paris as provost of merchants, decided to promote the reputation of Paris for Parisian, provincial or foreign elites by implementing a new map of the city. He asked Louis Bretez, member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and professor of perspective, to draw up the plan of Paris and its suburbs. By contract, Turgot requested a very faithful reproduction with great accuracy. Louis Bretez, was allowed to enter into the mansions, houses and gardens in order to take measurements and draw pictures. He worked for two years (1734-1736). In the eighteenth century, the trend was to abandon portraits of cities (inherited from the Renaissance) for a geometric plan, more technical and mathematical. But the plan de Turgot goes against this trend, by choosing the system of perspective cavaliere: two buildings of the same size are represented by two drawings of the same size, whether the buildings are close or distant. In 1736, Claude Lucas, engraver of the Royal Academy of Sciences, created the 21 sheets of the plan. The plan was published in 1739, and the prints were bound in volumes offered to the King, the members of the Academy, and the Municipality. Additional copies were to serve as representations of France to foreigners. The 21 engraved brass plates are kept by the Chalcography of the Louvre, where they are even now used for re-printing employing the same techniques as two centuries ago." (Wikipedia). This copy was printed from the original plates in approximately 1860.  View Map

A New General Atlas, Containing a Geographical and Historical Account of All the Empires, Kingdoms, and other Dominions of the World with the Natural History and Trade of Each Country. Taken from the Best Authors ... To which is Prefix'd, An Introduction to Geography ... with a Copious Alphabetical Index. The Maps which are all Engraven or Revised by Mr. Senex ... London: Printed for Daniel Browne ... Thomas Taylor ... John Darby ... John Senex ... William Taylor ... Joseph Smith ... Andrew Johnston ... William Bray ... Edward Symon. M.DCC.XXI. 1721.
Senex, John (c.1678-1740) London
John Senex was one of the leading mapmakers of his day. This General Atlas followed his larger folio atlas as a simplified format. The large amount of text describes the various parts of the world and is especially rich in its descriptions of America. Outline color on most maps.  View Atlas

The Atlantic Telegraph. Map Shewing the Atlantic Telegraph, and Other Submarine Cables in Europe and America. Map Showing the Proposed Ocean Telegraphs and Overland Route Around the World. 1865.
Bacon & Co.,  London
Two maps and text on one sheet, celebrating and promoting the laying of cables connecting Europe and North America.  View Map

Van Keulen (Two Composite Chart Atlases). 1680.
van Keulen, Joannes,  Amsterdam
Two composite sea chart atlases that were obviously used at sea, showing a somewhat worn condition. With bluebacked covers.  View Atlases

The New Atlas and Commercial Gazetteer of China. A Work Devoted to Its Geography & Resources and Economic & Commercial Development. Edited by Edwin John Dingle. Containing 25 Bi-lingual maps, with Complete Indexes, and Many Coloured Graphs. Compiled and Translated ... by the Staff of the Far Eastern Geographical Establishment. Shanghai, China: Published by the North-China Daily News & Herald, Ltd.  1913.
Far Eastern Geographical Establishment; Dingle, John Edwin,  Shanghai
This volume is a combination of text, maps and graphics. Full color maps. 1917 date based on dates of data (through 1916) and comments by the author in the preface. The atlas contains many interesting visualizations of statistical data on the Chinese economy and trade.  View Atlas

Geograficheskii atlas Rossiiskoi Imperii : tsarstva Polskago i Velikago kniazhestva Finliandskago : raspolozhennyia po guberniiam na 83 listakh : s oznacheniem v onykh gorodov, miestechek, sel, derevenʹ i vsiekh primiechatelnieishikh miest, pochtovykh i dolshikh proiezzhikh dorog, stantsii i razstoianiia mezhdu onymi, i prochimi seleniiami v verstakh : s generalnoiu kartoiu i tablitseiu razstoianiia verst po pochtovym dorogam mekhdu znatnieiashimi gorodami na dvukh iazykakh : Sochinen po noveiashim i dostovernym svedeniiam v polzu obuchaiushchikhcia Rossiiskoi Teografii, i dlia sostavleniia dorozhnikov puteshestvennikam -sluzhashchim pri glavnom shtabe Ego Imperatorskago Velichestva v Voenno-topograficheskom depo, chinovnikom 6go. klassa Pidyshevym ; Nachat 1820go. okonchen 1827go. vnov inspravlen v 1828 M. gody = Atlas geographique de l' empire de Russie : du royaume de Pologne et du grand duche de Finlande : divise en gouvernemens, avec l'indication des villes, bourgs, grands et petits villages, et des endroits les plus remarquables, ainsi que des routes de poste et grands chemins praticables, des stations et de la distance en verstes entr eux et autres endroits habites, explique en deux langues : avec une carte generale, et un tableau de la distance en verstes entre les principales villes situees sur les chemins de poste, en 83 feuilles : compose d'apres les plus nouveaux et authentiques renseignemens a l'usage de ceux qui desirent de connaitre la geographie de la Russie, et de former des itineraires pour les voyageurs, par le fontionnaire dela 6e. classe Piadischeff, employe au Depot Topographique militaire, dans l'etat-major de la Majeste Imperiale ; commence en 1820 et termine en 1827, reve et corrige en 1828. 1650.
Piadyshev, Vasilii Petrovich, 1758-1835 St. Petersburg
Geographical Atlas of the Russian Empire and the Neighboring Polish Empire and Grand Duchy of Finland. Also covers Siberia, Alaska and part of America. With the distance of postal routes between provincial cities and neighboring provinces, started in 1820, finished in 1827, it was amended in 1828 gg. 83 plates some folded, in Russian and French; some maps in German, and Polish. With Engraved title page and index. Maps dated 1829, hand colored in outline, engraved by M. Ivanov, Faleleev, Eremin, Finagenov, Shkatov, and Frolov. Produced by the Russian Imperial Army General Staff Topographic Depot. Showing provinces, cities, towns, villages, landmarks, roads, tracks, postal roads and Stations, distances between places, a table of the distance miles on postal road between the major towns. Bound in half leather marbled paper covered boards with "Piadyshev - Geograficheskii atlas Rossiiskoi Imperii - Piadischeff - Atlas geographique de l' empire de Russie " stamped in gilt on the spine. Translates to "Composed at the latest and reliable information, in favor of studying the Russian Geography and for compiling Road travelers."   View Atlas

Album Pintoresco de la Isla de Cuba. B. May y Ca. Oilprinting Storch & Kramer, Berlin.  1855.
May B. y Ca.; Storch & Kramer; Miahle, Pierre Toussaint Frederic,  Havana
27 chromolithograph views and gold lithographed pictorial title page with two folded maps of Cuba and plan of Havana. Some views with Spanish and English titles. The views include Havana and other areas of Cuba, general city views, historic sites, landmarks, street scenes of daily life and folk customs in rural villages, and urban views including people in period dress. Bound in red leather covers ornamented in gold, with title embossed on the front cover in gilt. Oilprinting Storch & Kramer for B. May y Ca., One of two pirated editions printed in Germany in the 1850's, views based on the work of French-born painter Pierre Toussaint Frederic Mialhe, who lived in Cuba from 1838-54. Mialhe was employed by the printing firm Real Sociedad Patriotica to compile a pictorial record of the island, in his Viaje Pintoresco al Rededor de la Isla de Cuba (Havana, 1847-1848). Date estimated. The two maps were also published separately, see our 5444.000 and 5445.000.  View Book

L'Atlas Curieux ou le Monde Represente ans des Cartes Generales et Particulieres du Ciel et de la Terre: Divise tant en ses Quatre Principales Parties que par Etats et Provinces et Orne ... a Paris chez l'Auteur.  1717.
Fer, Nicolas de, 1646-1720,  Paris
Pub Date of 1717 based upon newest map sheet in the atlas. In French. Full color. Relief shown in sketches, shading, and hachures. This is a special composite single volume of maps from the normally two volume Atlas Curieux issued in 1714 as the Suite de Atlas Curieux. It includes most of the regional and country maps from both volumes with none of the city maps, views, or plans. The color is extraordinary, more elaborate and exquisite that most of the examples we have seen..  View Atlas

Atlante Veneto, Nel quale si contiene la Descrittione Geografica, Storica, Sacra, Profana, e Politica, Degl'Impery, Regni, Provincie, e Stati, Dell'Universo ... Accresciuto di molte Tavole Geografiche, non piu publicate. Opera, e Studio Del Padre Maestro Coronelli Min: Convent ... Nell' Universita di Venetia, Ad Uso Dell' Accademia Cosmografica de gli Argonauti. Tomo I. In Venetia MDCXCI.  1693.
Coronelli, Vincenzo (1650-1718),  Venice
This is the first atlas volume of the Atlante Veneto. "The Atlante Veneto (1690-1701) was a comprehensive atlas published by the Jesuit geographer Vincenzo Maria Coronelli and intended as a continuation of the Blaeu Atlas Maior. This monumental work was published in thirteen folios and provided a wealth of detail covering ancient and modern cartographers and geographers, together with astronomical and historical data. These maps were engraved in a bold style and printed on fine white paper, the more important ones spread over two sheets, allowing for great detail. The first part comprises an introduction to geography with engravings of globes, wind roses, and cosmographic systems through the ages from Ptolemy, Copernicus and Tycho Brahe to Descartes. The second part deals exclusively with the earth, starting with a map by Ptolemy, and two modern maps, each covering a hemisphere, followed by two double-page maps of Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, ending with maps of the North and South Pole. The third part deals with hydrography - the oceans, rivers, lakes and deltas. Here are to be found maps of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Bosporus, Gulf of Venice and rivers such as the Niger River, Amazon River, Rhine, Danube, and Volga. The final part describes the ships that explored these waters." (Wikipedia).   View Atlas

Geographie des Plantes Equinoxiales. Tableau Physique des Andes et Pays voisins, dresse d'apres des observations et des mesures prises sur les lieux depuis le 10(degree) degre de latitude boreale jusquau 10(degree) de latitude australe en 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803. Par Alexandre de Humboldt et Aime Bonpland. Esquisse et redige par M. de Humboldt dessine par Schonberger et Turpin a paris en 1805, grave par Bouquet, la lettre par Beauble, imprime par Langlois.  1805.
Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859; Bonpland, Aime (1773-1858)  Paris
Uncolored elevation profile of Equinoctial plants, and geology of Andes Region. Drafted by Humboldt and designed by Schonberger and Turpin in Paris, 1805. Includes 2 tables showing distribution of plants and geology in the area. Shows large number of plant families, genera, and species names corresponding to the vicinity of the equator in America. Relief shown pictorially. Humboldt's diagram/map is one of the earliest to show comprehensively the ecology of a large region.  View Map

Novissima, et Accuratissima Leonis Belgici, Seu Septemdecim Regionum Descriptio. 1611
Visscher, Claes Janszoon, Amsterdam
The second state of printing of this map, without Visscher's address. This map is considered one of the finest map engravings of the 17th century (Van de Heijden) and it celebrates the Twelve Years' Truce (1609-1621) between Spain and the Netherlands. There are many references and symbols of the peace in the map - as such, it is one of the earliest propaganda maps. The theme of the low countries (Belgium and the Netherlands today) as a lion appears on several maps of the period and this sitting lion is considered one of the finest examples. The date is estimated, but sometime between 1611 and 1621.  View Map

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. 1570
Ortelius, Abraham, Antwerp
First edition of the first atlas of the world. From Koeman: "The unique position held by Ortelius' Theatrum in the history of cartography is to be attributed primarily to its qualification as 'the world's first regularly produced atlas.' Its great commercial success 'enabled it to make so great a contribution to geographical culture throughout Europe in the later 16th century.' (Skelton)... The characteristic feature of the Theatrum is, that it consists of two elements, forming a unitary whole: text and maps. This concept for a "Theatre of the world" was followed through the 17th century. Before Ortelius, no one and done this and thus, the chorus of praise which arose as a result of this - and the excellent text - was far from slight... Another important aspect of the Theatrum is that it was the first undertaking of its kind to reduce the best available maps to a uniform format. To that end, maps of various formats and styles had to be generalized just like the modern atlas-publisher of today would do. In selecting maps for his compilation, Ortelius was guided by his critical spirit and his encyclopaedic knowledge of maps." Van der Krogt lists 37 editions, with the last edition published in 1641, long after Ortelius' death in 1598. Uncolored. Text in Latin.
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Universale Descrittione Di Tutta la Terra Conosciuta Fin Qui. 1568
Bertelli, Donato; Forlani, Paolo; Gastaldi, Giacomo, Venice
"Generally considered to be the rarest of the so-called Forlani series of World maps, Donato Bertelli's map is drawn from Paolo Forlan's World map of 1565 (Forlani 3), which in turn is based upon Giacomo Gastaldi's 1546 prototype world map and Forlani's earlier world map of 1560. The map is extremely rare. Forlani has populated the unknown southern land mass with imaginary topographical features as well as unlikely animals - among them a camel, an elephant, a lion, a rhinoceros and most outlandish, a griffin and a unicorn. This feature is faithfully copied by Bertelli.  North America is still shown joined to Asia, separated by the "Golfo di Tonzo," with Japan at its center. Bertelli's large world map was published in 1568, two years after Venice would reach what David Woodward calls the "zenith of map engraving." (Ruderman) The map is highly decorative, featuring two cherubs in the top corners blowing the winds. Other embellishments include: numerous sea monsters, a nude figure riding a large sea creature, nine sailing vessels, and varied land animals.   View Map

Theatro Del Mondo Di Abrahamo Ortelio: Da lui poco inanzi la sua morte riveduto, & di tavole nuove, et commenti adorno, & arricchito con la vita dell'Autore. Traslato in Lingua Toscana dal Sigr. Filippo Pigafetta. In Anversa, Appresso Giovanni Bapta. Vrintio, M.DC.VIII. 1608
Ortelius, Abraham; Vrients, Jan Baptista, Antwerp
Koeman: "This the first edition ever printed with Italian text. The heirs of Abraham Ortelius sold a manuscript translation by Filippo Pigafetta to Vrients, which was then printed by him. In this translation, the Parergon and the Nomenclator were included. Apart from this, Vrients also added at the end, an Introduction to Cosmography, written by Michel Coignet. Several new maps appear here for the first time." Vrients added 8 new maps, making this combined Theatrum and Parergon edition the largest with 166 maps - 128 maps in the "Theatrum", and 38 maps in  the "Parergon." The Theatrum and Parergon plates are uncolored. The Parergon is Ortelius' atlas of ancient geography. Koeman: "This atlas of ancient geography must be regarded as a personal work of Ortelius. For this work he did not, as in the Theatrum, copy other people's maps but drew the originals himself which were later engraved by Jan Wierix i.a. He took many places and regions from the lands of classical civilization to illustrate and clarify their history, a subject very close to his heart... The maps and plates of the Parergon have to be evaluated as the most outstanding engravings depicting the wide-spread interest in classical geography in the 16th century."
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Provincia d[e] S. Diego de Mexico en la nueba Espana, 1682
Ysarti, Antonio; Medina, Baltasar de, Mexico
This is the first state of one of the first copper-engraved maps published in Mexico. The map is centered on Mexico City and presents a bird's-eye view of central Mexico extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. The title cartouche mentions 12 convents in the region, which are depicted on the map. The map was engraved by the highly skilled Antonio Ysarti for publication in Baltasar de Medina's Chronica de la Santa Provincia de San Diego de Mexico. This scarce map is an important milestone in Mexican cartography and the history of the Americas.  View Map

(German Invasion Plans for England, Wales, and Ireland in WW II). Militargeographische Einzelandgaben uber England. Militargeographische Objektkarten mit Objektbilden 1, The Border, Inhaltsangabe umseitig. Generalstab des Heeres, (Military High Command). Abtellung fur Kriegskrten und Vermessungswesen (IV. Mil.-Geo.), Berlin 1940-1942
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) (Nazi German Supreme Command of the Armed Forces), Berlin
In preparing to invade Britain, the German military preparations included the production in 1940-1942 of a series of military/geographical assessments, showing what might be found by those arriving. This material was also used in a military evaluation of the regions of the British Isles, and considered each from the viewpoint of invasion. The full assessment consists of eleven folders for England and Wales with separate folders for  Ireland, London, and the South Coast of England. Each folder contains large scale town plans marked with strategic locations, a book of photographs and a quarter-inch map of the area, each folder titled “Militärgeographisch e Einzelangaben über England” (Maps of England showing features of military significance) and “Militärgeographisch e Objektkarten mit Objektbildern” (Maps of military installations with photographs.” Also there are three thick A5 sized folders containing books and maps: Folder A : England and Wales, on a regional basis with numerous photographs and maps; Folder B : London, photographs and maps; and Folder C : Books of coastal photographs to help with selecting invasion beaches. In addition, there is material on the planned invasion of Ireland - Operation Green (Unternehmen Grün). There are 144 six-inch town maps marked with strategic locations, and almost 1500 black and white photographs. The maps are copies of Ordnance Survey maps, with overprints highlighting sites which the Germans would have considered targets in any invasion. Most maps and books are headed: “Nur für den Dienstgebrauch!” (For Official use only.) We will be placing this collection online in the coming months. (credit to David Archer for description).  View Maps

Atlas Suisse. 1802
Weiss, T.H.; Meyer, Johann Rudolf , Aarau
The Atlas Suisse by Johann Rudolf Meyer and Johann Heinrich Weiss is the oldest map series based upon scientific survey and covering the whole of Switzerland. It was published between 1786 and 1802 and included 16 sheets and an overview map. The 16 sheets measure 70 centimetres (28 in) x 51 centimetres (20 in), and depict Switzerland at a scale of approximately 1:120,000. Until the appearance of the Dufour Map (1845-1865), the Atlas Suisse was the map series with the most accurate coverage of Switzerland. In French. Relief shown with shaded hachures. Glaciers shown in blue.   View Atlas

Three Timelines, 1806, 1813, and 1887
Various Authors, Various Places
The 1806 Timeline by David Rowland is one of the earliest American Timelines. The 1813 Chronology Delineated by Issac Eddy takes the timeline idea a step further and shows the flow of events as great rivers of time. The 1887 timeline by Jacob Skeen is one of the strangest and most complex timelines we have seen.
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War Map of the Middle States : Balloon View of Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee and parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. 1861
Bufford, J. H., Boston
Colored rare bird’s-eye view of the theater of conflict at the opening of the American Civil War. The view extends from Chesapeake Bay in the foreground to encompass the Appalachians and the watersheds of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Shows topographical features, cities and towns, roads and railroads, and areas of elevation and waterways, in an unusual oblique view that captures a larger amount of landscape than appears in other Civil War views such as the Bachmanns (see our copies). Relief shown by shadings. Tables in the left and right margins show distances by rail between Washington, D.C.; Cairo, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri and other parts of the country. The map tracks the Mississippi as far south as Memphis. The whole is centered on Louisville, Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley.   View Map

Carta General del Estado de Veracruz-Llave. Index Map: Diagrama de Relacionamiento. 1905
VComision Geografico-Exploradora am
First edition. A set of 12 very detailed maps of the state of Veracruz-Llave in Mexixo. A second edition with 9 maps was issued in 1919.   View Maps

A set of fifty new and correct maps of the counties of England and Wales, &c. with the great roads and principal cross-roads, &c. 1724
Moll, Herman, d. 1732, London
Maps showing roads, cities and towns, mines, cemeteries, landmarks, light house, etc. From Moll's title: "with the great roads and principal cross-roads, &c. Shewing the computed miles from town to town... And, to render this work more acceptable to the curious, the margins of each map are adorned with great variety of very remarkable antiquities."   View Atlas

(Map of Bavaria, Germany) Sacri Romani imperii circuli et electoratus Bavariæ tabula chorographica. 1663
Apian, Philip; Finckh, Georg Philipp, Augsburg
G.P. Finckh's version of Philip Apian's 1568 map of Bavaria, engraved by Ainling. Apian travelled through Oberbayern and Neiderbayern, Oberpfalz, archbishopric Salzburg and Bishopric Eichstatt, conducting a survey of the landscape based on methods of trigonometry and triangulation, creating the first map of an entire country by this method. Inset on the lower center of map showing the triangulation and mapping instruments. Coat of Arms of Bavaria which are flanked by lions & view of Munchen on the upper left corner and a large vignette with a portrait of Maximiliano Emmanveli (Maximilian I, The Great), the Elector of Bavaria by Georg P. Finckh on the upper right of the map.  View Map

A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England, from ... 1607 to this present year 1677.
Foster, John, Boston
First edition, first state (10 line errata); map and first three leaves (of the Narrative) and last leaf (of the Sermon) in expert facsimile. Remnants of original Ratcliff binding laid on new leather (see Streeter for importance of Ratcliff binding). Contains the first map printed in English America, titled "A Map of New England, Being the first that ever was here cut..." Later in the year, a London edition appeared with a similar map, but with the "White Hills" of the Boston edition map changed to the "Wine Hills." The text of the "Narrative" is considered a cornerstone authority on the subject of Indian troubles in New England in the 17th century. View Book and Map

Accurata delineatio celeberrimae Regionis Ludovicianae vel Gallice Louisiane, 1720
Seutter, Matthaeus, Augsburg, Germany
Seutter's Mississippi Bubble map, depicting the short-lived French financial-colonial scheme masterminded by Scottish financier John Law. Map shows early eighteenth century geography, settlements, and territories in North America focusing on the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. Elaborate title cartouche, depicts an allegorical, satirical scene of the infamous Mississippi Bubble investment scheme with a female personification of the Mississippi River pouring jewels and riches forth, while she is perched precariously upon a bubble. Cherubs above the cartouche are issuing stock for the company, and another group is blowing bubbles in the foreground surrounded by piles of worthless stocks. In the background, desperate investors climb a small tree and fling themselves out of it, and in the foreground more disconsolate investors wail and bemoan their fates as one tries to impale himself on his sword. Above them, a cherub upends an empty money-bag. View Map

Atlas minor praecipua orbis terrarum imperia, Regna et Provincias, Germaniae Potissimum, tabellis 50 exacte declineatis sistens usui militiae ducum ac peregrinantium maxime accomodatus opera Matthaei Seutteri, Sac. Caes. Maj. Geogr. Aug. Vind. Jacob Christoph Weyerman ... 1744
Seutter, Matthaeus; Weyerman, Jacob Campo, Augsburg, Germany
Atlas minor: this is Seutter's small version of his larger folio atlas; many of the maps are reductions of his folio atlas maps. Seutter was a map publisher, engraver, and globe maker who worked in Augsburg, Germany, his entire life (1678 to c.1757). This atlas includes maps of empires, kingdoms and provinces, Germany, etc., with 59 copper plate outline and full color maps. World map bound upside down. Date of publication from: Tooley, R.V. Dict. of mapmakers. Drawn by Jacob Christoph Weyerman, engraved by Albrecht Seutter, Andrea Silbereisen, Tobias Lotter, Matthaeus Lainpacher and Martin Gottfried Crophius. Numbered manuscript index at the front written in French. Tucked into the atlas is a folded circular celestial map of the southern hemisphere. Includes a map of Genoa not listed in the index. Each map shows one or more cartouches with figures, animals etc. Bound in marble papered, half leather covers with no title on cover.

