Old maps - related subjects

WWW-Virtual Library: History Map History / History of Cartography: THE Gateway to the Subject

HOME
(main menu) INDEX complete
SITEMAP What the
site is
ABOUT WHAT'S
NEW Map History

Related Subjects

It is hoped that the links offered here are the best routes into the subjects concerned. See also Special topics with relevance to early maps and also Other discussion lists

If you know of any other good links or closely related subjects please notify
the editor of this page, Tony Campbell:

Aerial Photographs
Cartography and modern maps in general
Geography
Geology (history)
Historical Geography
Historical Maps
History of Architecture
History of Art
History of Astronomy
History of Aviation
History of Discovery and Exploration
History of Hydrography and Navigation
History of Science
History of Surveying
Landscape and Garden History
Maritime History
Military History

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS:-
There appears to be no general inventory of air/aerial photographs. These tend to be collected and held nationally or regionally. Try searching Oddens' Bookmarks for aerial photo [though note that this site is no longer being maintained], or Google for, e.g., aerial photographs and a geographical name. A few of the national and general sites are listed below. These usually combine historical and modern images.

Australia. National Library 'New guide to the Aerial Photographs Collection at the National Library'
Canada. National Air Photo Library Login for free registration. See also A brief history
Italy. 'Collezioni Aerofotografiche' (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione). [See also National Aerial Photography Archive]
U.K. - Cambridge Cambridge University Collection of Air Photos (CUCAP)
U.K. - English Heritage National Library of Air Photographs (this was absorbed into the National Monuments Record and hence into English Heritage)
U.K. - Scotland and Wales 'Air Photo Finder'
United States. Library of Congress 'Aerial Photographs and Remote Sensing Images'
United States. National Archives General Information Leaflet Number 26. 'Cartographic and Architectural Records'
United States. U.S.G.S. 'General Aerial Photograph Information' and Looking for an Old Aerial Photograph (Fact Sheet 127-96)
United States. 'Historic Aerials' ("free online access to historic and current aerial photography ... from the 1930s through today"; particularly for urban areas, you can compare images from different years)
United States. 'Imagery Interpretation Section. The eyes of the division' (a 63-page, illustrated pdf article manual used by the US Army 24th Infantry Division in Germany in 1963)
Unites States. US aerial photography (illustrated articles from out-of-copyright magazines of the 1930s - mounted on the ModernMechanix blog, under 'photography')
United States. 'U.S. Satellite Imagery, 1960-1999' (Jeffrey T. Richelson, National Security Archive 'Electronic Briefing Book No. 13', 1999 - including comments about early air photography)

CARTOGRAPHY AND MODERN MAPS IN GENERAL:-

Bibliography of the literature of geographic information systems, science, and technology (ESRI)
GIS Resources on the Web (Harvard)
Oddens's Bookmarks [though note that this site is no longer being maintained]
Subject Guides: Cartographic Materials (University of Waterloo Library)
The World of Maps (ETH-Bibliothek Zürich)

GEOGRAPHY:-

WWW-VL: Geography (Heather McAdam)
Geography - maintained by About.com [formerly Mining Co.]
Geography Network - 'a global community of data providers who are committed to making geographic content available'
Web resources for human geography, physical geography, planning, geoscience and environmental science (from Utrecht University's 'Geosource')

GEOLOGY (HISTORY):-

Geologic age definitions (USGS)

Geological maps. World geologic cartobibliography (Mary Lynette Larsgaard, 1996)

History of Geology and the Geosciences (Comité français d'Histoire de la Géologie (Cofrhigéo))

see also Web images: Themes and Web articles: Themes - both under 'Geology'

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY:-

Electronic Resources for Geography - Historical Geography

HISTORICAL MAPS (i.e. recent reconstructions of the past):-

‘WWW-VL: History: Maps’ (Serge Noiret)
Ancestry.com. 'Map Center' ('several hundred historical maps from all areas of the world')
Gateways to Historical Maps and Maps of Italy (WWW-VL Italian History Index)
Geohistory (a wide range of historical maps)
'Geschiedenis-in-kaart' (a good selection of links from Startpagina.nl)
Historic maps for students & teachers (Florida Educational Technology Clearinghouse)
Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century (Matthew White)
Historical Maps (links from Carnegie Mellon Library)
’Historical Maps’ (1UpTravel.com)
Historical maps index (Michael Ritz)
Historical maps overview (Culture 4.0 Historical Maps)

