David Rumsey
collection (at December 2007, 17,434 high res., zoomable, 'maps and related images' - mostly 19th century
America but with an increasing number of general atlases (on which see the separate listing of
'Antique Atlases',
searchable by: Country, State, Publication Author, Keywords, Data field [including Date or date
range]). He is distributing, without charge, an advanced Java client software ('Insight'), to
help deliver better images and high quality print-outs from them. You will, though, need to
set aside 20-30 minutes to download the software (assuming you have a standard 56K modem), if
you choose that route rather than simply using your browser. In December 2001, a new GIS
Browser was added, allowing 'integration and interaction of historical maps with current
geospatial data and other historical maps' [this will be available for various US cities and
specified themes, see the GIS index
page]. In November 2006, 16 maps from the Rumsey Collection were added to Google Earth. Note from Philip Hoehn: 'To view the maps, download the latest
version of Google Earth (PC and Mac versions), then go to Layers/Featured Content/Rumsey
Historical Maps. To enable transparency of the historic map layers, click on the Rumsey
Historical Maps folder when viewing a map and a slider bar will appear that will adjust
transparency for comparison of old and new maps images. Additional maps will be added in the
coming months'. In February 2008,120 maps were placed on the social site Second Life, see here for links to articles on this.
From May 2007 it is possible 'to browse the entire collection by what, where,
who, and when. All terms used in the catalog descriptions are now hot
links to results sets. This provides an effective alternative or
companion to searching the collection.' You can also use the Directory to browse by subject, area, author and date [click on the link for an individual list, at the top, to alphabetise it].
For further
information, see Recent additions; his explanatory pages: 'About the technology'
and 'Printing from the
collection';
'This is a
Real Quest for Maps' by Kendra Mayfield (Wired News, 7 March 2002); or, if you want more
depth, his March 2001 paper, 'Historical Map Collection Web Site', at the 'Museums and the
Web' conference;
'Historical Maps in GIS' (an 18-page pdf chapter by David Rumsey and Meredith Williams,
from Anne Kelly Knowles (ed.) Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History (ESRI, 2002); 'Tales from the
vault: historical maps online' (Common-Place, vol. 3, no. 4, July 2003); Historical Maps Online
(Coordinates, January 2005), with another version, dated 06/02/05, on the O'Reilly Network; From Lewis and Clark to Landsat:
Digital maps marry past and present by Wade Roush for Technology Review, July 2005; and the 2004 book by David Rumsey and Edith M. Punt,
Cartographica Extraordinaire: The Historical Map Transformed. See, a brief review by Joseph S. Wood for
History Matters and another, by Pat Toscano, for The American Surveyor. Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) records are available - contact: Phil
Hoehn, Librarian, David Rumsey Collection. Email: philhoehn(at) juno.com [NB replace (at) with
@].
The Rumsey collection can also be accessed as part of the multi-collection Visual Collections site -
select ‘Cartography’. In March 2002, David Rumsey (Cartography Associates) signed an agreement
with the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO)
to provide cartographic images for educational use from Fall 2002. In 2002, The David Rumsey
Historical Map Collection won the prestigious Webby Award for the best 'technical achievement' Web site.
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: 'MAP COLLECTIONS: 1500-[current year]'
The LC 'American
Memory' project - a collection of 12,000 high res. zoomable MrSID images [as at
December 2007, but other pages (listed below) are apparently not included in that total]. "The
focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress.
These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that
are not covered by copyright protection". You can search by keyword, or browse the various
indexes (which seem to include all the formal American Memory pages, but apparently not those
from other collections listed below, under 'Special Presentations and other map-related
pages'):
Geographic Location, Creator, Subject or Title (for Help with Searching the main 'Map Collections' site, see Searching Map
Collections). NB. It is worth trying more than one search approach. 'Puerto Rico'
produced the following hits: Geographic Location (28), the American Memory Collections: Original Format: Maps search (40), and Subject
Index (37). [There are 17 images on Puerto Rico at the Dawn
of the Modern Age: Selected Cartographic Items].
The main and subsidiary subject sections are listed below, and repeated (in more detail) on the appropriate page in the Web Images section. 'Special Presentations and other map-related pages' (listed further below) includes some
groupings that are not formally part of 'American Memory' (on which see Searching "Map Collections"). For other potentially
relevant parts of the LC site, see Global Gateway:
World Culture & Resources (for links to Collaborative (and Individual) Digital Libraries, Featured Presentations and
International Exhibitions), and Portals to the World:
Links to Electronic Resources from Around the World (accessible via country name). All images carry at least a brief
description, and most are accompanied by historial and explanatory texts.
See the introductory texts: 'Zoom into
Maps' ('Maps help us make sense of our world'; 'Analyzing a Map';
'What can be learned from historic maps?') accompanying the Library of
Congress's 'American Memory' site,
illustrated with high res. MrSID images.
LC is adding material all the time, on various of its sites. To try to keep track of recent
additions consult the
Guides to the Collections: Cartobibliographies and Finding Aids; the full Exhibits listing; and The Learning Page:
Exploration and Explorers. Be aware that some pages exist at more than one URL, and that URLs change.