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Astronomischen Bilderatlas von Ludwig Prentzinger … Schwaeb. Hall. Druck und Berlag von Wilhelm Nitzschke. (Astronomical Images Atlas of Ludwig Prentzinger ... Schwäb. Hall. Printed and Published by William Nitzschke), 1855.
Preyssinger, Ludwig, Schwäb. Hall
Date estimated. A teaching atlas to explain astronomy and meteorological phenomena.  Five of the 12 plates are perforated and backed with translucent colored paper to allow planets, moon, etc. to be illuminated from behind. We show the plain image followed by the illuminated image for Plates 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. One of several editions - also in French 1862, Swedish 1862, English 1851, German 1851.   View Atlas

(Facsimile) Rocque's Map of London. 1746. Original map titled "A plan of the cities of London and Westminster, and borough of Southwark." (1746) 1919
Rocque, John; Pine, John; London Topographical Society, London
This is considered the best facsimile of the original Rocque Map of London, first published in 1746. 48 sheets, each pair joins to form one of the original 24 sheets. Original published in October, 1746 by John Pine and John Tinney. Sheets arranged in rows 1-3 by column, A-H; each sheet printed in two pieces (a) above (b).  

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A New Chart of History, 1769
Priestley, Joseph, London
Priestley popularized the timeline format with his influential Chart of Biography in 1765. He was inspired by the Thomas Jefferys' 1753 model for a historical chart, A Chart of Universal History, upon which he improved – by regularizing the distribution of dates, by presenting time horizontally, and by emphasizing the continuous flow of historical time. This chart is identical to the Chart of Biography in size and scale. This innovative, colorful timeline exhibits regions and the unity of empires that cannot be represented by continuous space. Priestley runs his dates across the page from left to right.  View Chart

An account of the trigonometrical operation, whereby the distance between the meridians of the observatories of Greenwich and Paris has been determined By Major-General William Roy, F.R.S. and A.S. From the Philosophical Transactions, 1790 (with) An account of the trigonometrical survey carried on in the years 1791, 1792, 1793, and 1794...1795, 1796 (with) An account of the trigonometrical survey : carried on by order of the Master-General of his Majesty's Ordnance, in the years 1800, 1801, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808, and 1809.
Roy, William; Mudge, William; Colby, Thomas; Williams, Edward,  Various Places.
Includes Roy's paper on the Triangulation of Southeast England, which connected to the French network made by Jean Dominique Cassini, and resolved the dispute over the difference in longitude between the Paris and Greenwich observatories. It also laid the foundation for the whole triangulation of England and creation of Ordnance Survey.  The other two works provide a contemporary account of the early years of the Ordnance Survey, focusing on the methodology of triangulation and the equipment used during those first enterprises. The works were subsequently revised with two additional parts added, all published under a slightly different title between 1799 and 1811.  View Books

Allgemeiner Hand-Atlas der Ganzen Erde nach den besten astronomischen Bestimmungen, und zu A.C. Gaspari vollstaendigem Handbuche der neuesten Erdbeschreibung bestimmt. Weimar Im Vertage des Geographischen Instituts. 9. 1821
Geographisches Institut (Weimar, Germany); Gaspari, Adam Christian (1752-1830); Weimar
This edition of the Geographisches Institute atlas marks an important move away from the 18th century mode of mapmaking towards a style that reflects what we think of today as 19th century German mapmaking - the use of hachures instead of mountains drawn in profile, and a more uniform typography. Date based on newest maps in atlas. Relief shown in hachures. View Atlas

A Group of 10 School Atlases, Some Printed, Some Manuscript, 1799 to 1948
Various Authors, Various Places.
A group of 10 school atlases showing the changes in educational methods, printing methods, and cultural attitudes over a one hundred and fifty year period.  In German, French, and English. View Atlases

Four Early Maps of the British Ordnance Survey, Two of Kent, and One Each of Devon and Dorset, 1801 to 1811.
British Ordnance Survey, London.
The Map of Kent, here in two editions, was the first map issued by the Ordnance Survey, although William Faden is the listed publisher.  In the early years of the survey, instead of the grid system which was later adopted, the survey followed county boundaries to delineate the map issues. This is the case with the Kent, Devon, and Dorset maps shown here, as well as seven other counties along the south coast of England where the survey began its work. View Maps

A Map of the United States, Canada, New-Scotland, New-Brunswick and New-Foundland ... Carte Des Etats - Unis, Avec Le Canada, la Nouvelle Ecosse, le Nouveau Brunswick & Terre - Neuve. A Map of the West-Indies and the Mexican Gulph (Gulf) ...Carte Des Indes Occientale et du Golfe du Mexique... Dressee par Lapie, Capitaine-Ingenieur- Geographe. Publiee par P.A.F. Tardieu, Gravveur, Editeur-proprietaire , a Paris, Chez P.A.F. Tardieu. 1806
Tardieu, P.A.F.; Lapie, Pierre; Piquet, Chles., Paris
Second issue of this important and rare map, first issue was in June of 1806. Drawn by Pierre Lapie, this map joins two maps that were also issued separately. Shows Michigan Territory. The Lewis and Clark mapping is not yet incorporated for the upper Missouri River area. View Map

Carte von West-Gallizien, 1808
Heldensfeld, Anton Mayer von, Vienna.
Very large and detailed map of West Galicia (Poland). The Survey of West Gallicia was performed in 1801-1804 under the leadership of officer of Austrian army Anton Mayer von Heldensfeld (1777-1844). Engraved uncolored map segmented in 12 sheets, each 44.5x66, pasted on linen, each in 8 parts, 22x16.5. Drawn and engraved by Hieronimus Benedicti. Placed in slip cover and marbled cardboard case, with title : "West-Gallizien" on spine. Map showing major cities. fortress, church, etc. Relief shown by hachures. View Map

Harriet E. Baker's Book of Penmanship & Maps. At Mr. Dunham's School Windsor Vermont March 31, 1819
Baker, Harriet E.; Windsor, Vermont
The existence of this book of penmanship throws interesting light on our other book of penmanship by Frances Henshaw, our 2501.000. This book by Harriet Baker is dated four years earlier, 1819, and from another school in Windsor, Vermont (Henshaw's school was in Middlebury, Vermont). Generally, the two books follow very similar structure, both the text and the maps, which would indicate that the production of these books of penmanship was more frequent than previously thought and also suggests that there was a common template used, even by different schools, in their construction. It can be said that Baker's maps are exquisite, perhaps a bit more so than Henshaw's, but Henshaw's text descriptions of the states are more elaborate than Baker's. For some reason, Baker omits maps of New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, while including descriptions of most of them. Henshaw has no map or description of Michigan or Illinois. For the sources of the maps and text, see our entry for Henshaw's book, 2501.000. 
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Atlas Complet Du Precis De La Geographie Universelle De M. Malte-Brun; Dresse Conformement Au Texte De Cet Ouvrage Et Sous Les Yeux De L'Auteur, Par M. Lapie, Capitaine Ingenieur Geographe, 1812.
Malte-Brun, Conrad, Paris
These 75 maps have beautiful cartouches and hand painted outline color. Lapie made the maps. 1st edition. This atlas is up to date: the North America map shows the Lewis and Clark information and Lewis and Clark are discussed in the text explaining the map. In French. Relief shown in hachures or sketches. Extraordinary unique vignettes used for framing the title of each map.   View Atlas

Four Mountains and Rivers Maps, 1820 - 1870
Various Authors, Various Places.
Four very different treatments of the Mountain and Rivers map theme that was popular throughout the 19th century. The two German maps are very statistical in their approach, while the English maps are very decorative.  View Maps

See all the Mountain and Rivers maps in the collection.

Relief pittoresque du sol classique de la Suisse, dessine d'apres nature et grave a l'eau forte par Frederic Guillaume Delkeskamp, 1830
Delkeskamp, Friedrich Wilhelm, Frankfurt
An oblique bird's eye view of north-central Switzerland looking south from Lake Zurich. Each map has lengthy list of place names numbered to match locations on the map. Friedrich Wilhelm Delkeskamp was a noted Frankfurt painter who completed at least 12 panoramas and a wide variety of other works. He was noted for plastic-realistic and scientifically accurate representations. He was a publisher and traveled during most summers gathering materials for his illustrations. He was also noted for his mountaineering in order to gain high perspectives. View Maps

Atlas von Europa nebst den Kolonien : fur Geschaftsmanner, Zeitungsleser und Besitzer des Conversations-Lexico ns in einer Folge von Charten und einem alphabetisch eingerichteten. 1825
Schlieben, Wilhelm Ernst August; Hermann, O., Leipzig
Early topographical maps of Europe, together with the colonies for businessmen, newspaper readers ... by German geographical author, Wilhelm August von Schlieben (1781-1839), published in parts from 1825, in 3 volumes, and 15 parts; volume 1: 1-5, Volume 2: 6-10, Volume 3: 11-15. See also his Atlas von Amerika. Each volume includes outline hand colored maps, manuscript index, forward, table of content, extensive descriptive text and index. Not in Espenhorst. View Atlas

Atlas von Amerika in 30 Charten und einem erlauterndem Texte. Entworfen von W. E. A. von Schlieben ; die Charten lithographirt, Werner. Leipzig, bei George Joachim Goschen, 1830
Schlieben, Wilhelm Ernst August von, Leipzig
Early lithographic atlas of America, published at the time of von Schlieben's completion of his Atlas Europa (published in parts, 1825 to 1830,). Not in Espenhorst. Atlas of America, with 54 pages of text, index, abbreviations,and outline hand color maps, some folded. Includes Index. Bound in beige cardboard covers with decorative border, 35x26.5, title " W. E. A. von Schlieben, Atlas von Amerika. Leipzig, bei George Joachim Goschen". View Atlas

Twelve Nautical Chart Maps, 1831 - 1932
Various Authors, Various Places.
Included are an early and rare Berghaus Chart of the Approaches of Rio de Janeiro,  Charles Wilkes 1841 Map of Sacramento River and Bay of San Pablo with Harbor of San Francisco, two unusual 1852 wind and current visualizations by  Matthew Fontain Maury, Hermann Berghaus' Chart of the World on Mercator Projection 1863, James Imray's Chart of the Coast of Labrador 1891, and six charts of San Francisco Bay or parts thereof by the U.S. Coast Survey, 1905 to 1932. View Charts

A Comprehensive Atlas, Geographical, Historical & Commercial, (two editions, both dates 1838).
Bradford, Thomas G., Boston and New York.
Bradford's Comprehensive Atlas was one of the first relatively inexpensive atlases published in the United States.  The earlier copy is the Second edition. and has the first Texas map in an atlas. Description of Texas is 2 pages, but Texas is not yet called a Republic. This edition has separate maps of North Carolina and Georgia, in addition to the map of both Carolinas and Georgia. Also, the previously combined Alabama and Mississippi, and Tennessee and Kentucky are separate maps in this edition. Dated 1838 on the cover label. May have been issued also in 1836 or 1837. The later copy also has Texas as a republic and is the 3rd edition; full color in the maps. One page of text describes Texas. This edition has same extra maps as the second edition. Florida is enlarged.  View Atlases

Atlas von Asien in Zwanzig Blaettern, Zu C. Ritter's Allgemeiner Erdkunde, II. Abtheilung, 1840, (with) Atlas von Palaestina und der Sinai Halbinsel, 1850.
Grimm, J.L.;Mahlmann, H., Berlin
An unusual composite atlas. Consisting of 11 lithographic maps and 2 geologic profiles plus the following bound in parts of Carl Zimmermann's Atlas von Verder-Asien: Karte Inner Asien, 1841 (4 sectional sheets, a general plan and 2 small plates); Versuch einer Darstellung von Sued-Iran (1 map); Atlas von Palaestina und der Sinai Halbinsel, 1850 (title sheet and 15 sectional sheets). All Asian maps assembled here were published as a supplement to C. Ritter's Erdkunde. Color tinted borders. Relief shown in hachures. The Map of Palestine is unusually detailed for the period and predates the 1880 Map of Western Palestine published by the Palestine Exploration Fund.
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View Composite Map of Palestine 1850

Three Different Copies of Tanner's Universal Atlas, 1833/1836, 1837, and 1842; A rare Map of Arkansas by Tanner, issued here as a pocket map but also appeared in Tanner's 1839 edition of the American Atlas.
Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia
The first Tanner Universal Atlas in this group was issued in parts with blue covers for each part, starting in 1833 and continuing until 1836 when the atlas was complete. The second atlas is Tanner's revised 1837 edition, and the third atlas is the further revised 1842 edition. The Map of Arkansas by Tanner, 1839, was issued here as a pocket map but also appeared in the last edition of Tanner's large format American Atlas. View Atlases and Map
View 1839 Map of Arkansas

Morse's Cerographic Atlases: The Bible Atlas, The Cerographic Atlas of the United States Published in Three parts in the New York Observer, The North American Atlas Published in Nine Parts, and the Missionary Atlas, 1833 to 1848.
Morse, Sidney E., New York.
Sidney E. Morse invented a new printing process called Cerography and used it to publish several inexpensive atlases in the 1830's and 1840's. Cerography is a method of engraving on a waxed plate on which a printing surface is created by electrotyping. It was refined by Rand McNally later in the century and became the basis of their sucessful map publishing business. The New York Observer newspaper published the first of Morse's two atlases, the Bible Atlas and the Atlas of the United States, both in this group. Harper Brothers published a revised version of the Atlas of the United States in 1845, here in the nine original parts with wrappers, titled the North American Atlas. Last issued was the Missionary Atlas which Morse himself published for the subscribers to the New York Observer.

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Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota; and incidentally of a Portion of Nebraska Territory ...1852
Owen, David Dale, Philadelphia
An important, early geological survey of the midwest U.S. Includes twenty-one maps and geologic cross sections as well as numerous drawings. Large full color map bound into the back titled, "Geological Map of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota ... Constructed from observations by the United States Geological Corps ... 1851." Report bound with green cloth covered boards with title embossed on spine. Illustrations bound with purple cloth covered boards with "Illustrations - Owen's Geological Survey" on cover in gold.

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The World's in Progress, 1854
Ensign, Bridgman, & Fanning, New York
An unusual timeline map in the form of a pictorial rolled map of the world, with elaborate borders, attached to wooden rod. Surrounded by Universal Dial Plate Or Times Of All Nations, various vignettes with explanation of the regions, kingdoms, and countries, lists of inventions and discoveries, distribution of men, Incidents of American history, Distinguished Americans, etc.   View Map

Karte von Deutschland dem Konigr.. in XXV Blattern. Entworfen und herausgegeben von Adolf Stieler, Neue Auflage 1853
Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Stieler's massive 25 sheet map of Germany, probably the most detailed map of the area at the time. First issued in 1829, it was updated frequently with editions of 1848, 1850, 1853 (this copy), 1857, 1862, and a final edition in 1867 (see our partial 1867 copy). 25 sheets mounted on four linen backed panels. Each panel has paper label on the back naming quadrant. Fifteen different graphical scales shown. Color. Relief shown by hachures.   View Map

Morse's General Atlas of the World. Containing Seventy Maps, Drawn And Engraved From The Latest And Best Authorities By Charles W. Morse. With Descriptions And Statistics Of All Nations To The Year 1856
Morse, Charles W.; Colby, Charles A., New York
This is Charles Morse's only folio atlas. He uses many of the Morse and Breese cerographic maps, but hand colors them. Morse was no relation to the Jedidiah and Sidney Morse family, although he "traded" on the name. Morse also collaborated with Colby on the tiny Diamond Atlas. There is a second illustrated title page reading "Morse's General Atlas. Compiled From The Latest And Best European And American Authorities. Published by D. Appleton ... New-York. Herrick, Del. Roberts, Sc." Full color. Relief shown by hachures. Prime meridians Washington and Greenwich.  View Atlas

Ordnance Survey. Treasury minute, dated 18 May 1855, and previous papers, relating to the Ordnance Survey. (with) Report on the Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom for 1855-56. (with) Ordnance Trigonometrical Survey. Principal Triangulation, 1858. (with) Abstracts of the principal lines of spirit levelling in England and Wales, 1861. (with) Extension of the triangulation of the Ordnance Survey into France and Belgium, 1863.
James, Henry, Southampton
Five books by Henry James, the Director General of the British Ordnance Survey from 1854 to 1875. Includes many letters, correspondence, and notes by James. First volumes includes 28 maps (some color) and plans. With 15 page manuscript notice demonstrating different printing methods: electrotype, photographic reduction, hill sketching, hill shading, engraving, lithography, zincography, and anastatic process. The other volumes include maps showing triangulation progress, altitude measurements, and instrument construction,  Includes indexes to the Ordnance Surveys of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland.  View Books

Diary of a Journey from the Mississippi to the Coasts of the Pacific With a United States Government Expedition. By Baldwin Mollhausen Topographical Draughtsman and Naturalist to the Expedition. With An Introduction by Alexander von Humboldt and Illustrations in Chromo-Lithography. Translated by Mrs. Percy Sinnett. In Two Volumes, 1858.
Mollhausen, Baldwin; (Lange, Henry), London
Impressive map of the Southwest entitled, "Map Illustrating Baldwin Mollhausen's Travels from the Mississippi to the Coast of the Pacific, in the years 1853-1854." Map engraved by Edward Weller. 2 volumes, with an introduction by Humboldt. Excellent account. The map is an English copy of the German edition by Henry Lange. Mollhausen was the topographer accompanying the Whipple expedition of 1853 for the Pacific Railroad Surveys. In addition to the maps and lithographs, there are 12 woodcut illustrations, chiefly of Indian utensils and drawings. View Book

A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World, 1859.
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus; Desilver, Charles, Philadelphia
This 1859 edition was published by Charles Desilver, copyright dates have been updated to 1859 or 1860, and was most likely issued in late 1859 or early 1860, as opposed to the previous 1859 edition that was published by Cushing & Bailey of 362 Market Street in Baltimore, with almost all copyrights dated 1856 (see: #4557.000). The maps bear the copyright and imprint of Charles Desilver 714 Chesnut Street. Changes from the 1859 edition includes a new map of Pennsylvania, two double page maps - map of Kansas by W.H. Holmes, and map of Mexico, with no pagination, as well as a double page map of Northern Italy which replaces map of Sardinia (Pl. 63), also various updates to individual maps.  View Atlas

Lloyd's American railroad map of the United States, showing the three proposed roads and the overland mail route to the Pacific 1859. Drawn and engraved by Rae Smith, 71 Nassau St. N.Y. From materials furnished to the 36th Congress, March 1859 by G.K. Warren, Lt. U.S. Top. Eng. for the passage of the Pacific Railroad Bill, 1859.
Lloyd, James T., Philadelphia
This is a rare version of a similar 1859 map by Lloyd which showed only railroad presidents portraits in the border. This issue removes some of the portraits and substitutes advertisements, some relating to railroads. Outline hand color map, mounted on linen. Showing drainage, state boundaries, major cities, forts, finished and proposed railroads. Portraits of 12 railroad presidents are reproduced in the border, including: John Robin McDaniel, Jacob Strader, John Caldwell, J. Edgar Thompson, R. N. Rice, S. S. L'Hommedieu, J. B. Warring, S. L. Fremont, Ex-Gov. John L. Helm, Hon. John Ross, Hon. Erastus Corning, W. H. Clements. Includes advertisements, notes and illustrations of various buildings, steamboat, and wagons. Relief shown by hachures.   View Map

Map of the seat of war. Published by T.A. Burke, Morning News Office. Compiled & drawn by M.B. Grant C.E. Lithographed by R.H. Howell, Savannah, 1861.
Grant, M. B.; Howell, R. H., Savannah
This is one of a very small number of war maps printed in the Confederacy during the United States Civil War. It shows the opening battles of the war. Hand color map, with place names in Virginia peninsula. Shows roads, railroads, forts and fortifications. Covers eastern Virginia (mostly Manassas and vicinity) and part of Maryland. Includes table of distances. View Map

Panorama from the Summit of Mount Davidson, Washoe Range, 1861.
Vischer, Edward, San Francisco
Unusual 360 degree perspective bird's eye view as seen from summit of Mount Davidson, the site of the famous Comstock Mines and Virginia City in Nevada. Attractive vignettes of mining camps. With a separate sheet of text titled Panorama from the Summit of Mount Davidson, Washoe Range, which includes informative text as to how the map came to be created and an explanation of the visible area. View Map and Text Sheets

(Raised Relief and Flat Maps of the World). Dessine et modele par Aug. Ravenstein a Francfort s/M. Grave. Imprime et estampe par B. Dondorf a Francfort. s/M. 1865
Ravenstein, August; Dondorf, B., Frankfurt am Main
Two sets of eight identical maps of the world, An early edition of the French language version of the first commercial set of relief maps intended for teaching purposes. A landmark in geographical education. Set includes the six continents, Oceania, and Germany, each 23x28 at neatline. One set in 3 D raised relief, printed and stamped on card stock, each map mounted on a paper-covered frame of thin wooden dowels. The other set, 2D, printed on paper, loose in a light-blue glazed paper. Both sets in printed color though in different schemes, the paper maps with some added hand color, showing cities and towns, rivers and mountains, notes and statistics. Relief shown pictorially on some maps. The sets placed together in a contemporary drop-front box covered with blue paste-paper. The relief maps emphasize physical and geographical features, and sheet maps political divisions. See our 2490.000 for Sonnenschein and Allen's Relief Atlas of 1880.  

