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Map History


Images of early maps
on the web

(Hundreds of annotated, organised and searchable links - the only comprehensive listing on the web - updated each month. To navigate, use the internal links below or search the page [Ctrl+F]; do not use the site Index [above] to find things on this page)


ABOUT this listing

(click here for an argument that many web images serve no useful purpose, and for examples of imaginative uses of online technology)


This page was created on 4 February 2001. The monthly additions are indicated thus, e.g. {March 2002} at the end of the entry. Since the symbols { } are not used elsewhere, you can search on those elements [enter Ctrl+F], e.g. 2001} will find entries added at any time in that year.

Last updated 1 January 2003

Make sure to consult its copyright statement before using any of the images you find

Corrections and additions are seriously welcome. Please notify Tony Campbell < t.campbell(at)ockendon.clara.co.uk > ; [NB. You need to replace (at) with the @ symbol].


Notes on image quality:-
  • high resolution, enabling every place-name to be easily read - search for: high res.
  • medium resolution, enabling some names to be read
  • low resolution, with the names illegible

  • 'slow loading' refers to the experience with a standard 56K modem
  • Oddens' Bookmarks is including an increasing number of single maps from early atlases and series [this page is concerned with sites only] so it is well worth checking there if you are looking for a specific early map. For further details see About the listing of early map image sites; and for map images issued in CD-ROM form see Boudewijn Meijer's Map Reference page

    + online exhibition

    Index to the largest map image sites

    (i.e. those with [apparently] 300 maps at least)

    Size, of course, is not necessarily the most important consideration. Praise should be concentrated on those that provide high resolution (i.e. research quality) images, organised around a coherent theme, and properly referenced. Happily, many of those in this summary listing meet those requirements.

    Some of the sites, such as the Library of Congress's 'American Memory' or David Rumsey's privately sponsored Collection, are deservedly well known. Others of comparable size are not. Of note are the large numbers of high quality images on, for example, the New South Wales 'Parish Map' site (30,000), and the 85,000 19th century plans of Great Britain available via the Landmark/Ordnance Survey site.

    The sites are given in the order they appear in this listing and linked to the relevant section heading. NB many are still being developed and the totals given may be out of date.

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    General and Miscellaneous

    (the entries in this section should be considered for all parts of the world)

    Large general sites (with several hundred images)

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    Medium and small general sites

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    Larger map dealer sites

    A number of map dealers include descriptions (usually very brief) and images of items currently for sale. These tend to be the more standard, collectable maps, compared to the rarities that may be found on institutional sites.

    The following links are to sites that include at least 100 images (and often far more), of a reasonable size (or enlargeable), and with a good geographical and date coverage. Typically, the images are arranged by region (hierarchically), which makes it easy to find and browse a selection for your area of interest. While the images will give a good idea of a map's appearance, they are not sharp enough for study.

    * indicates you can search the site for works by a particular mapmaker or publisher

    These map dealers were found among approximately 300 (September 2002) listed under the special Oddens search for antiquarian links, selecting "Sellers of Cartographic Material - Antiquarian". See also Yahoo's listing of Antique map dealers and the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection's listing of Map Dealers - Antiquarian Maps.

    [With apologies to any 'larger' dealer site that has been overlooked. Please send a note to the Editor]

    See also Map Collecting and Marketplace

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    Themes

    (including People and Subjects)