The LC Photoduplication service provides printed copies and TIFF files of
the images, see: How to Order
Reproductions.
"Collection Connections". Several of the entries immediately following have a link to a
specially devised group of Collection Connections pages, arranged under the headings: U.S.
History, Critical Thinking, and Arts & Humanities. These "provide activity ideas for using the
online collections to develop critical thinking skills. Part of The Learning Page, Collection
Connections feature teacher created lesson plans based on online primary resources at the
Library of Congress".
"The Digital Reference Team (DRT) conducts a free, one-hour orientation monthly, on the second Wednesday at 11 a.m.-noon, Eastern
time, via Web conference. Throughout the program, DRT staff provide opportunities to ask questions, learn strategies for
online access of the materials, and sample the collections and resources provided to facilitate your research. To learn more and
register for the Orientation, click here.
Confirmation will be sent via email. Each session is limited to fifteen people, on a first-come, first-served basis" [January
2008].
Map Collections 1500-[present]
Cities
and towns - includes:
Panoramic Maps
1847-1929 (a brief review by Paula Petrik for History Matters) [see Collection Connections]
Additional Cities and Towns Cartographic Items
Conservation and
environment - includes:
Mapping the
National Parks Collection [see Collection Connections]
Additional Conservation and Environment Cartographic Items
Cultural
Landscapes - includes:
Liberia. American Colonization Society Collection. Maps of Liberia 1830-1870 [see Collection Connections]
Additional Cultural Landscapes Cartographic Items
Discovery
and Exploration - includes:
Discovery and Exploration Cartographic Items [see The Learning
Page, and Zoom into Maps: Exploration and Discovery (with nine MrSID maps)]
General
Maps - includes:
Contemporary Maps, 1960 - Present
Places in the News
Additional General Cartographic Items
Military
Battles and Campaigns - includes:
The
American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the
West Indies, 1750-1789 (maps to be added monthly)
Civil War
Maps (2,840 maps and 76 atlases and sketchbooks - including those from the Virginia
Historical Society and the Library of Virginia) [see Collection Connections]
Rochambeau
Collection (high res. images of 66 MS and printed maps, and a MS atlas)
Additional Military Battles and Campaigns
Cartographic Items
see also The
Hotchkiss Map Collection: Confederate Army Maps
Transportation
and Communication - includes:
Railroad
Maps 1828-1900 [see Collection Connections]
Additional Transportation and Communication Cartographic Items
'Special Presentations' and other map-related pages
[Some of these elements do not form part of 'American Memory, and are apparently not included in the general searches listed at the head of this LC entry]:
Afghanistan. 'A Selection of Historical Maps of Afghanistan' (six MrSID images - Cynthia Cook, 2004)
'African
American Odyssey' (about 10 maps relating to West Africa and the US -
select 'Object List', then search [ctrl+F] for: map)
Agnese
(MrSID images of the portolan atlas of nine charts and a world map by Battista Agnese, 1544)
America.
'The Culture and History of the Americas: The Jay Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress'
(leading to the exhibits page, with nine medium res. maps [May 2005])
'American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920' (select 'maps'
for 219 enlargeable high res. images)
'American Treasures' (an indefinite, but changing,
selection of enlargeable high res. images, including some maps)
'American Women: A
Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women’s History and Culture in the
United States' leading to a note on the Geography and Map
Division
Brazil/America. 'United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures' (in English and Portuguese, with 59 high res. MrSID maps)
Britain/America. 'John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations'
(for selected maps, in medium res., see the Object
Checklist, e.g. under 'Exploration and Settlement' - Library of
Congress and British Library)
China. 'Herold J. Wiens Collection' (264 items, some
cartographic, showing all or part of China during the period of World War II)
'Civil
War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society' (searching by
keyword and entering 'map' leads to 10 enlargeable, high res.
images)
Collaborative Digital Libraries ("bilingual, multimedia digital libraries, built with partners round the world", part of the LC's 'Global Gateway' - the individual elements are included separately in this list)
Drake. ‘The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake’ (including some maps and views, and linked to Sir Francis Drake: A
Pictorial Biography by Hans P. Kraus, in turn linking to the Catalogue
of the Kraus Collection (with a section ‘Maps and Views’)
Exhibitions. See the full listing of online exhibits, and also Guides to the Collections: Cartobibliographies and Finding Aids for details of others, which include a few maps, not listed here
'The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820'
(18 maps, mostly of Kentucky)
Florida.
'Reclaiming the Everglades: South Florida's Natural History, 1884-1934'
(search maps for 47 maps and related documents)
France/America. 'France in America' (in English and French, with 155 high res.
images, including those from the Revolutionary War Rochambeau
Collection)
France. Cassini. 'Carte de France / levée par ordre du
roy' (all 182 sheets, enlargeable to high res.)