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Hand - Atlas Der Erde Und Des Himmels 42 Auflage, 1867, (with) Grosser Hand-Atlas des Himmels und der Erde 48te Auflage, 1879, (with) Grosser Hand-Atlas des Himmels und der Erde 49te Auflage, 1886 (3 new Editions added to collection)
Geographisches Institut (Weimar, Germany), Weimar
The 1867 42nd edition is the first in which the brothers Carl and Adolf Graef are mentioned as the authors. Maps by H. Kiepert, Graf & Bruhns. The Weimar Geographisches Institute atlases are known for their extraordinary detail, and rank as some of the largest and finest world atlases produced in Germany in the 19th century. The 1879 48th edition includes many color litho maps, for the first time. The 1886 49th edition is one of the last.   View 3 new Atlases
View All 6 Editions of Weimar Geographisches Atlas (1821-1886)

28 State, County and City Atlases, 1867 to 1915.
Various Authors, Various Places
A group of 25 County Atlases from all regions of the United States, dated from 1867 to 1915.

New York and Vicinity 1867 (see all 5 copies); Bennington Co. Vermont 1869; Stephenson Co. Illinois 1871; Adams County Illinois 1872; Hudson Co. New Jersey 1873; Des Moines Co. Iowa 1873; Louisa Co. Iowa 1874; Ottawa Co. Ohio 1874; Elkhart Co. Indiana 1874; Oneida Co. New York 1874; Pike Co. Missouri 1875; Lehigh Co. Pennsylvania 1876; Greene Co. Pennsylvania 1876; Clarion Co. Pennsylvania 1877; Aroostook Co. Maine 1877; Miami Co. Indiana 1877;Franklin Co. Indiana 1882; Sedgwick Co. Kansas 1882; Providence, Rhode Island 1882; Wood Co. West Virginia 1886; State of Massachusetts, 1891; Scott Co. Iowa 1894; Jasper Co. Missouri 1895; Saint Croix Co. Wisconsin 1897; Trumbull Co. Ohio 1899; Dawson Co. Nebraska 1904; Douglas Co. Washington 1915. Province of Prince Edward Island, 1925.

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La France et ses Colonies. Atlas Illustre Cent Cartes Dressees d'Apres La Cartes de Cassini, du Depot de la Guerre, des Ponts-det-Chaussees et de la Marine par M. Vuillemin. Texte Redige d'Apres les Documents Officiels et sur n Plan Entierement Nouvea ... J. Migeon, Libraire-Editeur. 1869
Vuillemin, A.; Migeon, J. Paris
Color maps, each accompanied by vignettes of local scenes, coats-of-arms, personages, animals, human activities, crops, etc. Provides one page of text and one facing map for each department and colony. Text includes statistics and distance and direction from Paris.

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Europe "L'Europe en ce moment - fantaisie politico - geographique". (Issued with) La Vie Parisienne, 6 Juillet 1872
La Vie Parisienne, Paris
Uncolored pictorial map. Published in French magazine La Vie Parisienne. Informative text labels provide an effective overview of the geopolitical situation of each country and region.  

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Rand McNally & Co.'s sectional map of the Dakota and the Black Hills. Printed expressly for J. Bride & Co.'s Great American 25 Cent package, 767 and 769 Broadway, New York City. A.W. Barber, Del. Rand McNally & Co. Printers, engravers and electrotypers, 79 Madison Street, Chicago. (with 8 insets). (on verso) Rand McNally & Co.'s new railway guide map, 1873
Rand McNally & Co., Chicago
This is one of the earliest Rand McNally maps that we have seen. The date of 1873 is determined from the only date on the map, in the inset map of Cincinnati. Uncolored sectional map with 8 insets: New mining map of Utah, St. Louis, Railroads around Baltimore and Washington, Philadelphia, New York and vicinity, Chicago, Railroad around Cincinnati, 1872-3, Denver.   View Maps

Report of a reconnaissance of the Black Hills of Dakota, made in the summer of 1874 (with) Report of a Reconnaissance From Carroll, Montana Territory, on the Upper Missouri, to the Yellowstone National Park, and Return Made in the Summer of 1875.
Ludlow, William, Washington, D.C.
Maps from two important reports by William Ludlow of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Black Hills and Yellowstone. The Black Hills expedition was commanded by Custer and includes early maps of the area. The Yellowstone expedition includes three maps of the area listed by Wheat - Wheat 1257,1258,1259. View Reports

Le Tour de Monde en un Clin d'Oeil. Supplement du numero du Monde du la 1er. Janvier 1876
Scott, M.M.; Vierge, Daniel, Paris
Pictorial view of the world. Originally issued uncolored, color was added later. Map is projected as a view from space and details the world roughly from the Equator to the North Pole and from California to India. Flora, fauna, historic events, cultural artifacts, and indigenous people are represented pictorially. The Sargasso Sea is illustrated in the middle of the Atlantic. Includes inset views illustrating places and moments of special interest including mirages in the Pacific, a ship burning at sea, Niagara Falls, Chicago, oil wells, gold mining, Hindu cremation, Chinese Junks, Tuareg warriors, an avalanche, etc. also includes lists of the nations and maritime flags. Shows sketches of some 79 individuals in 'traditional costumes'. To either side of the main view are flags of major nations, sailing ships, volcanoes, and other imagery. Include an ice free polar sea north of Greenland labeled 'Mer Libre?' No doubt this is a nod to hopes that a Northwest Passage might still exist. Union Pacific and Trans-Atlantic shipping lanes are noted. The achievements of various explorers are noted in both Africa and the Arctic.   View Map

Cram's Standard American Atlas Of The United States, 1878 (with) Cram's Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World (editions of 1882 and 1883).
Cram, George Franklin, Chicago
These three atlases by Chicago map publisher George Cram show the transition from Cram's production of large format hand colored atlases to mass produced printed color atlases. The 1878 Standard American Atlas was the last large format hand colored atlas made by Cram, following his earlier 1875 Commercial Atlas of the United States, and discontinued in 1881. The 1878 (and 1875) atlas is the rarest and most attractive of Cram's atlases. The maps are large folio, with hand color, taken from the same plates as Cram's pocket maps of the same date (or vice versa). All maps are on the same scale, 19 miles to one inch. Beginning in 1882, Cram produced the smaller Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World which still had many hand colored maps; the 1883 Unrivaled Atlas edition makes the transition to all maps color printed. This is the first "mass production" world atlas made by Cram. Has a page of ads in back for Cram maps and Atlases.  This run seems to have gone to 1891 (last Phillips date) but then continued in different formats but a similar title, up to 1952. View Atlases

Map Of The Ohio River, Reduced from the following surveys ... 1837-8, Lieut. Sanders ... 1844, C.A. Fuller ... 1867-8, W.M. Roberts ... With additions & corrections from later surveys, 1881
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
1881 date is from Phillips. 52 maps on 40 sheets, with 2 index sheets. Very detailed uncolored maps of the river from Pittsburgh to Cairo. W.E. Merrill is the same Merrill whose name is on the Warren - Freyhold Map of the United States, and the Map of Kansas, Texas and Indian Territory, both 1867. This probably was the most comprehensive and detailed survey of the Ohio River done at the time. Maps are bound in dark brown cloth covered boards with "Map Of The Ohio River 1868" stamped in gilt. View Atlas

Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District With Atlas by Clarence E. Dutton, Captain of Ordnance U.S.A. United States Geological Survey, J.W. Powell, Director. Washington: Government Printing Office 1882. Department of the Interior. Monographs of the United States Geological Survey, Volume II. Washington: Government Printing Office 1882.
Dutton, Clarence E. (Clarence Edward), Washington, D.C.
Monograph # 2 USGS, but the first monograph to be published. For the large format atlas, see #4713.000, which was published separately. Geologic map in full color. Includes the three key sheets to the Panorama from Point Sublime which appears in the atlas.   View Book

Imperial Federation - Map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886
Colomb, John Charles Ready; Crane, Walter, London
Pictorial map on Mercator projection centered on the Greenwich Prime Meridian, placing Great Britain just above the map's central focal point. Published as a color supplement to The "Graphic" at the same time as Queen Victoria's Jubilee of 1886. British Isles, and British colonies spreading out to the east and the west, were highlighted with red, while other geographical areas were left blank with only a minimum number of place names. An inset box was placed near each of the major colonies, listing statistics about geographical area, population, and trade. The words "Freedom, Fraternity, Federation," suggesting a peaceful co-existence within the British Empire, were prominently placed along the map's top margin, but the remainder of the map's illustrations imply "colonialism." At the bottom center Britannia is seated on top of the world ruling over her subjects, represented by a variety of animals and costumed figures. India, identified by an elephant and a tiger, appears in the lower left corner, while Australia, including a kangaroo and a sheep, is shown in the lower right. The illustrations were done by Walter Crane, a prominent illustrator and artist with strong socialist sympathies, perhaps explaining the contradictory themes in the map of imperialism and "human labour" holding up the world in the form of Atlas. Crane's contributions to the map remained unnoticed until the research of Pippa Biltcliffe was published in 2005 (Biltcliffe: Walter Crane and the Imperial Federation Map Showing the Extent of the British Empire (1886), Imago Mundi: The International Journal for the History of Cartography, 57:1, 63-69) . View Map 

Charts and Tables of Rain-Fall On The Pacific Slope, With A Discussion of The Causes of The Wet and Dry Seasons, The Abundance and Deficiency in Different Portions, The Summer Rainy Season in Arizona, Etc., 1888
Glassford, W.A., Washington
Text and maps show the amount and location of rainfall in the United States west in 1888. In 50th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Ex. Doc. No.91, Letter From the Secretary of War. 101 pages and 15 maps. Bound in dark green covers. The spine is stamped with "Rain-Fall On The Pacific Slope" in gold.  View Maps

The Library Atlas Of Modern Geography, 1892
Appleton, D. & Co., New York
Uncommon atlas has 60 double-page and 43 single-page maps in full, printed color. Each of the maps is followed by several pages of descriptive text that are decorated with beautifully engraved, uncolored views of well known buildings, local scenery or famous events. A pastedown label inside the front cover describes the "Patent Thumb Index"- a new and much easier way to navigate this atlas' impressive amount of content. U.S. maps by Matthews-Northrup; extensive city maps. Same engravers did the Century Atlas. View Atlas

Perry's mining map of the southern dist. West Kootenay, 1893
Perry, Charles E.; O'Farrell, T.P., Nelson, B.C.
This is one of the most beautiful 19th century mining maps we have seen. It is also one of the earliest printed map of the entire Southern District to focus on the Kootenay mining regions. With inset maps of the major mining regions, smaller maps presenting a detailed topographical features. Relief shown by hachures. Shows roads, trails, railways, telegraph lines, towns, mining camps, claims, steamship lines, etc. General References; Slocan Numerical Reference; compasses for Slocan and Nelson.  View Map           

The Columbian World's Fair atlas : containing complete illustrations of the World's Fair grounds and buildings, general illustrations of the public buildings, parks, monuments, street scenes, etc. of Chicago, and maps of every state and territory of the United States and Canada, and general maps of the world. Published for: Wood Brothers Cash Store ... Unadilla, New York. 1893
Cram, George; Wood Brothers, Chicago
This uncommon atlas was published to commemorate the 1893 World's Fair and Columbian Exposition in Chicago, also known as Chicago World's Fair. The scale and grandeur of the fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self image and American industrial optimism. This atlas, by the Chicago map-maker George Cram, was published for Woods Brothers. It includes a plan of the Exposition grounds plus a complete section on the World's Fair. There are color maps, city plans, diagrams, beautiful engravings showing the Expo's buildings, local architecture, points of interest and well known monuments in the Chicago area. Several pages of amusing advertisements are located near the front and back of the atlas.  View Atlas

5 Large Composite maps of London, England and Wales, 1895 - 1947
Ordnance Survey Office; Southampton
A group of 5 large composite maps made from hundreds of sheets published by the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain over a fifty year period. The is project has been a collaboration with the National Library of Scotland.  View Composite Maps

Karta Aziatskoi Rossii i smezhnykhi s neiu vladenii...(cover title in French) Carte de la Russie d'Asie et des pays limitrophes. (with inset and 11 views).  1896
Koversky, Eduard Avraamovich, St. Petersburg
Map of the Asian part of Russia and Possessions Adjacent, with the Route of Transit of the Emperor in 1890-91, during the stay of His Majesty's successor, the Tsarevitch, and the Great Siberian Railroad. Rare Russian map commemorating the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, Nicholas II's Embassy to Japan and Grand Tour inspecting progress of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and displaying the Arctic explorations of Nordienskold circa 1896, and Nansen circa 1894.     View Map

2 Maps of the Mexican National Railroad, 1897 and 1902
Mexico National R.R., Mexico City
The 1897 map is titled "Mexico National R.R. Loredo Route ... Short Line to Monterey, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, San Miguel de Allende, Celaya, Morelia, Patzcuaro, Toluca, and the City of Mexico." The 1902 map is titled "January 1902. Mexico National R.R. Loredo Route ... Short Line to Monterey, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, San Miguel de Allende, Celaya, Morelia, Patzcuaro, Toluca, City of Mexico and Points South."

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Geological Survey. Geological Map of England and Wales. Reduced from the one-inch maps of the Geological Survey with some recent revisions. Published under the direction of Sir Archibald Geikie, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., Director General. 1896.
Ordnance Survey Office; Geikie, Archibald, Southampton
These sixteen maps are derived from the Ordnance Survey One Inch Geological maps that were published throughout the 19th century. With over 260 One Inch geological maps published, the massive size of the resulting joining together of all the sheets rendered it almost impossible to get an overall picture of the survey until these smaller scale sheets were published.

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The Times Atlas ; (New Edition). Containing 132 Pages of Maps, and comprising 196 Maps, 1900
Andree, Richard; Times (London, England), London
Second and New edition of The Times Atlas published in 1900 (see our 1895 first edition, 1010.000), containing 132 pages of maps and comprising 196 maps and an alphabetical index of 135,000 names. This is the English version of the German Andrees Handatlas, 3rd edition (1893-1897). In this 2nd. Times edition, some maps have been derived from the German Andree 4th edition. The 1900 printing, actually a completely new edition, was issued from 1899 in 24 weekly installments at 1 shilling each. The map size has increased and so has the binding: 30 × 45 cm. The 'luxury' binding has dark brown color, clock and oak leaves with gilt title, "The Times Atlas." It has leather spine and corners, a vertical title on the spine and pages with gilt edges. Most notable extensions in the 1900 edition are the geological maps of the British Isles, the showing of shipping routes, and the regional maps of the United States. View Atlas

Atlas Larousse Illustre. Librairie Larousse, Paris. (first unillustrated title page) Atlas Larousse Illustre. 42 Cartes. - 1158 Reproductions photographiques, 1900
Librairie Larousse, Paris
Extensively illustrated world atlas with elegantly printed color lithographic maps.  View Atlas

Cram's atlas of the world, ancient and modern : new census edition -- indexed. Geographical, historical and statistical presentation of the world in all its divisions. 1901
Cram, George Franklin; Murray-Aaron, Eugene, New York
A massive, fully revised edition, in 864 pages, maps in color, some double page. Includes indexes and gazetteers, diagrams, statistical and astronomical charts, population density, various views of scenery and people, and new census information. View Atlas

9 Maps of Western States and Territories by the U.S. General Land Office, 1898 to 1941
U.S. General Land Office, Washington, D.C.
These maps show the U.S. West at the turn of the 20th century. Of particular note is the large size of the Indian Reservations at the time.

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Der Ausbruch des Vulkans Mont Pelée auf Martinique, 1903
Burckardt's Nach, Weissenburg, Alsace
Colorful pictorial map depicts one of the great natural disasters of the modern era, the spectacular eruption of Mount Pelee in Martinique in April 1902. Date estimated. Includes notes. The stratovolcano of Mount Pelee makes up the northern part of the island of Martinique, long a French colony. The island's largest town, St. Pierre, sat near the foot of the volcano. As shown in the present print, the volcano violently erupted, with ash and lava flows reigning down on the town. St. Pierre and much of the surrounding countryside were engulfed and the entire town was destroyed. Over 30,000 people were killed, making it the most deadly volcanic eruption of the 20th Century.

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Atlas de Chile Arreglado para la Jeografia Descriptiva de la Republica de Chile, 1903
Espinoza, Enrique, Paris
A stamp in verso of the title page explains the manuscript corrections: "Advertencia: la linea marcada en tinta roja corresponde a la fijada por el perito arbitral con porterioridad a la impresion del Atlas." In the early years of the 20th century most Latin American countries were involved in border disputes where international arbitrage had to lead to definitive settlement of the conflict. Such was the case between Argentina and Chile, the results of which are shown, probably for the first time, in this atlas. Relief shown in green hachures. View Atlas

Gotthard-Bahn, Laghi di Como-Lugano & Maggiore, 1904. Gotthardbahn, Ferrovia del Gotthard. Stab. d'Arti Gradiche Chiattone; Milano, 1904
Chiattone, Gabriele, Milano
Unusual pictorial map of the Gotthard tunnel, with the 1904 train schedule. Printed in stone-lithography enhanced with gold color. Shows major cities. The Gotthard tunnel was opened in 1891 and was one of the longest tunnrels in Europe for decades. The trains from the North of Europe were able to cross the Swiss Alps to the lakes of Ticino and Italy. The wheel and the Hermes wings were the symbols of the transportation company.  View Map

Cartas Postales de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1904 (with) Cartas Postales de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1908.
General de Correos Seccion de Transportes, Mexico
Two atlases of postal maps of Mexico, dated 1904 and 1908. All maps in full color and folded. Maps show postal routes by type:foot, horse, car, railroad, river, and sea.   View Maps

Yellowstone National Park. Copyright 1904 by Henry Wellge, Milwaukee. Transferred to the Northern Pacific Railway Company, 1904
Wellge, Henry, Milwaukee
Detailed very large bird's-eye view pictorial map. Shows labels of bodies of water, basin, cliffs, mountain ranges, and hotels. Also shows buildings, bridges, and roads. Includes the Northern Pacific Yellowstone Park Line logo. Relief shown pictorially and by spot heights. View Map

Plan of Proposed Street Changes in the Burned District and Other Sections of San Francisco. Joint Report of Committee on Extending, Widening and Grading Streets and Committee on Burnham Plans. Subcommittees of the Committee of Forty, on the Reconstruction of San Francisco. Submitted to Board of Supervisors May, 1906
Bennett, Edward H.; Committee of Forty, on the Reconstruction of San Francisco; Burnham, Daniel H., San Francisco
Submitted just one month after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, this report supplemented the Burnham Plan for a major revamping of the city's layout and land use. Ironically it had been prepared just prior to the big 1906 event. The plan was never instituted, although some concepts presented therein have been realized. See index pages for explanations of the uses of various colors on the map.

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The Exposition City San Francisco. Copyright By North American Press Ass'n 1912 Hearst Bldg. S.F. Pingree-Traung Co. Lith. S.F. 1912
North American Press Ass'n; San Francisco
This map provides a detailed view of the extraordinary rebuilding of downtown San Francisco only six years after the devastating earthquake and fire of 1906. Just a few lots remain unbuilt. It is a scarce map that was issued in two forms: on thin paper as a folded map with the Supplement to the San Francisco Standard Guide, and on thicker paper unfolded (our copy, linen backed as a wall map). The Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915 is shown prospectively.
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Geologic Atlas of the United States, San Francisco Folio. Tamalpais, San Francisco, Concord, San Mateo, and Haywards Quadrangles, California. By Andrew C. Lawson. Washington D.C. 1914
Lawson, Andrew C.; Merriam, John C., Washington, D.C.
A volume in the Geological Atlas of the United States.Detailed Geological study of the San Francisco Bay area, published shortly after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Includes commentary, geological maps and sections and topographical maps.