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    World

    World atlases

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    World maps

    • World map on the floor of the Amsterdam Burgerzaal (enlargeable but low res.)
    • World maps (zoomable, medium to high res., but slow-loading - a selection of 60 world maps, 1200-1700 from Richard B. Arkway, Inc. on the mapsage.com site) {August, 2001}
    • World maps (5 low res. images - Amsterdam University Library) {April, 2001}
    • World maps (an assortment of low res. images of early world maps, many with misspelled identification - Maritime New York Project) {December, 2001}
    • World maps (medium res. images from the Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, Brussels)
    • World maps. 'Crux: Rare maps from the collections of the State Library of NSW' (89, medium res., manuscript and printed maps and charts, 16th-18th centuries, focussing on the Southern Hemisphere, including about 20 early world maps} {December, 2002}
    • 'World maps in ancient China' (over 20 maps, with very low res., slow-loading images [sometimes multiple] and descriptions in Chinese) {December, 2002}
    • + 'An overview of cartography' (small selection of maps of the world, N. America and Canada, selected by Edward Dahl - low to medium res.)
    • Gerard Mercator (high res., but slow-loading, details of the 18 sections - select 'AD USUM NAVIGANTIUM', then 'Die Weltkarte 1569' and then click on 'Die Karte' (for a scrollable, low res. image of the entire 1569 world map/chart); 'en detail' (for the separate sheets); and 'Die Legenden' (for the 16 legends - given only in German translation) - Wilhelm Krücken) {November, 2001}
    • 'Giovanni Francesco Camocio's wall maps' (low res. images of the four continents - David Woodward, James Ford Bell Lecture, 1996-7)
    • 'Maps of the World' (6 medium res., slow-loading, maps, 1580-1780 - Yale University Library) {October, 2001}
    • Martin Waldseemüller and his 12-sheet wall-map, 1507 (low res., with commentary - Carol Urness, James Ford Bell Library)
    • 'Ptolemy's World' (various versions of the Ptolemy world map enlargeable to very high res. , though slow-loading - James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota) {March, 2002}
    • Tabula Peutingeriana (partial, medium res. sections of the original [c. 250 AD, covering parts of Europe, Africa and Asia] and the 1598 facsimile, and high res. sections of the entire 1887 facsimile - Biblioteca Augustana, University of Augsburg) {March, 2002}
    • For medieval world maps see, under the name of each, or under 'Medieval', in Themes
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    Africa

    • Africa. Afriterra: the Cartographic Free Library (32 slow-loading, but high res., enlarged images - initial samples for a project that aims to digitise over 10,000 early maps of Africa - Afriterra Foundation Library, Boston. See also the entry under Web Projects) {September, 2001}
    • Africa (Map & Imagery Library, University of Florida - high res. but slow-loading images)
    • Africa (four very high res. images - Michigan State University) {April, 2001}
    • Africa (12 slow-loading, medium res. images, 1570-1870 - Yale University Library) {October, 2001}
    • Africa (clicking on one of the map thumbnails brings up a page with small, low res. images of six early maps of Africa - South African Government) {November, 2002}
    • Africa. Discovery. 'L'Europe découvre l'Afrique' (a series of texts, linked to related catalogue entries and illustrated with 80 maps and charts (the total to increase during 2002), enlargeable to very high res. - 'Gallica', Bibliothèque Nationale de France) {July, 2002}
    • Africa. Early African Cartography (33 enlargeable, high res. maps, 1562-1940 - American Museum of Natural History, using maps (with permission) from the New York Public Library and the British Library) {November, 2002}
    • + Africa. Selections from the Rex B. Grey Collection (four medium res. images - Cushing Memorial Library, Texas A&M University) {May, 2002}
    • + 'Africa Through Western Eyes: Exploration of the Unknown' (4 low res. images - Yale University Library exhibit)
    • African American Odyssey (a few maps relating to West Africa and the US - select 'Object Checklist', then search for map - Library of Congress - high res. MrSID images, with the ability to zoom, enlarge and select details)
    • Canaries. 'Atlas des Isles Canaries' (enlargeable, high res. images of the preliminaries and 13 sheets of Leopold von Buch's 1836 atlas - Proyecto Humboldt) {December, 2002}
    • Egypt - Cairo (140 high res. plans and views of the city, arranged by century - University of California - Berkeley, Islamic Cities Maps Collection)
    • Liberia. 'Maps of Liberia 1830-1870' (Library of Congress - high res. MrSID images, with the ability to zoom, enlarge and select details)
    • St Helena: maps and views pre-1800 (a good selection of medium to high res. maps, with some pre-selected details - Barry Weaver)
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    Americas

    See also for this section: the Library of Congress 'American Memory' site, via the Geographic Location index; David Rumsey collection; NOAA 'Historical Map and Chart Collection'; and 'Historical Maps' from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (University of Texas at Austin)

    Americas (general)

    • America (low res. images from the Hargrett Library Rare Map Collection, University of Georgia Libraries)
    • Americas (medium res. images from the Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, Brussels)
    • + America ('American Treasures of the Library of Congress. Reason Gallery B., Mapping and Recording' - a selection of low res. images)
    • 'Maps of the Americas - Historical Maps' (links to collections and single images of maps relating to America, and particularly North America - The Water Virtual Learning Centre (WVLC), University of Waterloo) {July, 2002}
    • + 'Novus Orbis: Images of the New World 1507-1669' (a wide-ranging exhibition with medium res. images of North America and its regions - University of Virginia)
    • + 'So Much More Than Just a Map - Perspectives on Louisiana and the New World' (low res. images from Louisiana State Museum)
    • + 'Terra Incognita: an online exhibition' (covering the Americas and the Pacific, including medium res. maps and details, among them five from Robert Morden's Geography Rectified, 1680 [click on the heading 'Maps'] - Alison Carrick, Washington University Libraries) {November, 2002}
    • The Americas (39 slow-loading, medium res. images, 1550-1870) {October, 2001}
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    Americas (people & themes)