'General
Atlases' [Abraham Ortelius Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Battista
Agnese (1544), Geographical Fun]
'Geography and
Maps: an Illustrated Guide' (or
go straight to the
Concordance of Images)
Gutiérrez. 'The
1562 Map of America by Diego Gutiérrez'
'The
Hispanic and Portuguese World. Encounters in America' (seven low res. maps in this
'illustrated guide')
The
Hotchkiss Map Collection: Confederate Army Maps (high res. images of the 341 sketchbooks,
manuscripts, and annotated printed maps)
'Indian Land Cessions in the U.S.
(1784-1894)' (67 MrSID state maps, 1897)
Jefferson. 'Thomas
Jefferson' (see the Object list for seven low res. maps, 2000)
Lewis &
Clark. 'Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of
America' (several illustrated texts and an Object Checklist, with links to medium res. images of
the items; see also 'Fill Up the Canvas...Rivers of Words: Exploring with Lewis and Clark' (a Learning Page Activity); Community Center; and the press release
- Library of Congress exhibition, 2003)
Literary Maps. 'Language of
the Land: Journeys into Literary America' (LC exhibition, 2000, by
Martha Hopkins and Michael Buscher)
'Los Angeles Mapped'
(23 maps, enlargeable to high res. via JPEG2000, with commentary - LC exhibit at the Ira
Gershwin Gallery, Los Angeles, 2006-07)
'Louisiana: European Explorations
and the Louisiana Purchase' (70 maps enlargeable to high res., with an accompanying 118-page PDF essay by Michael Klein)
'The
Luso-Hispanic World in Maps: A Selective Guide to Manuscript Maps to 1900
in the Collections of the Library of Congress' by John R. Hébert and
Anthony P. Mullan (descriptions of 1,011 maps, selectively illustrated with high res. MrSID images)
'Macau: a
Selection of Cartographic Images' (16 enlargeable high res. images, 1655-1991)
Mali.
'Islamic Manuscripts from Mali: Timbuktu in Space and Time - Maps' (11 maps, enlargeable to
high res. via JPEG2000, 1590-1970)
'Maps in our
lives' (mostly modern material but including surveys of George Washington's farm through
time, 2006)
Morse. 'Samuel F. B.
Morse Papers at the Library of Congress, 1793-1919' (including four
MrSID maps)
'National Atlases:
Presenting the Nation's Cultural Geography (1870, 1880, 1890, 1970)'
Netherlands/America.'The Atlantic
World: America and the Netherlands/De Atlantische Wereld: Amerika en Nederland' (a
search on 'map' produced descriptions (in English or Dutch) of 19 maps, accompanied by high res. MrSID images - the Library of Congress and the National Library of the
Netherlands)
Ortelius:
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (53 maps, 1570) (MrSID images)
Portugal.
'Celebrating the Portuguese Communities in America: a Cartographic Perspective'
Portugal. 'The Portuguese
in the United States' (consult the Subject Index for 19
low res. maps)
Portugal. 'The
Portuguese Role in Exploring and Mapping the New World' (consult the Subject Index for 19
low res. maps)
'Puerto
Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Selected Cartographic Items' (17 MrSID maps)
Russia/America. 'Meeting of
Frontiers' (in English and Russian, "illustrating the development of
geographic knowledge of Siberia and the Russian Far East and the American
West" - select the Maps page to browse by title 77 maps and an atlas)
'Spain, the
United States & the American Frontier - Historias Paralelas' (in English and Spanish), see also
the Sitemap
/ Mapa del Sitio
[a collaboration between LC and collections in Spain - not formally part
of the 'American Memory' project but overlapping with it] - includes:
Selections
from the Geography and Map Division (118 MrSID images)
'Selections from the LC Luso-Hispanic Map collection. Selecciones Luso-Hispánicas
de la Colección de Mapas' (MrSID images)
Spanish-American War. 'The World of 1898: the
Spanish-American War' (clicking on 'Maps' leads to selections for Cuba, the
Philippines and Puerto Rico, which in turn lead to map descriptions and images from the
Library of Congress 'American Memory Collection')
Treasures. 'American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Reason Gallery B: Mapping & Recording' (includes 13 medium res. maps)
Treasures. 'World Treasures of
the Library of Congress' (about 24 medium res. images of cartographic items)
U.S.-Mexican border. 'Color image map : [ports of
entry, United States-Mexican border] / produced by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury,
U.S. Customs Service' (high res. images of 6 sheets of the 300+ series, 1979-, with the remainder to follow)
Virginia. 'Early
Virginia Maps' (four high res. MrSID maps, illustrating Early Virginia Religious
Petitions)
Virginia.
'Tending the Commons: Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia' (see 'Historical Maps
of the Study Area' for images of five MrSID maps, 1774-1913)
Waldseemüller: Map of the World (1507)
Washington.
'George Washington: Surveyor and Mapmaker'
WWII. ‘From
the Home Front and the Front Lines’ (a small selection of WWII military and aviation maps,
including one from Vietnam)
'World War II
Military Situation Maps 1944-1945' (416 high res. MrSID maps, and 115 reports,
giving daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe from D-Day to July 1945)
Library of Congress - see also under Medium and small general
sites. {January 2002 - this entire section revised, with
several additions; May 2005 - further major additions}
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