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Cartoon Map of the European War Area Entitled European Revue. Kill That Eagle. Drawn by the Well-known Anglo-Russian Artist J.H. Amschewitz. Published by "Geographia," Limited ... London, 1914
Amschewitz, J.H., London
Dramatic representations of Germany's neighbors and the tensions existing in European politics on the eve of World War I.
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Bolshoi vsemirnyi nastolny atlas Marksa. Nachatyi podi redakciei pokoynago professora E. Iu. Petri, zakonchennyi vʺ 1903 g. i vychodyachii vtorymʺ izdaniemʺ pod redakciei Iu. M. Shokalskago ... 62 glavnychʺ i 160 dopolnitelʹnychʺ kartʺ na 55 tablicachʺ in folio ... Vtoroe peresmotrennoe i dopolnennoe izdanie 1909 goda. Depechatka 1916 goda, 1916
Marks, A. F. (Firm), St. Petersburg
This is the Comprehensive Marks Hand Atlas of the entire world, which presents a Russian view of the world on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Initially compiled and edited by Prof. E.Iu (Yu). Petri, finished in 1903. The 2nd. edition printed in 1909, reprinted in 1916 published under the supervision of Iu (Yu).M. Shokalskago, by A.F. Marks Company. Atlas A.F. Marksa presents new ways of presentation. Its maps are distinguished by their visibility, regularity and clarity, along with an enormous wealth of accurate geographical information expressed not only directly in the maps, but also in supporting graphs and charts. Includes 62 main and 160 inset lithographic maps on 55 folio size sheets. The single sheet general map of Russia in Europe, the 16 sheet highly detailed map of Russia in Europe, and the 2 sheet map of Siberian Russian are all original maps made for this atlas, from various sources explained in the preface. The non-Russian maps are derived from the world atlas of Wagner and Debes published in Leipzig, Germany, probably the 1895 or 1899 editions, with all names translated into Russian. Most maps are on two pages, but not all of them. All maps of the second edition enhanced with new geographical information and many are changed from the Wagner and Debes base maps, for example Palestine is entirely new. The projection method for each map is mentioned.
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Die Militarischen Ereignisse im Volkerkrieg 1914-1919 in wochentlichen Karten mit Chronik zu dauernder Erinnerung von der Kriegshilfe Muchen N.W. dem Kriegsfuersorgeamt Wien Ueberlassen. (Military Events in the People's War, 1914-1919, in Weekly Maps for Everlasting Memory provided to the War Welfare Department Vienna by the War Welfare Department Munich N.W.). 1914 to 1919
Mayer, Rudolf, Munchen
A contemporaneous World War I seven volume German work, consisting of 226 weekly maps (typically each map sheet is subdivided into several parts) and textual progress reports describing the various war fronts. The maps and texts describing the Theaters of War include: Oceans and Colonies; Turkish-Russian (Holy War); Serbia; Western Front; Eastern Front. There also is a weekly update of political news. In the liners of volumes 1 though 5 there are calls to arms (text of speeches) by Emperor Franz Joseph and Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II; noticeably absent in the final two volumes. Dates are weekly from the beginning of September 1914 through February 12, 1919. Seven maroon cloth covered volumes with gilt lettering and black border. All sheets double-sided - predominantly maps on front side, mostly text on verso; they are scanned as two images. Most maps in color. Show battle lines, towns, cities, roads, railroads, rivers, canals, political divisions. Town and city names color coded to show which army controls them.  View Maps

Atlas geografico de la Republica Mexicana : Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento : Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos 1919-1921.
Mexico. Direccion de Estudios Geográficos y Climatologicos, Mexico
Thirty-two numbered maps, most followed by a relief map and a geologic map. Full color. Some maps, 2nd edition. Maps were also issued separately. Cover - title page shows full color view of Southwestern Coast of North America, with decorative Mayan illustration on the background, and a Maya Indian drawing map. 

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Atlas Scolaire Suisse pour l'Enseignement Secondaire. Publ. par la Conférence des Chefs des Départements Cant. de l'instruction publ. et Subventionné par la Confédération. 2me edition. Executé par l'Institut, Kartographia Winterthur S.A. 1921.
Kartographia Winterthur, Lausanne : Genève
Exceptional Swiss school atlas for secondary education. 2nd. edition, x, 136 P. 1st. edition published in 1911. Full color maps, table of contents, and texts.

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Map of New York : Patented Jan 4, 1921, copyright 1923 by Rota-ray map systems, inc. Rochester. New York. Notice: Traveling East the adjoining section is on the bottom roller. Notice: Traveling West the adjoining section is on the top roller. The roads are numbered where it leaves the section. It comes in on the adjoining section at the same number. 1923
Rota-ray map systems, Inc., Rochester, N.Y.
Hand held rotating color map in black metal box 17x11, 4 cm. deep. in 13 sections, with window to display map sections. Covers New York, starting at Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Jamestown, Lockport down to Salamanca, Cuba, a small section of PA (Bradford, Smethport), Rochester, Batavia, Hornell, Wellsville, Bath, Auburn, Elmira, Watertown, Syracuse, Binghamton and Johnson City, Ogdensburg, Rome, Utica, Potsdam, Little Falls, Oneonta, Malone, Amsterdam, Cobleskill, Middletown, Troy, Schenectady, Albany, Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, Saratoga, Schenectady, and south to New York City and more. Some maps noted Road map, or City map. Includes mileage chart for each section.

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14 London Underground Maps, dated from 1909 to 1950
Various Authors, Various Places
A group of 11 London Underground maps, beginning with the early maps by MacDonald Gill which still followed "geographic" mapping style, to the revolutionary 1933 diagrammatic map by Harry Beck, and ending with Beck's much expanded map of 1950.  View Maps

Maps for Imperial Airways by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and James Gardner, 1937
Moholy-Nagy, Lazlo; Gardner, James, London
This extraordinary world map by noted Bauhaus designer and artist, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, draws on the pioneering information design work of Harry Beck and his London subway maps, here used to show the routes of Imperial Airways and associated airlines. What is special about the map is the combining of the more standard world map with air routes shown, with the abstract version in Beck's style of the entire route system, in an overlaid diagram floating above the Americas and the southern Pacific ocean. To further complicate the design, Moholy-Nagy uses Stanford maps with their more standard map conventions to delineate the countries that made up the British empire in 1937. The remainder of the world is left abstract. This is a very unusual map and very rare. Moholy-Nagy's name is not printed on the map, but the attribution comes from Borchardt-Hume, "Albers and Moholy-Nagy: From the Bauhaus to the New World," 2006 Tate Publications, London. In the same year, James Gardner designed a similar but slightly more conventional map for Imperial Airways - using the Beck inspired graphics but with much less Bauhaus influence.

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World Missionary Atlas. Containing a Directory of Missionary Societies, Classified Summaries of Statistics, Maps Showing the Locations of Missionary Stations throughout the World, a Descriptive Account of the Principal Mission Lands, and Comprehensive Indicies, 1925
Institute of Social and Religious Research, New York
Possibly the most detailed listing and geographic placement on maps of Protestant missions throughout the world in the early 20th century. The atlas uses Bartholomew base maps. View Atlas

Stieler's Atlas of Modern Geography. 254 Maps & Insets on 108 Sheets Engraved on Copper. Tenth (Centenary) Edition. Completely Revised & Largely Redrawn under the Direction of Professor H. Haack in Justus Perthes' Geogr. Institute, 1925
Haack, H.; Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Two volume set in English. 10th edition and the Centenary edition. This edition was a very important revision and was issued in German, French, English, Spanish, and Italian. Each map preceded by index map, printed in blue, which is labeled, "Stielers Handatlas, Zehnte Auflage / Hundertjahr-Ausgabe. Gotha: Justus Perthes." Relief shown in hachures. Alphabetical Index of place names not scanned. Over 43 different draftsmen and engravers are listed on the various sheets. View Atlas

Windsor Farms, a residential development on the James River at Richmond. Henrico Co., Virginia : made for Windsor Farms Inc. Richmond VA. by Allen J. Saville, Inc. Engineering and Construction. Plan by John Nolen - Town Planner; Philip W. Foster - associate Harvard Sq., Cambridge, Mass. 1927
Saville, Allen J., Inc.; Windsor Farms Inc.; Richmond, VA.
Windsor Farms, a neighborhood of Richmond Virginia, was one of the first planned communities in the United States after the Radburn community in New Jersey. Color map. Shows boundary, easement, and building lines, properties by blocks, lot number, parcel number, ownership of large plots, acreage, and roads. Includes note and legend.

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Official paved road and commercial survey of the United States. Sectional road maps covering the entire United States and lower Canada, 1927
National Map Company, Indianapolis
A series of nine double page "Sectional Paved Road Maps" show the extent of paved, improved and unimproved roads throughout the country in great detail. Illustrating details of major cities, color maps of each state. Also includes a postal airway map, a highway mileage chart, logs of transcontinental federal highways, a transcontinental highway map, population information for U. S. cities based on the latest federal census data. View Atlas

Historical Flight Map with Chronological Review of Aviation History, 1930
Rand McNally & Company, New York
A folded brochure with map on back. Includes a detailed history of aviation from 1891 to 1930. Shows routes of 24 flight pioneers in color.

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Philco radio atlas of the world. New edition ... 1935
Philco Radio & Television Corp., Buffalo
Atlas in 32 pages. With 7 color maps: copyright by J.W. Clement Co. Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, N.Y. Includes table of contents, text, advertisements, and illustrations. Also includes World-Wide airline mileage chart, and tables showing "principal Short - wave stations of the World", and "North American Long - wave stations." On verso of cover title: "This Radio atlas is presented to by St. Helens Radio & Elec. co. Columbia, Co. Bank Building". Note: "With a new 1936 American and Foreign Broadcast Phico, you are on the threshold of thrilling adventure and glorious entertainment ..."
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Atlas de L'Afrique du Nord ... Cartes dressees par: le Commandant P. Pollacchi, Ancien chef de la Cartographie etrangere du Service Geographique de l'Armee; M.R. de Flotte de Roquevaire, Chef du Service Cartographhique du Gouvernement, General de l'Algerie; le Commandant H. Nady, Chef de Service Geographique du Maroc, 1939
KHardy, M. Georges; Pollacchi, P.; de Flotte de Roquevaire, M.R.; Mady, H., Paris
Fascinating thematic atlas of French North Africa on the eve of WW II. View Atlas

State Farm road atlas : United States, Canada, Mexico, hotel, cabin camp guide. Published by: The State Farm Insurance Companies Travel Bureau, Bloomington, Illinois. Copyright 1939 by Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, Ill. 1939
Rand McNally and Company; State Farm Insurance Companies Travel Bureau, Bloomington, Ill.
Atlas is bound in green card board printed with title "State farm road atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico." 41 maps. Most maps printed in color. On back cover: Advertisement for the State Farm Insurance Companies and view of Home office building, Bloomington, Ill. Advertisements, and general index inside front cover.   View Atlas

The Histomap of Evolution: earth, life and mankind for ten thousand million years. Arranged by John B. Sparks. Copyright, 1932, by John Sparks, 1942 edition. (Cover title) From the flaming planet to modern man: The Histomap of Evolution : Ten thousand million years of evolution on single page. One dollar. 1942
Sparks, John B.; Rand McNally and Company, Chicago
This is a companion timeline to Spark's Histomap of History (see our 1810.000). The jacket designed by Clark Higginson. Text on back cover: "The Histomap of Evolution, by John B. Sparks." Evolution chart shows "Lines of descent and relative dominance of the several classes, orders and species of life." On the sides are a chronological list to "Geological cultural historical periods" and "The history of emergence and progression of life". Glossary on the bottom panel.
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[World War II battlefronts]. Copyright, 1944, by Remington Rand, Inc. Printed in U.S.A. (Map signed by) Kenneth W. Thompson. (text signed by) George Fielding Eliot. 1944
Eliot, George Fielding; Thompson, Kenneth, W., Toronto
Seven color maps 32x47, on sheets 46.5x53. Title proper supplied by cataloguer. Includes: Map I, The Russian Front. Map II. the Balkans. Map III. Italy & South France. Map IV. Western Front. Map V. Southeastern Asia. Map VI. The Southwest Pacific. Map VII. The North Pacific. Each map includes text. Shows boundaries, railroads and major cities. Relief shown by landform drawing.  

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ADAC Autobahn-Karte. Masstab 1:1 500 000. (panel title) ADAC Autobahn-Karte : Karte des Allgemeinen Deutschen Automobil-Clubs, Sitz Munchen. Mit samtlichen Auffahrten, Hilfsauffahrten, Tankstellen und Rasthausern sowie dem Fernstrassennetz. Kartographisches Institut Kurt Mair/ Stuttgart. 1950
Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, Stuttgart
Map shows some of the earliest depiction's of controlled access highway interchanges. Color map, 60x42 on sheet 83x44, folded into self wrapped cover, 10.5x12. Includes legend. Shows roads, gas stations, rest areas, cities and towns, distances, etc. 

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BEA International Route Maps : British European Airways. Printed in U.K. by International Aeradio Ltd., Southall, Middlesex. 1954
British European Airways Corporation, London
Series of route maps showing air services to Europe and the Middle East. In 17 pages, folded into cover 21x9.5 with color maps. Includes list of BEA offices, Key maps to domestic and international routes, route lines, and advertisements.   View Maps

De Luxe Map Library. Hammond. Classics Edition. 1957
C.S. Hammond Co., New York
A boxed set of 9 political maps of the world, its continents, the United States, and Canada. Full color. Date estimated from the dating code on several of the maps.  

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Intourist's Pocket Guide to the Soviet Union. Maps of Moscow and Leningrad. State Publishers for Foreign Trade. Printed in USSR, 1960 (with) Moscow. Map by Michael Getmanski, 1938
State Publishers for Foreign Trade; Getmanski, Michael, Moscow
Two pocket maps, one from 1960 and the other from 1938, showing Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

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The World. Compiled from information to 1961 by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. Elevations in Feet. Depth Curves in Fathoms. Mercator Projection... 2nd Ed. Oct.1961
U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, Washington, D.C.
A large 12 sheet map of the World showing bathymetric data to 1961 as well as major landforms. Also shows major cities, political boundaries, ice limits.  

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35 Landform Maps by Erwin Raisz, 1933 to 1968
Raisz, Erwin, Various Places
Erwin Raisz was a pioneer in the drawing of complex landform maps that are able to convey topography at varying scales in a clear cartographic style. Most of the these maps were produced at the Institute of Geographical Exploration, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.  Current editions of most of these maps are available at www.raiszmaps.com

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People's Republic of China - Atlas. November 1971
United States. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C.
Atlas with 82 pages and 22 full color maps. Scale of principal maps 1:4,000,000 or 1:10,000,000. Bound in yellow heavy paper covers with title" People's Republic of China - Atlas. Central Intelligence Agency." Includes table of contents, thematic maps, charts, photographs, and geographic, economic, and cultural data. View Atlas

Atlas of Eastern Europe, 1990
United States. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C.
Covers Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia. With one folded color map of Eastern Europe, scale 1;2,500,000 and 19 small maps, with insets, on 2 pages, covering population density, economic activity, land use and historical data, with Gazetteer on verso. Atlas is in two parts in 39 pages, in green spiral bound covers, map bound within, 30.5x42. Includes glossary of historical regions, statistical diagrams, agricultural data, location map, and text.

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Atlas of The Middle East, 1993
United States. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C.
Color maps, with explanatory text, appendices: A. National facts. B. Index, gazetteer, and legend, and C. Selected bibliography, in two parts: Part one: Regions of Middle East. Part two: Nations of Middle East. Includes two folded color maps attached to atlas, on 1 sheet, back to back : Middle East. Scale 1:4,500,000 and Middle East oil and gas. Scale 1:4,500,000, and 35 small maps, with insets, covering population density, economic activity, land use historical data, location map, explanatory text and statistical diagrams. 

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Gipsometricheskaia karta SSSR. masshtab 1:2500000. Glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii pri Sovete Ministrov SSSR. Moskva, 1949 (Physical Map of the Soviet Union)
Soviet Union. Glavnoe upravlenie geodezii i kartografii, Moskva
Remarkably detailed physical map of the Soviet Union, a classic product of the excellent soviet cartography of the period. A huge color map, on 32 sheets, each 69x65, and 212x354 when joined. Relief shown by gradient tints and spot heights. Depths shown by bathymetric tints and soundings. Includes index sheet.

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Road Map to the Best Free Stuff on the Internet, 1995
Randall, Neil, New York
A very early diagram/map showing where free content was available on the Internet in 1995 and how to access it.  

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Over 2,000 Pictorial Maps added, 1611 to 2014
Various Authors, Various Places
Over 2,000 pictorial maps have been added to the collection, in the form of separate maps, pocket maps, case maps, atlases, manuscript maps, and wall maps. Pictorial maps are generally described as maps that employ various kinds of illustrations, images and texts that enhance the cartographic message. While they seem to have peaked in popularity in the 1920 to 1940 period, they have antecedents in the 19th century and the form continues today. We will be continuing to add more pictorial maps to the collection, and this link will automatically update with the new materials.
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Atlante geografico del regno di Napoli, 1808
Rizzi Zannoni, Giovanni Antonio, Naples
Rare atlas published by the famous cartographer Rizzi Zannoni (1736-1814) during more than 20 years of business in Naples, first as a Geographer of the King and then director of the Topographical Office in Naples in 1781. The maps are based on trigonometric survey and represent a new level of accuracy for Italian mapping. The Cassini projection is used. Title vignette on plate 2. Plates are dated next to the engraver (Giuseppe Guerra) and despite the indication given in the title (1808), were published between 1788 and 1812. The atlas consists of 31 plates, each double page. With views of different sailing ships on each plate. Plates are not numbered, the first plate untitled, showing northern Italy, the second and third plates, also on two pages (which join to make one map), have titles: Carta del’ itinerarj militari da Bologna a tutto il Regno di Napoli ordinata da S.M Giuseppe Napoleone I. Diretta dal Gen. Div. Parisi costruita da P. Colletta Ten. Cotto del Genio.’  View Composite Map of 31 plates.       View  Entire Atlas   View Composite Map in Google Earth

Le Jeu du Monde, 1645
Duval, Pierre, Paris
This is one of the earliest geographical games that we have seen. Only one other copy is known of this game, held by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The object of the game is to progress from the outer parts of the world in towards the center (France) by rolling dice and moving each player's piece from circle to circle on the board. California is shown as an island in the circle. Duval also made a similar game of France. View Game

Paskaerte van Nova Granada, en t'Eylandt California, 1666
Goos, Pieter, Amsterdam
First issue of this important map showing California as an island. R.V. Tooley referred to the map as "Perhaps the most attractive and certainly the most definite representation of California as an island. California is the centre and 'raison de'etre' of the map." One of a few maps to focus exclusively on California as an island, first published in Goos' De Zee Atlas ofte Water-Weereld. "With the similar Joannes van Loon chart of the same year, this is one of the most desirable of all California as an island maps..." (Burden). Reissued in 1668, 1669, 1670, 1675, 1676.  View Map

Histoire Philosophique et Politique Des Establissements et Du Commerce Des Europeens Dans Les Deux Indes (with) Atlas De Toutes Les Parties Connues Du Globe Terrestre, Dresse Pour L'Histroire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissemens et du Commerce des Europeens dans les Deux Indes, 1780
Raynal, G.T.; Bonne, Rigobert, Geneva
Text is first edition; Atlas is 1820 revised edition. The atlas was first issued in 1780 with maps engraved by Andre, then reissued in 1783-4 (P5995) without Andre or Bonne on the maps, finally reissued in 1820 with the maps reengraved by Dien (Tooley Dictionary)(our copy of atlas). WH has copies of the 1780 and 1783-4 atlases. It is strange that map #2, the World map, in our copy is an earlier map than the first and second editions of the atlas. Sabin shows many reissues of the 1780 edition of the atlas, so there may be more editions and states than these three. The earlier editions of the atlas were accompanied by twenty three tables in the back. Our copy of the text is 12 mo. and was given as a student prize. Maps are uncolored. Atlas bound in quarter leather with "Raynal. Atlas." in gold on spine. View Atlas

Statistique Generale et Particuliere De La France et De Ses Colonies, avec une Nouvelle Description ..., 1804
Poirson, J.B.; Herbin de Halle, Etienne de.,  Paris
The important map in this book is Poirson's "Cours De Mississippi Comprenant La Louisiane, Les 2 Florides, Une Partie Des Etas-Unis, et Pays Adjacents." One of the last French maps of Louisiana before it was transferred to the United States. Wheat calls the map "of great interest" in its "display (of) the concept of Louisiana, and especially Missouri, current in French official circles just before the transfer of the Province to the United States." The remainder of the maps, all of which are in outline color, show French holdings throughout the world. Bound with half leather boards, the title on the spine.        View Atlas

An Atlas Of Ten Select Maps Of Ancient Geography Both Sacred And Profane; With A Chronological Table Of Universal History & Biography, 1815
Mellish, John, Philadelphia
Maps copied from Wilkinson's Atlas Classica. This becomes the Finley Ancient Atlas. Lucas also used many of these maps in his General Atlas of 1823. Covers are half leather, marbled paper covered boards. Includes a timeline map based on Joseph Priestley's timeline.       View Atlas

A General Descriptive Atlas Of The Earth, Containing Separate Maps Of The Various Countries And States, 1832
Dower, John; Higgins, W.M., London
Unrecorded Dower Atlas, Commentary by Higgins. See Tooley Mapping Australia for mention of these maps of Australia and Tasmania, though he mis-dated them and did not mention this Atlas as the source of the maps; perhaps they were published separately as well. 12 of the maps appear later in lithographic form in Dower's Short Atlas..for Schools. Unusual Mountains and Rivers Plate facing the title page. See Dower's 1854 General Atlas for the same maps, updated.   View Atlas

Hand-Atlas uber alle Theile der Erde, nach dem neuesten Zustande und uber das Weltgebaude, 1833
Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Zero or first edition of Stieler Atlas published 1817-1833 in three versions. 1817-23 (version 0.a), 1823-31 (version 0.b), 1831-33 (version 0.c). Publication went through ten editions from 1816 to 1944. This version published in 2 parts then augmented with two further supplementary installments, through 1833. Most maps have the year of first edition. This edition compromises 90 sheets, dated 1816-1835, including composite index map, and extraordinarily detailed maps and supplements. View Atlas

Map sheets of Wuerttemberg, Southwest Germany, and Northern Italy, 1838 - 1840
Woerl, Joseph Edmund; Herder, Benjamin, Freiburg im Breisgau
Maps of southwestern Germany by Joseph Edmund Woerl, mapmaker in Freiburg 1830-1838. An important document about the road network. Red lithographic stone printing is laid on top of highly detailed black lithographic printing. In 23 parts (20 maps 43x46, a title page with decorative illustrations, sample maps and coat of arms, index sheet, and table) placed in cardboard case 54x64, with title "Woerl Atlas der Wuerttemberg." All the maps are at the same scale (1:200,000) and fit together into either one very large composite of all 48 maps or sub-maps of Switzerland (19 sheets plus title, see our 6824.000), Wurtttemberg (12 sheets including title) and Baden. We do not have all 48 maps but rather 24 in this group and 19 in the Switzerland group (although 3 maps appear in both groups, so our net total maps is 39 of 48). Included also are Woerl's maps of Northern Italy.  View Maps

Kriegsstrassen Karte eines Theiles von Russland, 1837, 1854, 1870
Schubert, Friedrich Theodor, Wien
A rare and important military map covering nearly the whole of European Russia and parts of neighboring countries in great detail, by the famous Russian military cartographer Theodor Friedrich Schubert [Fedor Fedorovic Subert] (1789-1865), here in the Austrian edition published in Wien in three versions, the original first edition 1837, the updated 1854 edition, and another version of the map that was hand updated by an owner (we presume) to about 1870.  View Maps