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    North America

    A number of the sites in this section include maps of the separate regions of Canada and the United States. See also the Library of Congress 'American Memory' site, via the Geographic Location index; David Rumsey collection; NOAA 'Historical Map and Chart Collection'; and 'Historical Maps' from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (University of Texas at Austin)

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    Canada

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    United States (general)

    A number of the sites in this section include maps of the separate regions of the United States. See also the Library of Congress 'American Memory' site, via the Geographic Location index; David Rumsey collection; NOAA 'Historical Map and Chart Collection'; and 'Historical Maps' from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (University of Texas at Austin)

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    United States (people & themes)

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    United States (states & regions)

    See, where appropriate, 'Eastern states', 'New England', 'Southeast', 'Southwest', 'West', and the following general sites for each state:-

    '1895 Atlas'
    'Color Landform Atlas of the United States', 1895
    NOAA. 'Historical Map and Chart Collection'
    US GenWeb maps and 'The USGenWeb Project: Links to States', which may have further state and county maps


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    South & Central America, and the West Indies

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    Asia

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    Australia & Oceania

    • Australia [select 'Other Historical Maps'] (12 high res. images, with the ability to zoom, enlarge and select details - Map Collection, University of Melbourne)
    • Australia. Canberra, National Library of Australia (high res. images of c.800 maps, most from the Nan Kivell collection, c.100 from the Ferguson rare map collection, the Doncker atlas (1659), etc.; accessible only via the catalogue, e.g. for the Nan Kivell items, ignore the button labelled 'Maps' and select instead 'Main Catalogue', then 'Catalogue Search', then from the drop-down menu 'Call number' and type in 'Map NK', which produces an awkward browsing list; alternatively, if you know what you want, search the catalogue and, if the map has been digitised, a URL will be shown) {December, 2002}
    • Australia. 'Crux: Rare maps from the collections of the State Library of NSW' (89, medium res., manuscript and printed maps and charts, 16th-18th centuries, focussing on the Southern Hemisphere, including about 20 early world maps} {December, 2002}
    • + Australia. The George Raper Collection [midshipman on the 1st Fleet] (nine very high res. images of the voyage and Australia - National Library of Australia) {March, 2001}
    • Australia. 'Historical Maps Collection, Map Galleries' (a few sample, medium res. images of maps of the world, Australia and elsewhere - State Library of Queensland, Brisbane)
    • Australia. Matthew Flinders Electronic Archive: Maps and Charts (12 charts and details - click on 'view item in the archive' for a high res. MrSID version - State Library of New South Wales) {February, 2002}
    • Australia (c.25 maps of the World, Australia, etc., high res. and zoomable (with plug-in) - National Library of Australia)
    • Australia (an untitled selection of 13 'maps' of various parts of Australia, enlargeable to medium res. - from 'Mapping Conquest: South Africa and Australia') {December, 2001}
    • Australia - New South Wales. The Parish Map Preservation Project (over 30,000 high res., MrSID images of County, Municipal, Parish, and Town maps [together 7,500 maps in various editions, some spread over two or more images - rising, in future, to over 35,000 images, once the current editions are added] and the series of (often earlier) Pastoral maps; access is via Parish name, although a graphical front-end is being considered; the java version of the viewer provides the best functionality; for permission to re-use, contact the Copyright Officer - Land and Property Information [part of the New South Wales Department of Information Technology and Management]). See also under Web Projects {July, 2002}
    • Australia - Victoria (and Melbourne) (high res. images (22 of Victoria, 50 of Melbourne), with the ability to zoom, enlarge and select details - Map Collection, University of Melbourne)
    • Pacific. Endeavour Project. Index to On-Line Maps and Charts (six medium res. images of the Pacific from Hawkesworth's account of Cook's 1st Voyage, along with journal extracts) {March, 2001}
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    Europe

    See also 'Central & Eastern Europe', 'Balkans', 'Mediterranean'

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