Digital Resources for the Study of Early Maps
University Libraries
David Rumsey Map Collection (Stanford University)
The | David Rumsey Map Collection, archived in the Stanford Digital Repository, boasts more than 100,000 digitized maps ranging in date from around 1550 to the present. While the collection “focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America,” it includes thousands of maps and related materials from around the world. Maps are scanned at 300 to 800 pixels per inch, and all images from the website “may be reproduced or transmitted, but not for commercial use.”
Cataloging data accompany each map, including the author(s), year of publication, publisher, publisher location, brief notes, and other details. Many of these fields enable further exploration: Clicking the author allows visitors to search for all maps associated with that author, clicking the date allows visitors to search for all maps published in that year, and so on and so forth. For maps appearing in books, thumbnails at the top of the viewer provide previews of pages belonging to the same book. Unfortunately, the website provides little additional context: It does not note unique features of maps or include mapmaker biographies.
Notably, the website is powered by LUNA Imaging and permits extremely high-resolution downloads, with options to export “Extra-extra Large” files up to 12288 px, “Small Thumbnail” files up to 96 px, and various other file sizes in between. Another unique feature of the website is its highly image-oriented search results: Whereas most digital catalogs display the full titles of maps alongside small thumbnails, the David Rumsey website’s search results prioritize the content of the map rather than its cataloging data.
Harvard Map Collection
The | Harvard Map Collection boasts 2,759 digitized maps and atlases. “Places that are well represented” include Boston and Cambridge, New England, New York, London, Paris, and Japan. Highlighted themes include urban areas, navigational atlases, the American Civil War, and colonial North America.
Cataloging data accompany each map, but unlike the David Rumsey collection, the Harvard collection does not have feature clickable data fields. The zoomable map viewer is powered by the International Image Interoperability Framework, which frames individual maps in a smaller window but provides quick access to other maps in the same book. These accompanying maps are displayed prominently at the bottom of a given map and are scrollable. To the upper right of any given map are download options ranging from “Small” to “X-Large.”
, a seminal work, are available for free online thanks to the History of Cartography Project at UW-Madison. All volumes can be simultaneously searched. Volume One concerns cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. Volume Two concerns cartography in the traditional Islamic, South Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific Societies. Volume Three concerns cartography in the European Renaissance. These works provide much of the context for understanding the individual maps featured in other digital resources.
National Libraries
Library of Congress
The | Library of Congress boasts more than 55,000 digitized maps and is organized into | themes such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, fire insurance maps, land cession maps, panoramic maps, railroad maps, and more. While these curated collections are Americentric, the map collection as a whole is far more diverse. All maps “were either published prior to 1922, produced by the United States government, or both,” and the Library of Congress is “providing access to these materials for educational and research purposes.”
Cataloging data accompany each map, and some of these data fields are clickable to enable further exploration. The default search view is a list, but results can also be viewed as a gallery with snippets of cataloging data, as an image-only grid, or even as a slideshow. Maps can be downloaded in a variety of high-resolution file formats, including JPEG, GIF, and TIFF.
Notably, each map page includes a “More Maps like this” section and a “You might also like” section. Each clickable recommendation includes a small thumbnail and the title of the map.
Virtual Mappa (British Library + University of Pennsylvania)
The | Virtual Mappa project is an “ongoing set of networked digital editions of medieval maps, published as open access scholarship.” Each map included in the project is “linked to an annotation that includes a transcription, translation, and additional notes.” As is typical of medieval European maps, the included maps predominantly follow the T-O structure.
Notably, these annotations are far more comprehensive than those of most digital resources. Not only are the map descriptions unusually detailed, but they are also accompanied by full bibliographies. The map viewer itself is heavily highlighted to denote inscriptions, scribal details, erasures, and other features.
Eclectic Collections
World Digital Library
The | World Digital Library brings together more than a thousand maps, atlases, and other cultural documents from dozens of partner institutions around the world. Operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress, its items date as far back as 8,000 BCE.
Each map is displayed alongside a moderately detailed and well-cited description. “Similar Items” are recommended below, as are other items from the same partner institution. Maps can be downloaded in high resolution, but only in one size. The majority of cataloging data fields are clickable to facilitate further exploration.
Notably, a button at the top of each map allows users to “Listen to this page” thanks to ReadSpeaker. A digital map at the bottom of the page also allows users to orient the depicted locations relative to the rest of the world.
Google Arts & Culture
| Google Arts & Culture features maps from hundreds of museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute.
Notably, the map gallery is perhaps one of the only ways to search for maps by color rather than by creator, date, or other common data fields. The gallery can also be sorted by popularity.
myoldmaps.com
[myoldmaps.com], created by Jim Siebold, grew from Siebold’s frustration that descriptions of significant maps were often unaccompanied by any image of the map in question, and vice versa. Over the past two decades, Siebold has written 7,010 pages of monographs spanning five volumes, all available for free online. Book I concerns ancient maps, Book II concerns early medieval maps, Book III concerns late medieval maps, Book IV concerns Renaissance maps, and Book V explores miscellaneous themes. Individual monographs can be accessed from the home page of Siebold’s website, and all include a full reference list.