Nach Angabe und auf Kosten des Verfassers der Darstellung des Erzharzofthums Osterreich unter der Ens. (The depiction of the Archduchy Austria below the Enns), 1837
Schweickhardt, Franz Xaver, Vienna
This is same map as our 6937.000 but here dissected in unbound sheets. Each sheet has a booklet of text that explains the history of the area covered by the sheet. An extraordinary group of 63 birds-eye views of the Austrian countryside that all fit together into one very large image (we also have the composite image of all 63 joined). The views show the cultural landscape of the period in great detail, with settlements, buildings, roads, trees, and other features.  View Maps         View in Google Earth

The People's Atlas, Shewing The Relative Extent And Divisions, The Boundaries, And Other Geographical Details Of The Various Empires, States, And Quarters Of The World, Agreeably To The Best Authorities, And In Accordance With A Comparative View Of The Heights Of Hills And Lengths Of Rivers, 1848
Lothian, John, Glasgow
John Lothian was an Edinburgh geographer and publisher who issued atlases of Scotland and its counties from 1825 to 1835, and a General Atlas in 1834 (R. Baskes). Tooley and British Museum list an 1846 edition of this atlas, probably the first. This 1848 second edition is a late production for Lothian, engraved in the style of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK), but lithographed, with considerably less detail. On first glance the maps appear to be derived or copied lithographically from other maps of the period, but no engraver credit is given and we can not find any source maps. The mountains and rivers plate is unusual - it is a schematic representation that is decidedly "modern" in style.   View Atlas

Map of New Castle County, Delaware, from Original Surveys, Saml. M. Rea & Jacob Price. Published by Smith & Wisar, No. 15, Minor St., Philadelphia. 1849. (inset) Plan of the City of Wilmington. Compiled from Surveys by G.R. Riddle, C.E. 1847. Reduction by Rea & Price. Entered ... 1848 ... by Robert P. Smith, 1849
Rea, Samuel M.; Price, Jacob, Philadelphia
This is one of the earliest county wall maps produced in the United States (Ristow). Hand colored map mounted on linen with decorative black sticks at top and bottom. Hand tinted.  View Map

A New Universal Atlas containing maps of the various empires, kingdoms, states and republics of the World. With a special map of each of the United States, plans of cities &c., 1850, 1857, 1864
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia
Three editions of Mitchell's New Universal Atlas. The 1850 edition is very unusual in having 2 sets of maps of the United States, Texas, and California. One of the U.S. maps has the very rare depiction of the proposed state of Deseret as a home for the Mormon settlements, covering parts of present day Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The 1857 edition shows early county formations on the California map. And the 1864 edition is special in being the last known (so far) edition of the long atlas run, and includes a double page map of Kansas Territory.   View Atlases

Outlines Of The World. By A. Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to His Majesty. 1850. Published Jany st. 1847, by G.F. Cruchley, Mapseller, 81 Fleet Street, London. Addition to 1850
Arrowsmith, Aaron Jr., London
2nd edition, first was 1825 (see our 2550.000). The first edition was issued in the year following the elder Arrowsmith's death in 1824, and dedicated to him. As with the first edition, there is a portrait of A. Arrowsmith Sr. in this second edition and all of the maps appear to have been updated, showing changes in the intervening 25 years.  View Atlas

60 Hydrography Charts from the The United States Exploring Expedition, 1850
Wilkes, Charles; United States Exploring Expedition, Washington, D.C.
A set of 60 loose sheets (our Pub List Nos. 6941.000-7000.000) printed for individual sale on heavy paper. The charts of islands in the Pacific are likely some of the most detailed at the time (1840). The charts were also published on thinner paper as Vol. XXIII - Hydrography - Wilkes - Atlas of Charts - Vol. I and Vol. II, of The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. These 60 are not a complete set which consists of 106 unnumbered charts. For more information on the controversial expedition commander Charles Wilkes (1789-1877), the expedition's discoveries, and the resultant publications, see the 1968 bibliography of the expedition by Daniel C. Haskell entitled, "The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and Its Publications 1844-1874". Relief shown in hachures. Many maps include horizontal views of islands as seen from a ship.  View Charts

Atlas zu Alex. V. Humboldt's Kosmos in zweiundvierzig Tafeln mit erlauterndem Texte, 1851
Bromme, Traugott, Stuttgart
This atlas was not overseen by Humboldt (WH) and was not published with Humboldt's text. A later edition was issued in 1861. Maps in full color with a few historical and thematic maps at the beginning and end. As a physical atlas it has many interesting maps.    View Atlas

Hand - Atlas Uber Alle Theile Der Erde nach dem neuesten Zustande Und Uber Das Weltgebaude. Herausgegebenn von Adolf Stieler, berbeitet von Demselben, so wie von F.v. Stulpnagel, H. Berghaus u. J.C. Bar., 1851, 1853, 1881
Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Three editions of Stieler's Hand - Atlas over a thirty year period in the mid 19th century. Stieler's maps are some of the most detailed and sophisticated of the period and many of the maps join to make large composite maps.  View Atlases

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York. Surveyed in 1850, by Captain Tucker; R.E. Engraved in 1851, under the direction of Captain Yolland, R.E. at the Ordnance Map Office, Southampton, and Published by Lt. Colonel Hall R.E. Superintendent, 1st. Sept., 1852
Great Britain. Ordnance Survey; Tucker, Henry, Southampton
This set of large scale plans of York, Yorkshire, was surveyed between 1849 and 1851 by Captain Tucker R.E. for the Ordnance Map Office. Hand colored highly detailed, folded to 66.5x49, mounted on cloth. Shows roads, railroad, rivers, telegraph lines, layout of buildings, arched passage, churches. Buildings are colored red for masonry and gray for those of wood or iron construction, with glass buildings shown by cross-hatching. etc. The plan is drawn at a scale of five feet to one statute mile, or 60 inches to 1 mile (1:1056). The Plan was published in 21 separate sheets in September and October 1852. The sheets show in great detail the built city of York at the time of industrialization in the mid 19th century. The Ordnance Survey mapped about 4,000 cities and towns in England and Wales at a scale of 1:1056 in the 1850's and towards the end of the 19th century mapped many cities at the larger scale of 1:500. The quality, accuracy, and design of the maps far exceeds the commercial productions made of cities in the United States by Sanborn, Bromley, and others, although the U.S. productions had more detailed use information for insurance purposes. Of this set, sheets 5 and 12 are imaged from copies at the National Library of Scotland.    View Maps

Atlas of Australia with all the Gold Regions: a series of maps from the latest and best authorities. Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, North Bridge, booksellers and publishers to the Queen, 1853
Black, Adam & Charles,  Edinburgh
Atlas with 6 hand-colored engraved maps (5 double-page, one folded), and publisher's advertisements (dated 1853) at end. Bound in tan olive cloth cover, with gilt-blocked map of Australia, and no title on cover. These maps also appeared in Black's General Atlas of 1854 (see our 2305.000)  The maps show the recently discovered gold regions in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. View Atlas

Vergleichendes Tableau der bedeutendsten Hoehen der Erde, von Prof. C. Desjardins. 4te Auflage. Munchen 1855. Zu haben in Wien bei Joseph Bermann am Graben (fur ganz Osterreich.), in Munchen bei May und Widmayer (fur Deutschland), 1855 (with)

Vergleichendes Tableau der Lange der Strome und der Grosse der Seen der Erde in geograph. Meilen zu 15 am Grad. Kartchen zur Berichtigung des wahren Laufes der Strome des Tableau mit den correspondirenden Rangs-Zahlen. Bearbeitet von Prof. Const. Desjardins. Verlag von J. Bermann. Ged., bei. L. Forster, 1855
Desjardins, Constant, Wien
Rare color charts framed in decorative borders. The first showing comparative table of the greatest Mountains and Volcanoes of the world. Extensive table indicating their relative heights with corresponding numbers. The second showing comparative table of the length of the rivers and lakes of the world. The lakes and rivers of the Eastern Hemisphere are shown on the left, with lakes and rivers of the Eastern Hemisphere on the right. Includes notes, and tables indicating correct run of the currents with corresponding numbers.  View Maps

View all the collection's Mountains, Rivers, and Lakes Maps

The Physical Geography of the Sea. By M.F. Maury, LL, D., U.S.N., Superintendent of the National Observatory. An Entirely New Edition, With Addenda., 1857
Maury, Matthew Fontaine, London, New York
Maury was one of the first cartographers to study and show winds and currents systematically on charts. This copy is the sixth edition, the first being 1855. Maury's book was a popular work that went through twelve editions. Maury also made large wind and sea charts of the North Atlantic (15 sheets) and the North Pacific (10 sheets). View Maps

Climatology of the United States, And of the Temperate Latitudes of the North American Continent, 1857
Blodget, Lorin , Philadelphia
Blodget was one of the first to bring together statistics on climate and put them in visual form on maps. His maps made it possible to easily relate climate differences in the United States to place and time.  First important work on this subject. Maps uncolored except for climatological information which is shown in red. Cloth covered boards with "Blodget's Climatology of the United States" on spine.   View Maps

Carte D'Etude Pour Le Trace Et Le Profil De Canal De Nicaragua, 1858
Belly, Felix; Gamond, Thome, Paris
Felix Belly was the most prominent proponent of a canal through Nicaragua. This book and beautiful map is a promotion for his scheme, which never achieved success during his time, yet was still being promoted well into the twentieth century. The full color map, 64x92, is a stunning example of early chromolithography, and is titled "Carte D'Etude Dressee Par Mr. Thome Gamond Pour Servir A L'Avant-Project Du Canal Interoceanique De Nicaragua..." The inset map is titled "Carte L'Amerique Centrale..." Along the bottom of the main map is a profile of the canal. The book is an inscribed presentation copy from Belly to a "Monsieur Mason." View Map

A Group of 10 Maritime Charts from all parts of the World, 1807 - 1882
Various Authors, Various Places
10 sea charts, ranging from an early Arrowsmith 1807 Chart of the Chart of Shetland Isles and Orkney Islands, to a British Admiralty 1882 Chart of Charleston Harbour. Of particular interest is James Imray's 1849 Chart of the North Pacific Ocean, showing detailed insets of San Francisco Bay at the time of the California Gold Rush. This chart was evidently aboard the ship, Northern Light, an American Clipper ship. Handwritten on the chart are the ship's locations on a round trip from San Francisco - Acapulco (March-April,1852) and thence toward Boston in May 1852. The ship returned to San Francisco and the following year, 1853, she sailed from San Francisco, California to Boston, Massachusetts via Cape Horn with Captain Freeman Hatch at the helm in a record-setting 76 days, 6 hours. The record still stands for a single hull vessel. Another chart in the group is Fielding Lucas's beautiful 1862 edition of Chart of the Chesapeake And Delaware Bays, a later edition of the 1840 chart of the same name. 

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Contributions to the Geology and the Physical Geography of Mexico, including a Geological and Topographical Map, with profiles, Of some of the principal Mining Districts; together with a graphic description of an ascent of The Volcano Popocatepetl, 1864
Egloffstein, Baron F.W. von, New York
Includes two beautifully engraved maps of the region including Mexico City, showing the topography of the area and then with a geologic overlay. The maps are engraved in the special style pioneered by Egloffstein (see all Egloffstein maps and views).    View Maps

City and County of San Francisco. Compiled from U.S. Land and Coast Surveys from the Official Surveys of the City, The Outside Lands. The Tide Land Commission and the Homestead Associations, 1869
Goddard, George H., San Francisco
Shows in tint the tidelands, homestead areas, parks, and cemeteries. There is property information and street layouts that appear to be unique to this map, compared to other San Francisco maps of the same period. A rare map.  View Map

Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Old Series or First Edition, One-Inch Map of England and Wales, 1870
Great Britain. Ordnance Survey; Mudge, William (1762-1820); Colby, Thomas; Baker, Benjamin; Great Britain. Board of Ordnance, London, Southampton
Dates are estimated. Complete set of published 110 maps in Old Series or First Edition. This set is the first systematic survey of England and Wales based on triangulation. It was inspired by the prior Cassini survey of France (see our 5694.000) and the threat of French invasion at the end of the 18th century. The survey sheets were originally published from 1805 to 1870 and frequently updated; our sheets range in date from approximately 1848 to 1870. By 1870 all sheets in the Old Series had been completed (excepting sheet 100, Isle of Man) and thus our set is one of the first complete sets made up of a mix of map states, with the railroads added, which was started in the 1840's. Of the 110 sheets, 54 were issued as full sheets and the remaining 56 as quarter sheets. Sheets 1 and 100 added to set by us (Sheet 100, Isle of Man, was the last sheet published, after our set was assembled, in 1874). Exact dates are frequently ambiguous since old dates were left on in subsequent editions and most editions were not explicitly dated. Our set previously owned by Austrian Archduke Leopold Ludwig (1823-1898) and is from his library with his bookmark stamp. The Old Series actually consists of multiple editions or "states" for the map sheets corresponding to various publication dates; many of these states are characterized in detail in the eight-volume set, "The Old Series Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales, Scale 1 inch to 1 mile. A Reproduction of the 110 Sheets of the Survey in Early State in 8 Volumes", 1991, published by Harry Margary, Lympne Castle, Kent, Our map set has no dates (having been previously trimmed with the marginalia) so we have used the Margary work and also the March, 2013, Draft 599-page "Provisional Cartobibliography" an untitled followup publication of the The Charles Close Society to research which edition (date) we have for each sheet and subsequently have written it on the back of each sheet and entered it in the Date field of this catalog. The set shows a remarkably large number of Roman roads, camps, sites, roads in detail, railways; relief by hachures with spot heights; rivers and creeks; place names, settlements; geological symbols. From 1841 sheets were published in Southampton. Our sheets appear to have been issued just before the general updating of the sheets by electrotyping in the late 1860's. View Maps 

7 County and City Atlases, 1872 - 1913
Various Authors, Various Places
A group of seven county and city atlases. Includes Beer's Westchester County, 1872; Pictou County, Nova Scotia, 1879;  Saratoga and Ballston, New York, 1876; Newport, Rhode Island, 1876; Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1878; Will County, Illinois, 1873; and Rand McNally's Chicago, 1913. 

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Maps of the First through Sixth Operating Divisions of the Western Division, Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Mojave (Mohave), California, 1882
Atlantic & Pacific Railroad
A set of six hand-drawn maps on semi-transparent waxed linen with some color. Some areas are colored on the verso to highlight the areas in a muted style. We think that some type of backlighting was planned to be used to create a photolithographic plate from which printing would be done. No evidence was found that it was ever printed. These sheets were de-accessioned from the Santa Fe Railroad collection in the 1980s. Lewis Kingman did the route survey from Albuquerque to Needles. Relief shown by hachures. View Maps

Department of Interior : Monographs of the United States Geological Survey, vol. XI. House of Representative : 49th Congress, 1st Session. Mis. Doc. No. 304. Washington : Government printing Office 1885. Geological history of Lake Lahontan : a quaternary lake of Northwestern Nevada ; by Israel Cook Russell. (at head to title) United States Geological Survey; J.W. Powell, Director. .
Russell, Israel C. (Israel Cook), Washington, D.C.
Geological history of Lake Lahontan, published in U.S.G.S. Monograph vol. 11. Includes maps (mostly color) , views, diagrams, cross-sections and tables. The Map of Lake Lahontan shows the water area that covered much of the interior of northern Nevada at the end of the last Ice Age. Lake Lahontan included Pyramid Lake, the Smoke Creek Desert, the Black Rock Desert, and the Humboldt and Carson River sinks. View full text at archive.org.  View Book and Maps

Atlas geografico e historico de la Republica de Colombia (Antigua Nueva Granada), 1889
Codazzi, Agustín; Paz, Manuel María, Paris
Geographical and historical atlas of the Republic of Colombia (Antigua New Granada), which comprises the Republics of Venezuela and Ecuador, under the general geographic works of Agustin Codazzi. Cartography by Manuel M. Paz, and explanatory text written by Dr. Felipe Perez Member of the Geographical Society of Paris. Maps are full color. Very rare example of the second atlas ever dedicated to Colombia. The first was Restrepo’s Atlas that came with his 10 volume Historia de la Revolucion de la Republica de Colombia (see our 5597.000 for the atlas volume). View Atlas

Ordnance Survey of Scotland: 131 Sheets, Scale 1 inch to a mile, 1898
Ordnance Survey of Scotland; Farquharson, JC., London, Southampton
The one-inch first edition of Scotland was based on larger scale surveys of 1843-1878. This set is the second edition, produced from first national revision of 1894-95. Edward Stanford assembled the 131 sheets into three bound volumes with title page, index, and extensive and beautiful coloring. Fair Isle was not revised, and thus sheet 123 was not issued in this edition, but is present, as a first edition sheet. A national revision of 1894-1895 was published in 1896-1898, as second edition, while a further revision of 1901-1910, published 1903-1912, was known as the 'Third Edition. This edition bound in 3 volumes, each with index map mounted inside front cover. Outline hand colored. The coloring has green for parks and estates, blue for inland water and coasts, red for buff roads and railways, and different pastel colors for county boundaries.  View Maps

Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Geological Survey of Great Britain. Old Series, One-Inch Map with National Grid, England and Wales, 1899
Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland; Great Britain, Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton
This geological map series of England and Wales was published beginning in 1834 and is shown on the Ordnance Survey Old Series of One Inch to the Mile base maps (see our 6916.000). A total of 262 sheets were published through 1898: 52 full sheets, 2 half sheets, and 208 quarter sheets. Our current set has 215 sheets; we have put online the missing 47 sheets with images from the collection of the British Geological Survey, although we will be replacing those over time as we acquire the missing sheets. The geological coloring of these maps was done by hand painting well into the 20th century - at a time when most geological maps were produced by color lithography. The resulting color is rich and produces images of great scientific and artistic clarity. View Maps

Twenty-first Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior. 1899-1900. Charles D. Walcott, Director. In Seven Parts. Henry Gannett, Chief of Division. Washington. Government Printing Office. Part V - Forest Reserves, 1900
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey); Walcott, Charles D., Washington, D.C.
Maps show the extent of U.S. Forest Reserves at the end of the 19th century. Includes 711 xi pages, 39 maps. Accompanying Papers: Lewis and Clarke Forest Reserve, Montana, by H.B, Ayers, pages 27-80. Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, Washington, by Fred G. Plummer, pages 81-144. Olympic Forest Reserve, Washington, by Arthur Dodwell, pages 145-208. Cascade Range Forest Reserve, by John B. Leiberg, pages 209-498. Stanislaus and Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve, by George B. Sudworth, pages 499-562. Classification of Lands, by Henry Gannett and others, pages 563-602. Woodland of Indian Territory, by C.H. Fitch, pages 603-672. Timber Conditions of the Pine Region of Minnesota, by H.B.Ayers, pages 673-690.   View Report and Maps

Deutsche Seewarte. Atlantischer Ozean. Ein atlas von 39 karten, die physikalischen verhaltnisse und die verkehrs-strassen darstellend, mit einer erlauternden einleitung und als beilage zum segelhandbuch fur den Atlantischen Ozean. Zweite Auflage, 1902
Deutsche Seewarte, Hamburg
Second edition, 39 color maps and charts. The atlas is an analysis of the Atlantic Ocean, showing specific weight of sea water, ocean currents, water temperature at various depths and seasons, air temperature and pressure above the ocean, frequency of winds and storms by season. With vi, 9, pages of contents, forward by Dr. von Neumayer, Die Direktion der Deutschen Seewarte, and explanatory remarks to the individual maps.  View Maps

Ordnance Survey Revised Map of England, Wales, and Scotland on the Scale of Four Miles to the Inch, 1902
Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton
Two sets of maps together: England and Wales; Scotland; each with separate index maps for each area. First edition, outline edition, published 1900-1902. Several sheets extended to include small adjacent areas.  View Maps

Ordnance Survey Ireland Quarter-inch Series, 1904
Ireland. Ordnance Survey, Dublin
Published 1903-1904 on 16 sheets. 1st edition. Outline edition with blue coastal tint and main roads brown. This set has trimmed margins and each sheet is dissected into ten panels and mounted on linen by bookseller Edward Stanford. Presented folded with covers on back of each sheet. Crisp clean set, virtually unused. Shows individual buildings in rural areas but no relief.  View Maps

Department of the Interior, Canada. Honorable Frank Oliver, Minister, 1906. Atlas of Canada (with) Department of the Interior Canada. Honourable W.J.Roche, Minister 1915. Atlas Of Canada. Revised and enlarged edition.
White, James; Chalifour, J.E.; Canada. Department of Interior, Ottowa
The 1906 first edition and the 1915 second edition. The Atlas of Canada, first edition published by the Department of the Interior in 1906, was one of the world's first national atlases. A second edition similar in style and content was published in 1915, both editions, featuring thematic maps dealing with Canada's geology, communications, natural resources, population, economic activities, transportation, as well as maps of principal cities. During this period, a major part of Canada's growth was due to the great influx of immigrants into Canada, many of them coming to open up the farmlands of the Prairies. Consequently, the first two editions of the Atlas of Canada reflect a particular interest in transportation and communications and devote a significant amount of space to mapping the composition and density of the population. View Atlases

Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Los Angeles, Cal. Complete in One Volume, 1921
Baist, G.W., Philadelphia
An extremely detailed atlas similar to the Sanborn insurance maps; updates pasted in and on versos of some original map plates (dates of updates not known). Full color key is explained in legends on plates. Baist first published the Los Angeles atlas in 1905 with 26 maps plus index; subsequent editions appeared in 1910 (34 maps plus index), 1914 (44 maps plus index), 1921 (this copy, 49 maps plus index) and 1923 (49 maps plus index). The period after World War I was a time of real estate expansion and development, hence the many updates in this 1921 edition. The 1921 edition is the first edition to include the five San Fernando Valley maps. View Atlas

Bartholomew's 4 Miles to the Inch Road Map of England & Wales in Twelve Sheets, 1921
John Bartholomew and Son, Edinburgh
Published 1918-1921 on 12 sheets. Has blue coastal tint and main roads red. Relief shown in hachures. Forests in green. Includes mileages, railways and stations, and county boundaries. Each map is folded (not dissected) into 32 panels and mounted on linen.   View Maps

Ordnance Survey of England and Wales. Popular Edition One-Inch Map, 1923
Ordnance Survey Office; Great Britain, Ordnance Survey, Southampton
Set of 146 sheets of which 144 sheets are flat on paper, 2 sheets (#145 and #146) mounted on linen and folded with covers. Legend on each sheet. Full color. Relief shown by contours. Comparing this set to our later "New Popular One-Inch Map with National Grid, England and Wales" of 1947 (see our 6917.000) one can see many changes both in the urban areas expanding and in the adoption by the Ordnance Survey of the National Grid. View Maps

Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. Quarter-inch to One Mile. Third Edition, 1924
Great Britain. Ordnance Survey, Southampton
Map sheets are undissected but mounted on linen and folded into 32 panels. The sheets in this set have publication dates of 1919-1921 and reprint dates (for some) of 1922-1924, see Note on each sheet. Superb condition. Full color. Relief shown in attractive hypsometric tinting; contour intervals differ above 1,000 feet elevation. Many cultural and natural features shown. Maps are noted as "Published by Colonel Sir Charles Close..."  View Maps

Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States. By Charles O. Paullin, Carnegie Institution of Washington. Edited by John K. Wright, Librarian, American Geographical Society of New York, 1932
Paullin, Charles O.; Wright, John K., New York, Washington, D.C.
This is one of the best historical atlases published in the early 20th century. It combines history and geography, facsimile historical maps and new historical maps, and incorporates time and statistics in imaginative map visualizations. The text and maps are based upon information supplied by prominent authorities on the various subjects. The quality of the contents is also reflected by the authoritative map publishers. Numerous facsimile maps are included. All text pages are shown in one large composite image. View Atlas

California Highway Transportation Survey, 1934
California Division of Highways, Sacramento
A fascinating group of transportation maps showing traffic at the state, county, and city levels in the early 1930's in California. Primary report of 130 pages softbound but in rigid library binding. Appendix B in same format. Appendix B is Tabulation of Field Count by Cities and Counties. Atlas issued as Appendix A.  Base maps copyright by Rand McNally & Company under title Complete Map of California.   View Maps

Thomas Bros. Recreational and Statistical Atlas, California, 1938
Thomas Bros.; Thomas Brothers, Oakland
Title is from the cover. There is no title page. Date is estimated. 1st "road" atlas of California. According to Tom Lennon of Thomas Brothers Map Co. in Los Angeles, this atlas is rare; they have five copies of it in their L.A. office, and he has never seen any other copies. He thinks the original issue was very small. Bancroft has no copies, but does have a copy of Thomas Bros. Atlas of Western Cities and Towns (no date but library note says acquired in 1937) which duplicates some of this atlas's material (smaller S.F. map, larger color Pasadena map) and adds more on cities in adjoining western states. Lennon said this atlas was "a put together thing by George Thomas." He also said there was an Atlas of the San Francisco Bay Area by the company, produced for the World's Fair of 1936. Maps are printed with and without color. Bound with three illustrated promotional pamphlets advertising various scenic areas of California. Includes a large six sheet map of Los Angeles in full color.  View Atlas

Dated Events. On To Tokyo. Map of the Pacific and the Far East (with) Dated events, World War map, by Stanley Turner A.R.C.A., 1944 and 1942
Turner, Stanley; Petersen, C.C., Toronto
Two World War II maps by Stanley Turner. The map centered on Europe shows naval bases; cities blitzed by Nazis Luftwaffe; industries bombed by R.A.F; countries under British control; countries conquered by the Nazis; neutral countries. The map centered on the Pacific  has a note below title: "With this invasion map you will be able to follow the progress of the Allied armies on their way to smash Japan ..." Each map went through many editions as the war progressed. Both maps are from the collection of John Oram. View Maps

Preliminary Report on Harbors, Havens, and Anchorages of the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, 1946
Isaacs, John D.; Bascom, Berkeley
Initial issue October 31, 1946, revised December 31, 1946. Wave Project Laboratory Memorandum HE-116-225. Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. Navy Department Bureau of Ships, Contract N0bs2490. Photographs taken by Utility Squadron Two, Moffett Field, California. This report is prepared as a aerial photographic guide to the recognized and unimportant harbors, havens, and anchorages. The author personally negotiated every passable entrance in a small craft (with the exception of Bolinas and Mendocino Bay) and has sheltered in the havens. View Aerial Photos

Key System Transit Lines: Aerial System Maps (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California), 1947
Key System Transit Lines (Calif.); Sunderland, Clyde H., Oakland
Large volume of bound aerial photographs with colored tape showing the Key System train, tram, and bus routes. (Formerly) Restricted. Two index sheets and 62 enlargements of western Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Black and white. View Atlas

Ordnance Survey of Great Britain. New Popular One-Inch Map with National Grid, England and Wales, 1947
Great Britain. Ordnance Survey, Southampton
Series published 1940-1947, but omitting the war years 1941-1944. Complete set of published 115 maps in New Popular Series. The discontinuous numbering system begins with Sheet No. 64. Bound in 4 large volumes in which each sheet has been mounted on linen. In addition to relief shown as contours, numerous physical and cultural features, the maps show in great detail the entire railroad system of England and Wales when it was most extensive. Added across the bottom of each digital image are three parts from the individual covers of a folded (dissected) version of another copy of the map set. The three added parts are the folded cover with a miniature of the area covered, an explanation of the national grid and other map features, and an index map showing the sheet location. View Atlas

Atlas of Oblique Maps, A Collection of Landform Portrayals of Selected Areas of the World, 1988
U.S. Geological Survey; Alpha, Tau Rho, Reston, Virginia
This folio comprises scale-accurate, obliquely viewed maps compiled from 1961-1986 that portray the physiography of selected areas of the ocean floor and continents around the world. These oblique views of landscapes draw upon the techniques of Armin K. Lobeck, Erwin J. Raisz, and Philip B. King. View Atlas

Mapa Geografico De America Meridional, 1775
Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, Juan de la; Ricarte, Hippolytus, Madrid
This is probably the most important map of South America made in the 18th century. When the eight sheets are joined together they make a huge and impressive wall map. The author, Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, spent ten years collecting measurements and information compiled by explorers and colonists and incorporated these into the map along with valuable geographical and historical news, with some references to the sources used.  This is the second edition with all the sheets from the second edition (except sheet 8, the title sheet which is first edition in all copies). The first edition was somewhat incomplete, almost like a proof. Lavishly and beautifully embellished, the map emphasizes Spanish colonial power in South America. The map went through many editions with various political implications over a period of decades. The only other copy of this complete second edition is in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. Two large inset maps: Puerto de Callao (Lima) and Sitio de Angostura (site of Angostura).  View  Map

Atlas Minimus, 1758; Atlas Geographicus Portatilis, 1762
Gibson, John; Bowen, Emanuel , London
Lotter, Tobias Conrad; Lobeck, Tobias, Augsburg
Two important miniature pocket atlases from the 18th century. The Gibson and Bowen Atlas Minimus went through another London edition in 1792 and a Philadelphia edition by Matthew Carey in 1798.  Lotter's Atlas Geographicus Portatilis consists entirely of double-page engraved plates and hand-colored maps. The maps are dense with information, given their small size.View both Miniature Atlases

The General Atlas For Carey's Edition Of Guthrie's Geography Improved ... 1795
Carey, Mathew, Philadelphia
This atlas accompanies Carey's Philadelphia edition of William Guthrie's Geography, a popular world geography published in several countries in the late 18th century. The maps are similar to those published in Carey's General Atlas of 1796 (see our copy). This atlas is the first world atlas published in America - however, the 1796 edition above is also considered the first because it was issued as a separate atlas, not tied to the Guthrie Geography; it went through several editions up to 1818.  View Atlas

Two Editions of Wilkinson's General Atlas of the World, 1806 and 1808, and the 1823 Edition of Wilkinson's Atlas Classica.
Wilkinson, Robert, London
Wilkinson's General Atlas maps were copied freely by American mapmakers of the period, especially the non-American maps. American map publishers such as  Lucas, Morse (S.E.), and Cummings & Hilliard (and Worcester) did this. Tooley says the last edition of Wilkinson's Genreal Atlas was 1809 (there appear to be no differences other than the title page between the 1808 and 1809 editions); Phillips has 1807; Moreland mentions 1816 as a re-issue - this also was probably used by the Americans.  Wilkinson's Atlas Classica  was also a source copied by American publishers for their classical atlases. The first Wilkinson Atlas Classica edition was 1797; this copy is a fairly late issue.  Relief shown in various styles of hachures and sketches. Includes six "Chrono-Geneological Charts." View Atlases

Colombia Prima or South America, In which it has been attempted to delineate the Extent of our Knowledge of that Continent Extracted Chiefly from the Original Manuscript Maps of His Excellency the late Chevalier Pinto Likewise from those of Joao Joaquin da Rocha, Joao da Costa Ferreira, El Padre Francisco Manuel Sobrevielo &c. And From the most Authentic Edited Accounts of Those Countries, 1807
Faden, William, 1750?-1836; Delarochette, Louis Stanislas d'Arcy, London
An enormous early 19th century map of South America, rivaled only by Arrowsmith's map of 1810/1814. Shows the various colonial possessions with great detail. Scale approximate; six different scales provided. A compilation based on many reputable sources, as itemized on Sheet 8. Index on cover uses the title,"South America from the Latest Spanish and Portuguese Surveys". Each of the 8 sheets are cut into rectangles and backed with sturdy white muslin. Relief shown in hachures. Limits of the dominions of the Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch highlighted in color. Multiple languages per dominions, and includes English. View Map

13 Maps and 1 Atlas by Aaron Arrowsmith, various dates, 1799 to 1822
Arrowsmith, Aaron,  London
Continuing our placing online the non-American maps of Aaron Arrowsmith (see our previous group of Arrowsmith maps here), we have added maps of Egypt, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales (2 editions), Germany (2 editions), East India Islands, Greece, Asia Minor, and Southeast Asia.  Included also is a small five sheet atlas titled "Complete Neptune, to Illustrate, by Arrowsmith, The Progress of Maritime Discovery," which shows the progress of mapping the coast of Africa from Gibraltar south to the Cape of Good Hope.  Typical of Arrowsmith's fine cartography, the maps are extraordinarily detailed and up-to-date for their time. View Maps        View All Arrowsmith Maps

Oddy's New General Atlas Of The World Containing Maps of Empires, Kingdoms, States Principalities &c. Engraved and Carefully Selected from the latest and most Approved Authors by James Wallis. London. Published by S.A. Oddy, No. 20 Warwick Lane & Sold by Davies & Eldridge, Exeter, Thompson & Wrightson, Birmingham & T. Sutherland, Edinburgh. 1811
Oddy, S.A.; Wallis, James, London
Obscure atlas not in Phillips. Similar to Wilkinson, but different. Important for being the source of most of the non U.S. state maps published by Lucas in his New and Elegant General Atlas of 1815 (see our copy). Most of these maps were also used in the 1823 General Atlas by Lucas, although North America was done new as well as a few others. Maps are hand painted in full color. Prime meridian London. Relief shown by sketches. View Atlas

A Military and Topographical Atlas of the United States; including The British Possessions & Florida ... To Which Is Added, A List Of The Military Districts, A Register Of The Army, And A List Of The Navy Of The United States, 2 editions, 1813 and 1815.
Melish, John, Philadelphia
1st edition. and 2nd edition. The first edition was published during the war of 1812, and thus has the feeling of events unfolding with an uncertain outcome. The second edition was published in 1815 after the conclusion of the war, and has different text, and is more of a history. Henry Tanner engraved the five large maps that Melish drew, and J. Vallance engraved the three small maps. We believe this is the first book Melish published with the idea that it was an "Atlas."   View Atlases

372 Pocket Maps and Related Images, Various Dates, 1813 - 1969.
Various Authors and various Publishers.
A wide ranging group of Pocket Maps from the 19th and 20th centuries.  View Maps

Comparative View of the Heights of the Principal Mountains &c. in the World, 1816
Smith, C., London
Third edition. A colorful rendering of comparative mountain heights worldwide, although separated into the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Other aspects of the illustration (with the exception of showing volcanoes) appear to be fanciful. Substantially more taller mountains than an earlier edition (although the same date). The peaks are listed, each with a unique number which can be matched up with the numbers at the top and bottom of the illustration. By making a line between the numbers, the corresponding peak is intersected.  View Map

Comparative View of the Lengths of the Principal Rivers in the World, 1817
Smith, C., London
This is a companion map to the Heights of Mountains map also by Smith. The rivers have been necessarily straightened to indicate the lengths of the rivers. The compass orientation of the flowing stream is indicated by small north-pointing arrows periodically drawn adjacent to the stream. Includes table of the Length of Rivers in British Miles. A textual description of the rivers accompanies the illustration; it describes the course of the Missouri River, "recently explored by the Americans" (Lewis and Clark), as being "extremely devious." Beautiful color. View Map

Map Of The State of Georgia Prepared from actual Surveys and other Documents for Eleazer Early By Daniel Sturges, 1818
Early, Eleazer; Sturges, Daniel, Savannah
This is the first large scale map of Georgia and it ranks in importance with the other large Southern State and Territory maps of the period. It was undoubtedly the most accurate Georgia map when published, It has a lovely cartouche vignette, a table of distances, a statistical table, and "Remarks, Statistical and Geological." Streeter: "All in all an important and elaborate map of Georgia in the first part of the nineteenth century."   View Map

A New American Atlas Containing Maps Of The Several States of the North American Union, Projected and drawn on a Uniform Scale from Documents found in the public Offices of the United States and State Governments, and other Original and Authentic Information - Three Editions, 1823, 1824, 1833
Tanner, Henry, Philadelphia
Three editions of this important atlas, each with different or similar issues of the maps. After the first edition of this atlas, it is clear from looking at these and later issues that Tanner simply used maps that were available in his stock, regardless of whether they were the more recently updated copies. Nonetheless, the atlases represent an extraordinarily detailed and accurate look at the political and industrial development of the United States at the time.  View Atlases

View All Six Editions of the American Atlas.

A Group of 58 Guide Books from 1819 to 1934
Various Authors, Various Places
Includes city guides, state guides, national railroad guides, a guide to Chicago including a "history of the Great Fire," Langley's Street Guide to San Francisco with all the street listing pages, Boardman's White Mountain Guide, Guides to Canals and Railroads, Norman's Guide to New Orleans, Disturnell's Hudson River Guide, and others. Many of the guides contain interesting illustrations, views, and advertisements.    View Guides

Karte der Schweiz, von Dr. I. Woerl. Lithographie von B. Herder in Freiburg im Breisgau, 1835
Woerl, Joseph Edmund; Herder, Bartholomew, Freiburg im Breisgau
This little-known map of Switzerland by Joseph Edmund Woerl is an important record of the Swiss road network in the early 19th century. It is also an outstanding example of early lithographic map printing. Woerl seems to have pioneered a method of using color lithography to show roads and important places and towns - he used a red lithographic stone for a second overlay printing. Espenhorst speculates that Woerl may have used a unique combination of lithography and engraving to produce these maps. View Maps

Hand Atlas Uber Alle Theile Der Erde nach dem neuesten Zustande Und Uber Das Weltgebaude, 1837
Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Date estimated. 29 maps as issued thus a smaller version; 50 was the standard issue. Maps dated 1828-37. The atlas was originally issued in parts in 1816-23, totaling 50 maps. In 1832 a 63 map edition was advertised to be issued in 6 parts. See P6039 for further details. The Stieler Hand Atlas was often issued with different numbers of maps, tailored to fit the customer's specific needs. View Atlas

Nach Angabe und auf Kosten des Verfassers der Darstellung des Erzharzofthums Osterreich unter der Ens. (The depiction of the Archduchy Austria below the Enns), 1837
Schweickhardt, Franz Xaver, Vienna
An extraordinary group of 63 birds-eye views of the Austrian countryside that all fit together into one very large image (we also have the composite image of all 63 joined).  Schweickhardt intended to make 160 views but was unable to finish the project due to financial difficulties.The views show the cultural landscape of the period in great detail, with settlements, buildings, roads, trees, and other features. View Atlas   View in Google Earth

Willard's Chronographer of American History, 1845
Willard, Emma, New York
Willard uses the Historic Tree as a visualization of important events in American history. A smaller version of this diagram appears in one of her text books. Willard sums up her goal with this chart: "The eye is the only medium of permanent impression. The essential point in a date, is to know the relative place of an event, or how it stands in time, compared with other important events."    View Map

Topographical & Geological Map Of The Property Belonging To The Brady's Bend Iron Co. Located In Armstrong County Pa., 1850
Franks, Theo.; Brady's Bend Iron Co., Pittsburgh
This remarkable large map shows in great detail the works of the Brandy's Bend Iron Co. on the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh. The scale is large and the map is subtly colored. All the buildings, tracks, roads and Collieries are delineated. There is a "Geological Section from Notes by Prof. Shepherd" showing the land on which the Iron Company is built. Two vignettes show the imposing buildings. Why this map was made is not clear, certainly not for general consumption, but perhaps for investors or others specifically interested in the Companies facilities. The date is estimated. Scale 300 feet to an inch.  View Map

Atlas Of Physical Geography, Illustrating, In A Series Of Original Designs, The Elementary Facts Of Geology, Hydrology, Meteorology, And Natural History, 1852
Johnston, A. Keith, Edinburgh, London
Smaller edition of the Johnston's large physical atlas of 1856 (first issued in 1848).  The thematic maps are simplified and in that process become very interesting in themselves. Printed in full color. Relief shown by hachures.    View Atlas

Department of Oregon. Map of the State of Oregon and Washington Territory, 1859
U.S. War Department, Topographical Engineers, Washington, D.C.
Wheat: "Map shows Washington Territory curving around the state of Oregon and taking in all of Idaho, although a political border is not shown. A number of "authorities" are stated in a note, and except for the unexplored portions this seems to be about the best map of Oregon, Washington and Idaho country that could have been made prior to the Civil War. It is an excellent map." This map was part of a series of maps by the U.S. Topographical Engineers - see Wheat 960 "Map of Utah Territory" 1858 and Wheat 967 "Territory and Military Department of New Mexico 1859." View Map

Illustrirter Handatlas fur Freunde der Erdkunde und Zum Gebrauch Beim Unterricht im verein mit Heinrich Leutemann Herausgegeben von Ehrenfried Leeder und Theodor Schade, 1863
Brockhaus, F.A.; Leeder, Ehrenfried; Leutemann, Heinrich, Leipzig.
Lavishly illustrated around margins of maps with high quality vignettes of animals, structures and people. Espenhorst: "The atlas had 22 maps, drawn under the direction of Ehrenfried Leeder (1820-1884), as well as illustrations produced by Heinrich Leutemann (1824-1905), who had been working for Brockhaus since 1837. The 32 unnumbered pages of accompanying text were prepared under the direction of Theodor Schade (1820-1882)...Leutemann produced over 200 steel-engraved illustrations, most of which were used as frames around the maps...Thus each sheet had a colored map in its center, surrounded by appropriate scenes illustrating the land and its people, the animals and plants to be found there as well as the buildings and scenery which could be seen...these atlases are so sought after today that a reprint of the 1863 edition was produced in 2005." View Atlas

Carta corografica del Estado de Panama, 1865
Columbia. Comision Corografica; Ponce de Leon, Manuel, Paris, Bogota
One of the earliest printed maps of Panama based upon indigenous surveys. Published during the period when it was still one of the states of Colombia. This map was part of the mapping of Colombia undertaken by Ponce de Leon, Maria Paz, and Codazzi. With Codazzi's death, Maria Paz and Manuel Ponce de Leon were given control of the project's completion and publication of the surveying and mapping work.  View Map

Detailed Maps Of The North West Boundary From Points Roberts To The Rocky Mountains Between The United States And The British Possessions, 1866
U.S. North West Boundary Survey; Campbell, Archibald, New York
7 very large and detailed maps of the boundary. The maps are undated and not listed specifically in any sources we can locate. These maps are unusual in appearance because of the photo-lithographic enlargement - a great deal of detail is apparent. When put together the seven sheets are about forty feet long - we have made a composite.            View Maps

United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel. Clarence King. Geologist in Charge. Atlas Accompanying Volume III on Mining Industry, 1870
King, Clarence, Washington, D.C.
Early geological mapping of the Comstock Lode - a later and more detailed rendering of the Comstock Lode appears in Becker's subsequent 1882 U.S. Geological Survey Atlas of the Geology of the Comstock Lode. By that time Clarence King was Director of the U.S.G.S. Excellent  overview map showing the locations of mines along the route of King's 40th Parallel survey.  View Atlas

The Voyage from New York to San Francisco upon the Union Pacific Railroad. El Viage De Nueva York A San Francisco Sobre el ferro-carril pacifico de los estados unidos. Reise von New-York nach San Francisco auf der Union-Pacific Bahn. Il viaggio di Nuova York a San Francisco sulla strada ferrata pacifica degli stati uniti. De reis van New-York na San-francisco op de Pacific-ijzerbaan van de vereenigte Staaten. Le voyage de New-york a San Francisco sur le chemin de fer pacific des etats unis, 1870
Union Pacific Railroad Game, No Place of Publication
Date and author estimated, not indicated in the printed materials. An unusual board game based on the "new Union Pacific Railroad." The game board shows forty five beautifully executed views of places along the Union Pacific route, starting with "Rail road depot in New York" and ending in "San Francisco, the metropolis of California." Along the way, we have, among others, views of Pittsburgh, Omaha, "surprise by savage Indians," "wild heard of buffalloes," "railroad bridge over the Platte river," Cheyenne, Green River, Humboldt Valley, "Trukee" Valley, Sierra Nevada and Sacramento. The text is titled "Trip from New-York to San Francisco by the Union Pacific Rail Road. A new illustrated Travel-game with 45 stations, 1 dy, 12 cars and 12 numbers charts." The text is written in German and English and explains the game and the views. The cover of the game box (19x24) has a lovely colored litho view of two women joining hands across the American Continent, one representing America and the other Asia. Not in any of the standard game references - rare. View Game

Carte drolatique d'Europe pour 1870
Hadol, Paul, 1835-1875, Paris
Each country is represented by human and animal form of a cartoon character that reflects the personality of each country at the onset of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Russia, embracing all the German states, expands in every direction with one hand placed firmly on Holland and Belgium. With one knee she crushes Austria. The map is attributed to Paul Hadol, a French caricaturist of the Napoleonic Third Empire.  View Map

Hand Atlas Uber Alle Theile Der Erde Und Uber Das Weltgebaude. Erste Auscabe 1817 Jubel Auscabe 1867, 1873
Stieler, Adolf, Gotha
Date estimated. A composite atlas with title page, no index. A strange collection in original binding, indicating it was made up for a customer who seemed to want several maps of the same area, but with different publication dates. Maps are dated from early 1860's to 1873. According to the title page, 1817 was the first edition of Stieler's Atlas; Title page is dated 1867. Some of the multi-sheet map sets are incomplete, as in the United States with three sheets of six. View Atlas

Reports upon the Survey of the Boundary Between the Territory of the United States and the Possessions of Great Britain from the Lake of the Woods to the Summit of the Rocky Mountains, 1878
U.S. Northern Boundary Commission; Campbell, Archibald; Twining, W.J., Washington
Surveys from Lake of the Woods to Rocky Mts. A separate atlas of 24 maps was published to accompany this report. See also the 1866 U.S. North West Boundary maps for the survey from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific.       View Report

The Statistical Atlas of England, Scotland and Ireland, 1882
Bevan, G. Phillips, Edinburgh, London
This atlas is interesting for its visualization of statistical data of various kinds, using maps of England, Scotland, and Ireland to place data regarding crime, agriculture, education, mining, religion, and more. However the maps themselves are somewhat unimaginative in showing the data: basically, the data is placed on the maps in different colors and symbols, in a manner that conveys the spatial aspects of the information but does not go much further. Francis Walker's Statistical Atlas of the U.S. Census published in 1874 is far more path breaking in its visualizations and it is odd that Bevan seems to be unaware of it, eight years later.  View Atlas

Map of Western Palestine in 26 Sheets from surveys conducted for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund by Lieutenants C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener, R.E. During the Years 1872 - 1877. [Bound with 4 other maps of Palestine], 1880
Conder, C.R. (Claude Reignier); Kitchener, H.R. (Horatio Herbert), London
Kitchener's Palestine survey was important because it was so accurate that it is still consulted today as a reliable record of late 19th century Palestine by archaeologists and geographers.  This copy is special: it is likely the 3rd issue of the 26 sheet map and was printed by Edward Stanford instead of the Ordnance Survey which produced the first two issues earlier in 1880 and, bound with this copy are four additional maps of Palestine made by Stanford and based on the 26 sheet survey (two of the additional maps are dated 1881 and 1882 respectively, indicating that this bound volume was issued in 1882). View Atlas   View 26 Sheet Palestine Map in Google Earth

Official Map of Chinatown in San Francisco. Prepared under the supervision of the Special Committee of the Board of Supervisors, July, 1885
Farwell, Willard B.; Kunkler, John E.; Pond, E.B., San Francisco
First edition, first issue. Large folding map on two sheets, joined. Printed in colors. In 1885, at the height of the anti-Chinese hysteria in California, the official Report of the Special Committee of the Board of Supervisors was issued, reporting on the "Condition of the Chinese Quarter and the Chinese in San Francisco." This inflammatory report included the rare folding color map of Chinatown, but in the usual "small-scale" version (approx. 8½x19½ inches). The same small map was also issued in the San Francisco Municipal Report of 1884-85, and in Farwell's The Chinese at Home and Abroad.. However, the first issue of this map was printed in a supersized version by San Francisco's first "fine press printer," Edward Bosqui, and this is our copy shown here. It was most likely printed for the use of key city officials. The map shows San Francisco's Chinatown, bordered by California, Stockton, Broadway, and Kearney Streets. It is color-coded to show every business, gambling parlor, houses of white and Chinese prostitution, opium "Resorts," joss houses, etc. It was printed on a scale of 40 feet to the inch. The differences in this large-scale copy and the smaller version are the list of Supervisors imprinted thereon, different type fonts for streets, etc, one mistakenly identified house of white prostitution (corrected in the smaller version as a house of Chinese prostitution), and the Bosqui imprint. This large-scale version is exceedingly rare. Only a handful of copies are known, most in institutional libraries.   View Map             View Map in Google Earth

B.F. Steven's Facsimile of the Unpublished British Head Quarters Coloured Manuscript map of New York & Environs, 1782, Reproduced from the original drawing in the War Office, London. Issued only to subscribers at 4, Trafalgar Square, W.C., London. 1782
Great Britain. War Office; Stevens, Benjamin Franklin , London
From the printed advertisement for the map: "BF STEVENS'S Facsimile of the Unpublished British Headquarters Coloured Manuscript Map of New York and Environs 1782. Reproduced from the Original Drawing in the War Office London. 24 sheets Scale 6 1/2 inches to a mile. 10 feet by 4 feet. The successive British Commanders in Chief in America Generals Sir William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir Guy Carleton during their respective occupations of New York and Environs in the Revolution caused this manuscript plan from time to time to be kept up. The plan extends from below Guanas Bay to the Heights of Spikendevil, a distance of about eighteen or nineteen miles. It shows the Fortifications, Defenses, Topography, Streets, Roads, etc. of the whole of the Island of New York with the Harbor Islands, Water Ways, and River Frontages on the Hudson and East Rivers, the Military Works on Long Island including Brooklyn, the Works in Paulus Hook and parts of the Jersey Shore. It has a copious Table of References to various works British and American, some of them with notes as to the time of their construction or destruction. The Original Drawing, ten feet by four feet, is on a scale of about six and a half inches to a mile. It is handsomely reproduced for subscribers only in careful facsimile on 24 sheets which can be joined up and mounted like the original as a Wall Map or mounted on linen if desired."  View Map

Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas in 139 Haupt- und 161 Nebenkarten nebst vollstandigem alphabetischem Namenverzeichnis. Funfte, vollig neubearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage. Jubilaumsausgabe. Herausgegeben von A. Scobel. Bielefeld Und Leipzig, Verlag Von Velhagen & Klasing, 1906.
Andree, Richard; Scobel, Albert, Leipzig
Andre's atlas is know for fine engraving and extraordinary detail. He produced the early versions of the Times Atlas until Bartholomew took over in 1922.  View Atlas

The Victoria Regina Atlas, Political, Physical & Astronomical. Containing Two Hundred Plates and Complete Index. Second Edition. W. & A.K. Johnston, Ltd. Established 1825. Edinburgh & London. 1906.
W. & A.K. Johnston Limited, Edinburgh, London
This atlas is small format but dense with information. Many of the maps are part of larger composites, which we have assembled as such.  The regional and city maps are very well done.  View Atlas

Map of Alaska By the Alaska Road Commission. 1909
United States. Alaska Road Commission, Washington D.C.
The map is a huge production, much larger than any other general map of Alaska published in this time period. The Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska, more commonly known as the Alaska Road Commission or ARC, was created in 1905 as a board of the U.S. War Department. It produced this map which shows roads, trails, railroads, telegraph lines, etc. Relief shown by contours. contour interval 1000 feet. At 5ft by 6ft, few maps of this period have as much detail and information. View Map

Six Panoramic Views of United States National Parks, 1914 - 1915
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey); John H. Renshawe , Washington D.C.
Shaded relief without contours. Full color artistic rendering of the parks which is very effective and unusual. Part of a series for the national parks.  View Maps

Official California State Highway System Maps From 1918 - 1990
California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS), Sacramento
A reversed chronological assembly (broken run) of 45 official California highway maps bound together with a custom cover. Begins in 1990 and goes back to 1918. Shows the development of the highway system over time. Color. Information included varies by date but includes regional enlargements, illustrations, descriptive text, route descriptions, and construction and funding status. Atlas obtained from the Institute of Transportation Studies Library (Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library) at the University of California, Berkeley  View Maps

California, 1945
Mora, Jo, Monterey
Jo Mora has created a delightful and beautiful map of California that is both personal and humorous. Pictorial map with vignettes and text. Mission pictures. Full color. View Map

Physiographic Diagram, Atlantic Ocean (Sheet 1), 1957
Heezen, Bruce C.; Tharp, Marie
An early bathymetric chart of the Atlantic by Heezen and Tharp. View Map

Alaska: Far North Frontier, 1959
Klengston Rude, Studio City, California.
Color pictorial map of Alaska, published the year Alaska officially became the 49th state of the United States of America. Showing rivers, straits, sounds, towns, mountain ranges (drawn in aerial perspective), glaciers (shaded white), and existing and proposed highways. The map is richly illustrated with naturalistic depictions of wildlife, agricultural products, historical landmarks, oil fields and fisheries. Along the left and right sides, six circular illustrations highlight important events in Alaskan history. View Map

The New Portrait of our Planet. Life, 1960
Time Inc., New York.
A Life magazine publication. Hemispheric projection. A striking illustration of the geological and bathymetric theories at the time.  View Map

Six Airline Route Maps, 1960 - 1967
Various Authors, Various Places of Publication..
A group of six large, early airline route maps. Maps have shaded relief. They include illustrations and descriptions of aircraft, sights, cities, landscapes, geology, and aerial views. View Maps

The Floor of the World Ocean, 1961
Harrison, Richard Edes
Modified Briesmeister Elliptical Equal-Area Projection. Map Supplement Number Two, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Volume 51, No.3, September 1961. From the map note: "This map is a visual interpretation of the latest available bathymetric data. In the view of our incomplete knowledge, the drawing incorporates a number of surmises - especially in the inadequately surveyed portions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans."  View Map

Eleven California Freeway and Expressway Maps, 1962 - 1975
California Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, Sacramento.
These maps show the development of the freeway and interstate highways in California over a period of 13 years, from 1962 to 1975 when the system grew exponentially. The maps include regional enlargements of San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Maps obtained from the Institute of Transportation Studies Library (Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library) at the University of California, Berkeley. View Maps

California Water Resources Development, including Development of the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Major Features of the California Water Plan together with Various Projects of Districts and Municipalities, 1963
Irrigation Districts Association of California, San Francisco
Oblique view with shaded relief. Text description of water development features. Reflects the expansive dam building attitudes of the period. View Map

Atlas Ceskoslovenske Socialisticke Republiky. (Atlas of the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic), 1966
Götz, Antonín; Československá akademie věd.; Czechoslovakia. Ústřední správa geodézie a kartografie
A stunning atlas produced in the former Czechoslovakia, showing a great deal of thematic data in excellent cartographic design. In Russian, Czech, and English. View Atlas

Atlas of Volcanic Phenomena, 1971
U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.
Colorful set of 20 posters of volcanic phenomena. "Original material compiled for use by the Smithsonian Institution."   View Atlas

Climatic Atlas of North and Central America. Atlas climatico de America del Norte y America Central. Altas climatique de l'Amerique de Nord et de l'Amerique Centrale. I. Maps of mean temperatures and precipitation ... 1979
World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Hungary
Maps show air temperatures by month and by year. Compiled based on international standards. Color. Isohyetal maps. View Atlas

Large Maps of Europe, Africa and Asia, 1796 - 1818
Arrowsmith, Aaron, London
At the beginning of the 19th century, one of the finest map makers was Aaron Arrowsmith of London. His cartographic output numbered over 200 maps and several atlases. His individual maps were often made up of several large sheets, giving them a scale and scope not seen in the productions of his peers. We have collected his American large maps for years and recently added a group of European, African, and Asian maps to the collection. Arrowsmith mapped only what was known, rarely speculating or showing questionable information. His signature was large blank areas on his maps where there was no reliable information, as in his Map of Africa, 1802. He also relentlessly updated his maps as new discoveries were made. View Arrowsmith Large Maps of Europe, Africa and Asia.   View All Arrowsmith Large Maps.  View Arrowsmith Family Atlases.

Star and Constellation Maps of the Heavens, 1693
Pardies, Ignace Gaston, Paris
Ignace Gaston Pardies created a series of six beautiful star and constellation maps in the late 17th century. All six map plates join together to make a unified view of the Heavens as seen from the Earth. Pardies drew the maps on the gnomonic projection which visualized the universe as a six-sided cube instead of a globe. This method allows for accurate measurement by straight lines between any point on the map. In order to assist users in visualizing various aspects of these star maps, we have georeferenced the maps in GIS and then joined them together, first as a cube, then as a globe, then in other projections, and in Google Earth - see our blog post on Pardies.  View Star Maps

Le Petit Atlas Maritime Recueil De Cartes et Plans Des Quatre Parties Du Monde, 1764
Bellin, Jacques Nicolas, Paris
The Petit Atlas Maritime is probably the best compilation of charts and plans of  maritime towns and harbors in the mid 18th century, with coverage of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Its 582 maps in five volumes give a rare and comprehensive view of the maritime world with its coasts, cities, ports, islands, and estuaries. The Petit Atlas Maritime was Bellin's largest and most comprehensive work. The quality of the engraving is superb, and the accuracy of the information shown is excellent, based on all the reports, charts, letters, maps and other narratives that Bellin had access to as the chief chart maker for the French Depot de la Marine in Paris.  View Atlas

A Topographical Description of Such Parts of North America as are Contained in the (Annexed) Map of the Middle British Colonies, 1776
Pownall, Thomas; Evans, Lewis, London
This work contains an updated version of Lewis Evans' important 1755 "Map of the Middle British Colonies in North America," using the original plate engraved by James Turner with revisions and adding an eastern extension to cover New England; and Pownall's "Topographical Description" which describes the areas contained in the updated map; and six important appendices of writings by explorers in the region plus parts of Evans' original essay on his 1755 edition of the map. This copy of the Pownall belonged to Thomas Streeter (Streeter 826) and includes a rare 8 page prospectus for publishing the work that was printed in November, 1775. Henry Stevens ties Pownall's work directly to Evans, saying it "may be described as a new and much enlarged edition of both Evans' Map and his Analysis of 1755." Evans is considered "America's greatest eighteenth century cartographer" by Schwartz and Ehrenberg, and Pownall was hugely accomplished in pre-Revolutionary America, serving as Governor General of Massachusetts and traveling widely in the colonies in various roles in the British colonial administration. Pownall's map is considered the best updated edition of the Evans 1755 map, compared to the many later copies of Evans that were issued by Jefferys, Sayer, and others. In the prospectus, Pownall criticizes Jefferys' copy of Evans saying it "might as well be a map of the face of the moon."   View Map and Text

Outlines Of The World. By A. Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to His Majesty. London; Published Jany 4th 1825, by A. & S. Arrowsmith, No. 10, Soho Square, 1825
Arrowsmith, Aaron Jr. , London
Arron Arrowsmith senior died in 1823. This atlas was published in 1825 and dedicated to him by his son, Aaron Arrowsmith, Jr. The title page includes the only know portrait of the elder Arrowsmith. The maps are excellent, and are probably the best atlas format maps issued by the Arrowsmith family until the London Atlas of 1838 and 1844 by John Arrowsmith, the nephew of Aaron senior. It is interesting to compare these maps to the large scale maps that Arrowsmith published as wall maps and in composite atlases - many of them appear to be derived from the larger versions.  View Atlas

A Chorographical Map Of The Province Of New-York In North America, Divided into Counties, Manors, Patents and Townships, Exhibiting likewise all the private Grants of Land made and located in that Province; Compiled from Actual Surveys deposited in the Patent Office at New York, 1779
Sauthier, Claude Joseph; Faden, William, London
Four southern sheets of the six sheet map. Lacks the two northern sheets and the remaining four sheets are trimmed a few inches on the east and west sides - the owner was not interested in Vermont or Lake Erie! (see our reduced size issue of the complete map, also 1776). Otherwise, this is a superb copy of this extraordinary and rare map - the last and best of the large scale surveys of the American Colonies before the Revolution. Endless interesting detail.   View Map

Map Exhibiting The Experimental and Located Lines for the New-York and New-Haven Rail-Road ... Projected and Drawn by P. Anderson Civil Engr., 1845
Anderson, P., Manuscript
This is probably the pre-publication manuscript drawing for the final printed version of this map that was issued in the same year - see our copy of the printed map. It is twice the size and scale of the final printed version, and is beautifully hand drawn and colored. It is amazing that a map this large has survived outside of an institutional library for so long. Apparently it was kept in a family for several generations.  It shows the surveyed routes of the New York and New Haven Railroad from New Haven to New York City The line was opened in 1849. The map is unique for a railroad map in its huge size, large scale, elegance of drawing, and variety of information shown (houses, trails, rivers, turnpikes, lighthouses, harbors, hills, swamps, etc.).  View Manuscript Map   View Manuscript and Printed Map

147 Maps and Images from Pocket Maps and Guides, 1822 - 1936
Various Authors, Various Places
Continuing our digitizing of Pocket Maps and Guides, this group of maps covers a wide range of places, time periods and styles. Included is Eddy's 1839 Map of the Country 30 Miles round the City of New York (pictured left), an early Railroad Map of the United States from 1860, a strip Map of the Hudson River, 1848, an early oil region map - Map of the Oil District of Pennsylvania, 1865, mineral deposits shown on Holt's California and Newvada Map 1873, a detailed map of Mount Desert Island and coastal Maine, 1890. a Radio Map of the United States 1925, and a stunning 20th century Bird's Eye View of California from 1936.   View All Pocket Maps and Guides

A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World. With a special map of each of the United States, Plans of Cities &c. Comprehended in seventy sheets and forming a series of One Hundred And Seventeen Maps, Plans And Sections ..., 1849
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia
Continuing our plan to have every issue of Mitchell's New Universal Atlas from 1846 to 1859 online, this copy is the 1849 issue. The Oregon and Upper California map is enlarged to include all of New Mexico and New Mexico is added to the title. This is the last edition published by Mitchell, all later editions published by Thomas, Cowperthwait and Co. and Charles Desilver. View Atlas

View All Online Mitchell Universal Atlases - 1846, 1848, 1849, 1853, 1855, 1859

An Atlas of the World, Comprehending Separate Maps of its various Countries, Constructed & drawn from the latest Astronomical & Geographical Observations, 1864
Wyld, James, London.
A late edition of this atlas, published as early as 1836, and a successor to his father's (James Wyld, 1790-1836) 1824 General Atlas (see our copy). Several new maps of Australia and South Africa are added and the other maps have been updated to show railroad development. The American maps have been updated, but inadequately so in the West - the River Buenaventura is still flowing out of Salt Lake on the Mexico Map!  View Atlas

Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco. State Geological Survey Of California, J.D. Whitney, State Geologist. The Coast, Rancho, Township and Section Lines from Materials furnished by the U.S. Coast Survey and the U.S. Surveyor General's Office, the Topography chiefly from Original Surveys by C.F. Hoffman, 1867
Hoffmann, Charles F.; Whitney, J.D.; Geological Survey of California, New York
This map is one of the earliest large scale maps of the entire San Francisco Bay area, made by the surveyors of the Geological Survey of California, under the direction of J.D. Whitney. It is the first edition of this map, and is interesting to compare to our second edition of 1873 to see changes in the rapidly growing settlements, roads, boundaries and newly documented features of the landscape.  Both editions were printed in New York City by the expert lithographic printer Julius Bien. This first edition copy was mounted as a wall map. It was used in c. 1887 court case for which a "Lewis Survey" of part of Las Positas Rancho was outlined in red (this is present on the map but faint in lettering and outline). View Map

11 U.S. County Atlases, 1865 - 1908
Various Authors, Various Places
Continuing our scanning of representative U.S. County Atlases from the 19th century, this group of 11 includes St. Lawrence County-New York, Saratoga County-New York, Strafford County-New Hampshire, Ogle County-Illinois, Portage County-Ohio, Beaver County-Pennsylvania, Warren County-Pennsylvania, Winnebago and Boone Counties-Illinois, Marion and Monongalia Counties-West Virginia, Gibson County-Indiana, and Rush County-Indiana. These atlases have county and city maps, views of towns, farms, and industries, portraits and biographies of county leaders, and historical entries.  View All County Atlases

Centennial Map Of The United States and Territories Showing the Extent of Public Surveys, Indian and Military Reservations...& Other Details, 1878
U.S. General Land Office, Washington
16 sheets plus index sheet. 2nd ed.(1876 1st ed). At head of title: 1876. Not listed in Wheat or most other references. Related to the Centennial Atlas of the United States published in 1876, although those maps were on a somewhat larger scale (1"=12 to 20 miles, vs 1"=20 miles for this). When joined, these sheets would make a map 8 feet tall by 12 feet wide.   View Map

Joint Maps Of The Northern Boundary Of The United States, From The Lake Of The Woods To The Summit Of The Rocky Mountains, 1878
U.S. Northern Boundary Commission; Campbell, A., Washington
To accompany Campbell's Report on the Boundary. Originally issued in unbound folio. the boundary between the United States and Canada was set by the Oregon Treaty of 1846 but the surveying of the boundary was interrupted by the Civil War and not completed until 1875. These maps are highly detailed and show many cultural features along the boundary. The lithographic work is excellent. View Maps

Log Of H.M.S. "Swiftsure" Bearing the (flag of) Rear Admiral H.M.L. Lyons commanded by Captain C. Mainwaring. C.F. Henderson, 1884
Mainwaring, C.; Henderson, C.F., Manuscript
This is a manuscript ship's log that begins to record a journey midway from Honolulu to Esquimalt in British Columbia, then down the west coast of the United States and the west coast of South America, around Cape Horn, and back to England. It begins in July, 1884 and ends in November, 1885. 16 beautifully drawn charts record the track of the steam and sail powered ship, showing stops in San Francisco, Mazatlan, San Blas, Valparaiso and Rio de Janeiro and other ports. Many drawings illustrate aspects of the ship and its equipment. The log itself records the weather and daily ship operations. An unusual highly illustrated document. Swiftsure is the name assigned to ten successive ships of the Royal (British) Navy, the first launched in 1573 and the most recent in 1971. This one was commissioned in 1871 and was the lead ship of the Swiftsure class battleships built in the late Victorian era. It operated under steam and sail and was ironclad. It was very fast for its time, 13.75 knots. It served as the Pacific Station flagship from 1882-1885 and 1888-1890. Renamed "Orontes" in 1901, she was scrapped in 1908. View Log Book

Pocket Mining Atlas. Compiled From The Latest Official Surveys, And The Most Authentic Sources.  Engineering and Mining Journal, 1880
Bolitho, Edwin, New York.
Scarce. 24 of the 27 maps are western mining maps. A miniature mining atlas with many western maps. Not in any of the standard collections or references. There are maps of western states and detailed maps of mining areas showing claims. All of the detailed claim maps (except Dahlonega District in Georgia) appear on the verso of the state maps in Bradstreet's Pocket Atlas of 1882 (see our copy). At the end of the atlas there is a note by the publisher stating that any of the maps can be supplied for any use (We assume that Bradstreet made use of this offer) and that additional maps will be provided in "the forthcoming edition." Was there another, expanded edition? Atlas is bound into burgandy leather covers with "Pocket Mining Atlas." stamped in gilt. View Atlas

34 Historic Topographic Maps of the Sierra Nevada by the United States Geological Survey, 1891 -  1951
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). Washington, D.C.
These 34 maps show changes in parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains over a 60 year period. Included are maps of Yosemite, Big Trees, Dardanelles, Mt. Whitney, Bridgeport, Sonora, Mt. Lyell, Hawthorne, and Mariposa. All the maps are at a scale of 1:125,000 so the detail is excellent. View USGS Maps

136 Wall Maps from the Collection of the University of California, Berkeley, Geography Department, 1900 - 2005
Various Publishers, Various Places
We recently entered into an agreement with the Geography Department at UC Berkeley to acquire over 600 of their 20th century wall maps of all parts of the world that are no longer used in teaching. In addition to digitizing those 600 maps, we agreed to digitize and put online a separate group of 156 wall maps retained by the Geography Departments that are still used in teaching - so that UC teachers and students could use the digitized maps in their presentations, lectures, and studies. And to be used and enjoyed by the general Internet public. The maps show the whole range of cartographic conventions used in the last 100 years. We have completed 136 of the 156 maps retained by UC and put them online now (we will complete the remaining 20 maps in that group plus the 600 we acquired in our next update). Highlights include the 1976 Floor of the Oceans by Tharp and Heezen, 1942 Rand McNally World Map for the Air Age, 1985 Bedrock Geology of the World by R.L. Larson, 1960 North and South Poles by Karl Wenschow, 1968 Mapa de Chile by the Institute Geografico Militar de Chile (pictured on left), 1979 Relief Map of California (a strange mash-up of a photograph of a plaster model of the state), 1966 Rio Grange Do Sul of Brazil by the Instituto Gaucho de Reforma Agraria, the stunning relief Map of Asia by Klett-Perthes, and the beautiful U.S. State Relief Maps by Allan Cartography.  Because some of these maps are still being actively printed and sold by the publishers, we allow viewing only for those maps and give links to the websites where more recent versions of the maps are available.  View All Wall Maps

Maps and Photographs from the Yosemite Guide Books, 1868 - 1874
Geological Survey of California, New York, Cambridge.
6 different editions of the first guide books of Yosemite Valley, including the first edition of 1868 with 24 original photographs by Carlton Watkins (later this year we will be adding a book reader of the entire 1868 Yosemite Guide Book). The guide books were the result of a government survey of Yosemite begun in 1863 under the direction of Josiah Dwight Whitney, the State Geologist, with Clarence King and James T. Gardner in the surveying party, and Carleton Watkins as the primary photographer. Charles Hoffman and William Brewer were other key team members. Josiah Dwight Whitney’s and the California Geological Survey’s Yosemite guide books were an early effort to domesticate the Sierra, to make the range accessible through scientific knowledge and reliable travel information. View Yosemite Guide Books

Allgemeiner Schulatlas, 1825
Ruhle von Lilienstern, August, Berlin
Remarkable for "the most fantasy-rich title page to be found in any German atlas" (Espenhorst). This atlas was "expressly designed for use in the schools" and was ahead of its time in depicting hydrography and topography without place names and cultural or political features. The author's motivation was to use an effective presentation style for surface terrain. The rendering of relief was particularly innovative and precedent setting. This is also one of the earliest lithographic atlases.  View Atlas

216 Maps and Images from Pocket Maps, 1825 - 1920
Various Authors, Various Places
95 years of pocket maps covering state maps, country maps, county maps, city maps, a cemetery map, U.S. civil war maps, oil district maps, gold mine maps, historical events maps, and an extraordinary map of  Niagara Falls.     View Pocket Maps

12 U.S. County Atlases, 1864 - 1890
Various Authors, Various Places
Continuing our scanning of representative U.S. County Atlases from the 19th century, this group of 12 includes Jefferson County, New York,  Montgomery and Fulton Counties, New York, Rutland County, Vermont, Cumberland County, Maine, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Schuyler County, New York, Wayne County, Indiana, LaPorte County, Indiana, Montgomery County, Illinois, Yates County, New York, Auglaize County, Ohio, and Columbia County, Wisconsin. These atlases have county and city maps, views of towns, farms, and industries, portraits and biographies of county leaders, and historical entries.  View All Atlases

The Times Atlas of the World. Mid-Century Edition, 1959
Bartholomew, John , Boston and London
Published in 5 volumes, 1955-1959, with 122 colored double page map sheets, and a comprehensive index of over 200,000 names. Because of the long production times involved in the work of compiling the detailed maps, the volumes were arranged in continental groupings with volume III, North Europe, coming out first, followed by another volume each year. V.1. The World, Australasia & East Asia --V.2. South-West Asia & Russia --V.3. Northern Europe --V.4. Southern Europe & Africa --V.5. The Americas. with an Index-Gazetteer. We have created 18 composite maps from maps of continents and countries at the same large scale - they offer far more detail than the original maps of similar coverage and smaller scale  in the atlas.  View Atlas

Atlas of the United States Printed for the Use of the Blind, 1837
Howe, Samuel Gridley; Ruggles, Samuel P., Boston
The Atlas of the United States Printed for the Use of the Blind was published in 1837 for children at the New England Institute for the Education of the Blind in Boston. Without a drop of ink in the book, the text and maps in this extraordinary atlas were embossed heavy paper with letters, lines, and symbols. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first atlas produced for the blind to read without the assistance of a sighted person. Braille was invented by 1825, but was not widely used until later. The atlas includes 24 state maps with a page of text describing each state and the symbols used on the maps. In our scans, we have lit the maps and text pages from one side to create shadows that reveal the embossing. View Atlas

Read our blog post on this atlas

Maps of U.S. States and Territories, 1876 - 1944
U.S.. General Land Office, Washington, D.C.
24 maps from the U.S. General Land Office show official surveys of states and territories in the U.S. west. Military forts, Indian Reservations, railroad development, early county formations are all shown. 10 maps show Arizona Territory from 1896 to 1910.  View Maps

The Peoples' Pictorial Atlas. Being A Complete And Popular Account Of All The Countries Of The World, In Their Geographical, Statistical, Topographical And Commercial Aspects, 1873
Jones, C.H.; Hamilton, T.H.; Williams, J.David, New York
Maps by Rogers and Johnston, and Weller. This atlas is similar to the Hardesty edition of 1875, but on thinner paper. J. David Williams is sometimes considered to be the author, but Phillips lists this under Jones and Hamilton. The North American maps, with the exception of the New England states and New York and Pennsylvania, are updated reissues of the maps used in Rogers and Johnston 1857 Atlas of the United States, although they are often configured in different groups, indicating that they were copied from the 1869 third edition of the Rogers and Johnston U.S. wall map that is from the same earlier plates, but updated, that the 1857 atlas was made from (see our #5402). With 7 pages of interesting views. View Atlas

A General Atlas, Containing Maps illustrating some important periods in Ancient History; and distinct Maps of the several Empires, Kingdoms and States In The World, From Original Drawings according to the latest Treaties, 1824
Wyld, James, 1790-1836; Thomson, John, Edinburgh
This is the second edition and includes the extra map of the Arctic and two extra maps of Australia. The text adds a section on Voyages of Discovery. Two additional maps are laid in, one of South America, the other of Mexico.  View Atlas

A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World. With a special map of each of the United States, Plans of Cities &c. Comprehended in seventy five sheets and forming a series of One Hundred And Twenty Two Maps, Plans And Sections, 1853
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia
Continuing our plan to have every issue of Mitchell's New Universal Atlas from 1846 to 1859 online, this copy is the 1853 issue. We also have online the 1846, 1848, 1855, and 1859 issues. Title page has a full color illustration of the First Landing of Columbus in the New World. California map now shows counties throughout. Bound in half leather marbled paper covered boards with label stamped in gold reading "Mitchell's Universal Atlas." View 1853 Atlas   View All Mitchell Universal Atlases

(Six Ethnographic Maps to Accompany the Natural History of Man). Second Edition, 1867
Prichard, James Cowles, London
The six ethnographic maps to accompany Prichard's Natural History of Man were published separately and at different dates from the text volumes. The maps are: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Polynesia. Each map is titled "Ethnographic Map of (Continent) In the Earliest Times Illustrative of Dr. Prichard's Natural History of Man and His Researches into the Physical History of Mankind. Second Edition, 1861." Sheets loose. View Maps

Mitchell's New Atlas Of The United States And Territories, Together With Plans Of The Principal Cities. Designed To Accompany And Illustrate The Centennial Gazetteer Of The United States, 1874
Mitchell, S. Augustus, Ziegler & McCurdy, Philadelphia
The special "propeller" border Mitchell Atlas - all the maps have this unique border not found in any other Mitchell Atlases. The title says this atlas was "Designed To Accompany And Illustrate The Centennial Gazetteer Of The United States," also published, we assume, by Ziegler & McCurdy, although we can find no reference to it. The maps in the atlas are sometimes unique issues, different from the maps found in the Mitchell General Atlas of either 1874, 1875, or 1873. Only maps of the United States are included, except for three World maps. View Atlas

(Atlas volume only to accompany the) Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amerique par M. Le Comte de Paris, Ancien Aide de Camp du General Mac Clellan, 1883
Various Publishers, Various Places
These 30 maps were made by Vorzet to accompany Louis Phillipe d'Orleans' (Comte de Paris) multivolume "Histoire de la Guerre Civile en Amérique". The set includes two (of three) of the original fascicle covers (this was issued in parts, and often bound later). The first fascicle was from 1874. The fascicles were issued to accompany vols. 1-2, 3-4. and 5-6 respectively of the "Histoire." The Comte de Paris was a pretender to the throne of France, and expatriate, working as an aide-de-camp to the Union Gen. George MacClellan (McClellan). He eventually settled in England. Pub Date is the latest date of the maps published over time for this series. Looseleaf in two (of the original three) paper light green fascicles. Maps are color; chromolithographs. The atlas was provided for digitization by Joel Kovarsky, and has since been donated to the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia. View Atlas

Adams' Synchronological Chart of Universal History. Through the Eye to the Mind. A Chronological chart of Ancient, Modern and Biblical History, Synchronized by Sebastian C. Adams. Third Edition and Twelfth-Thousand carefully and critically revised and brought down to 1878, (1881)
Adams, Sebastian C., New York
A huge and impressive twenty three foot long chart showing 5,885 years of history, from 4004 B.C.. to 1881 A.D. First issued in 1871, Adams put out several editions in many formats. Rosenberg and Grafton in "Cartographies of Time" say that as a timeline, Adams Synchronological Chart "was ninetheenth-century America's surpassing achievement in complexity and synthetic power. View Timeline

Read our blog post on this and many other timeline maps.

Uebersichts-Karte der Eisenbahnen Deutschlands bearbeitet im Reichs-Eisenbahn-Amt. 1893
Deutschland. Reichs-Eisenbahn-Amt, Berlin
Color railway map of German Empire. With six inset maps. Shows railroads, roads, rivers, sea, etc. Map is backed and folded into textured dark green cloth cover, with "Uebersichts-Karte der Eisenbahnen Deutschlands bearbeitet im Reichs-Eisenbahn-Amt . 1893. Massstab 1:1000000. Verlag von Max Pasch, Kgl. Hofbuchh. Berlin SW., Ritter-Strasse No. 50." stamped in gilt. View Map

This map relates to our Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893

140 Separate, Broadside, Real Estate, and Manuscript Maps,  1776 - 1944
Various Authors, Various Places
An eclectic group of maps including maps of the California Gold Rush, San Francisco, parts of Madison's rare map of Virginia 1807/1818, various real estate maps, Sauthier's 1776 Map of the Province of New York, and early Massachusetts town maps. 

View All 140 Maps

Geography Epitomiz'd. Of The Stars And Planets. Of The Sun And Moon. Of the Air and Meteors. The Terms of Geography Explain'd., 1733
Bowles, Thomas; Bowles, John, London
A remarkable series of cartouches and tables present the summary of geographic and cosmological information. Includes text and list of continents, countries, capital cities, and their coordinates. A very early example of information visualization. View Map

Map of the United States, Exhibiting the Post-Roads, the situations, connexions and distances of the Post-Offices, Stage Roads, Counties & Principal Rivers, 1805
Bradley, Abraham Junior, Washington, D.C.
Abraham Bradley published the best maps showing in detail the roads used to move the U.S. mail in the late 18th and early 19th century. This copy is the 2nd edition or state of this map, with printed date of 1804 but with estimated date of 1805 based on the naming of Michigan Territory which was formed in 1805. View Map

A New Juvenile Atlas, And Familiar Introduction To The Use Of Maps: With A Comprehensive View Of The Present State Of The Earth, 1814
Melish, John, Philadelphia
This is Melish's first school atlas, followed in 1816, 1818, and 1820 by Melish's Universal School Atlas which uses seven of these maps, omitting England, Scotland, and Ireland, and adding a Hemispherical World Map (see our 4519.000 for the 1820 edition). Melish based this atlas on Laurie and Whittle's atlas of the same title published in London in 1808, but added many "improvements" for the American edition. Melish states: "In the present edition, the maps and geography...have been carefully revised and improved; and the American part has been much altered, in consequence of the revolutions that have taken place in that quarter. These additions will, it is hoped, render the work an acceptable offering to the American public, particularly to youth, whose improvement in the pleasing and important study of geography is the earnest desire of the publishers..."  View Atlas

Eight manuscript maps: New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Vermont, View of the Country ‘Round Pittsburg, View of the Country ‘Round Zanesville, East End of Lake Ontario, 1816
Bringhurst, William.
The state maps are dated 1816; the other three maps are undated. The Ontario, Pittsburgh and Zanesville maps are copied from similar maps that appear in Melish's "Geographical Description," most likely the 1820 or 22 edition because of the rounded corners which do not appear in the earlier editions of 1815 and 16. The state maps are copied from Scott's Gazetteer of 1795. The penmanship is very good. All maps in outline color. Relief shown by hachures and shadings. View Maps

A General Atlas, Being A Collection Of Maps Of The World And Quarters, Their Principal Empires, Kingdoms, &c. Containing Fifty Eight Maps And Charts, 1816
Carey, Mathew; Warner, Benjamin, Philadelphia
The maps in this atlas result from a collaboration between Carey and Warner, using maps from their prior publications. This was probably published in a small edition and was an attempt to serve the market with a cheaper and smaller version of the folio General Atlas by Carey. This atlas is not listed in any of the references; we are aware of only four copies. View Atlas

A New General Atlas, Constructed from the latest Authorities, By A. Arrowsmith, Hydrographer to the Prince Regent, Exhibiting The Boundaries And Divisions, Also The Chains of Mountains and other Geographical Features Of All The Known Countries In The World, 1817
Arrowsmith, Aaron, London
This is the first edition of Arrowsmith atlas published in 1817. Although the maps are not large, they are dense with information. This complete atlas features 53 copperplate maps, drawn by Arrowsmith and engraved by Sidney Hall, with a few engraved by Thomson in collaboration with Hall. View Atlas

Ancient Geography, As Connected With Chronology, And Preparatory to the Study of Ancient History By Emma Willard (with) A System of Universal Geography, On The Principles of Comparison and Classification; By William Channing Woodbridge ... Illustrated With Maps and Engravings; And Accompanied by an Atlas, 1824
Willard, Emma, Hartford
Willard did not yet have an atlas to accompany her Ancient Geography - she first issued that atlas in 1827. Of particular interest is the plate "Progress Of The Roman Empire, Illustrated By The course Of The River Amazon" in which Willard uses the course of the Amazon and its tributaries to make a time chart of the Roman Empire. Woodbridge and Willard discovered that they shared similar approaches to teaching geography and so decided to collaborate on this book. View Book

Twelve Broadsides and Maps Illustrating The U.S. Mexican War, 1846 to 1855
Various Publishers, Various Places
This groups of maps and broadsides show the progress and battles of the U.S. Mexican conflict and the aftermath. Several of the broadsides are highly decorative with maps, views, portraits, and tables of text.  View Maps

A New Map Of California, 1852
Gibbes, C.D., Stockton, California
Early state map, inaccurate yet elegant. Graphically, it is exceptionally well done. Wheat: "This was the most elaborate map of California that had yet appeared. It is beautifully designed and drawn, and includes a large number of the mining towns, though it cannot be entirely commended for accuracy." A portion of this map was published as Gibbes' New Map of the Gold Region in California, 1851, which was also issued in the Stockton Directory and Emigrant's Guide to the Southern Mines.  View Map

A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World. With a special map of each of the United States, Plans of Cities &c. Comprehended in seventy five sheets and forming a series of One Hundred And Twenty Nine Maps, Plans And Sections, 1855
Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia
Early 1855 edition. Color lithographed title page. This copy belonged to Judah Chase (with his name gold stamped on the cover) who was a noted Blue Hill, Maine, Sea Captain and owner of the Brig Thomas M. Lyon. This ship sailed from Havre, France, at the end of March, 1836, and sank in a heavy gale off the Island of Jersey - but the crew was saved. The fine condition of this atlas suggests that it remained in Captain Chase's library and never went to sea. View Atlas

Thirty Maritime Charts, 1800 to 1907
Various Publishers, Various Places
This group of sea charts ranges from the west coast of South America to Cape Cod to San Francisco Bay.  Most are by the U.S. Coast Survey. View Charts

Thirty Seven Maps to Accompany the Reports of the General Land Office, 1951 to 1876
U.S. General Land Office, Washington D.C.
A group of very early General Land Office surveys showing Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, New Mexico and the United States. View Maps

Ten United States County Atlases, 1862 to 1885
Various Publishers, Various Places
Includes the first county atlas published in the U.S., Berks County, Pennsylvania. Also, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Franklin County, Pennsylvania; Androscoggin County, Maine; Steuben County, New York; Saint John City and County, New Brunswick, Canada; Logan County, Ohio; Daviess County, Kentucky; Leavenworth County, Kansas; and Cedar County, Iowa. All include maps, views, directories, and other information considered useful at the time. View Atlases

Two Editions of Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas, With Physical Geography, And With Descriptions Geographical, Statistical, And Historical, 1864 and 1870
Johnson, A.J., New York
The 1864 and the 1870 editions of Johnson's world atlases, showing the United States during the U.S. Civil War and after it. View Atlases

Illustrated Atlas Of The City Of Richmond, Va., 1876
Beers, F.W., No Place
A scarce atlas of Richmond a decade after the end of the Civil War. Wonderful detail on buildings and their owners, parks and public buildings. This copy is undated on the title page, but dated 1876 on the original front cover. A second edition was published in 1877. The index calls for seven views of Richmond that are not present in this copy and appear to never have been bound in, indicating that some copies were issued without the views (a common practice among the Beers). We have made two large composite maps of Richmond and Manchester. View Atlas

Royal Relief Atlas of All Parts of the World. Consisting of 31 Maps, With Physical, Political, and Statistical Descriptions facing each Map, 1880
Sonnenschein, W. Swan; Allen; Bevan, G.P., London
Raised relief maps. The maps are presented flat and a second copy with raised relief accomplished by embossing the paper. First edition, followed by editions in (1881) and 1885. Similar (perhaps copied from) to Woldermann's relief atlas in German. Phillips attributes this to G.P. Bevan. View Atlas

Department of the Interior, Census Office. Sixteen Maps Accompanying Report On Forest Trees Of North America, 1884
Sargent, C.S., New York
Loose in a folio. 10th census information. Show distribution of trees and types of trees. None of this information appears in any of the census atlases. Maps are printed in color and loose in plaid paper covered boards with cloth ties and a label printed with the above title. View Maps

Atlas of Global Geography. 1944
Raisz, Erwin, New York
On the jacket it states that this is an "entirely new kind of atlas - A beautiful and informative book of 'global' maps, giving a plane's-eye view of tomorrow's geography..." Inside dust jacket's back cover: short biography of Dr. Edwin Raisz, Photo by Bacharch. Raisz perfected a unique style of hand drawn cartography that was a great contribution to 20th century cartography. More information about him may be found at www. raiszmaps.com. Maps in color. With paper dust jacket. View Atlas

Look At The World: The Fortune Atlas For World Strategy, 1944
Harrison, Richard Edes, New York
Richard Harrison produced in this remarkable atlas a unique view of the world for the "air age." These maps are precursors of our ubiquitous satellite maps of today, yet hand drawn with great cartographic skill. View Atlas

Atlas of Florida, 1964
Raisz, Erwin, Gainesville
Maps in full color, many thematic. Raisz perfected a unique style of hand drawn cartography that was a great contribution to 20th century cartography. More information about him may be found at www.raiszmaps.com At the back of the book is a fold-out road map of Florida. Covers are dark green marbled paper covered cardboard 36x27 with title "Atlas of Florida by Erwin Raisz and associates with text by John R. Dunkle. Prepared in the Department of Geography, University of Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville." View Atlas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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