Historical Maps of Russia and East-Central Europe

IEG-Maps (free digital historical maps - Institut für europäische Geschichte, Mainz)
Links to Historical Maps on other Sites (Matthew White)
Perry-Castañeda Library (historical maps from other sites - arranged geographically) <
Perry-Castañeda Library (historical maps from their own site - arranged geographically)
'World History at KMLA' (a good selection of historical boundary maps)
also search Oddens' Bookmarks, selecting 'Maps and Atlases - Old' [though note that this site is no longer being maintained]; check the Other useful gateway sites; and look under 'historical maps' via Altavista, etc.
Discussion list, history-gis - to join, send message "join history-gis firstname(s) lastname" to: mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE:-

DMOZ: Open Directory Project. 'Arts: Architecture: History'

HISTORY OF ART:-

WWW-VL: History of Art
Art History Gateways
Art History Resources on the Web
Artlex ('art dictionary for artists, collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education')

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY:-

Astronomiae Historia [a gateway site - see specifically 'Constellations, Maps and Atlases', and the Sitemap for links to extensively annotated entries on 1,300 individuals]
AstroWeb: Astronomy History Resources
Atlas Coelestis - summary notes and sample images from celestial atlases
The Constellations (including a listing of 'Mythical and Geographical Names' - Richard Dibon-Smith)
Echo (exploring & collecting history online) - Science & Technology (search: history of astronomy)
'Heavenly Mathematics: Highlights of Cultural Astronomy' (course notes, with numerous links - Helmer Aslaksen)
'History of Astronomy: Unsorted Links' (a useful, if temporary, list of links for, e.g. early astronomers - Wolfgang R. Dick)
History of Astronomy (and Science)
History of the Discovery of the Deep Sky objects (including chronological list of stellar discoveries)
Internet Bibliographies on the History of Astronomy and Astronomical Instruments (Robert H. van Gent)
Society for the History of Astronomy
Web Pages on the History of Astronomy (Robert Harry van Gent)

'Ancient Astronomical Cosmology Web Pages' (including low resolution images of the Maya Dresden Codex and the Aztec Borgian Codex - Multicultural Cosmology Educational Resource Center, 2001)
Ancient: Greek astronomy (Library of Congress 'Vatican' exhibit, 1993)
Ancient: ‘Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook’ (‘Translation and commentary by Theony Condos’, Phanes Press, 1997 - leading to the title’s website (which includes background pages and a sample chapter))
Ancient: ‘Studies of Occidental Constellations and Star Names to the Classical Period: An Annotated Bibliography’ (Gary D. Thompson)
Islamic: 'The renaissance of astronomy in Baghdad in the ninth and tenth centuries: a list of publications, mainly from the last 50 years' (by David King)
Islamic see also Web images: Themes and Web articles: Themes - both under 'Islamic'
Japan: 'Astronomy in Japan: Science, History, Culture'
Tycho Brahe. Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica (1602) [Introduction by Ronald Brashear]
Tycho Brahe
see also Web images: Themes and Web articles: Themes - both under 'Celestial' and 'Globes'
Discussion list, HASTRO-L to join - send message "sub HASTRO-L your name" to listserv@wvnvm.wvnet.edu

HISTORY OF AVIATION:-

'Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields' (arranged by US state, illustrated with some maps - Paul Freeman)
Aeronautical charting: charting history (a brief US history - NACO Aeronautical Services)
Airchive.com: the webseum of commercial aviation (includes 'Timetables and route maps: the history of over 30 airlines told through their schedules and maps' - mostly relating to the USA - Chris Sloan)
Airlines ("Airlines, a new mode of transportation unique to the Machine Age, employed the best in graphic design from the 1920s and 1930s" - many of the posters, etc. include maps; David Levine)
Aviation History Websites (Thirty Thousand Feet: Aviation Directory)
Locating Aeronautical Charts (University of Arizona Library)
MAPS Air Museum Links

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION:-

Organisations

Centre de Recherche sur la Littérature des Voyages (CRLV) (links to French-language publications, conferences, etc.; it is possible to find researchers interested in maps, by selecting 'Les chercheurs' and entering 'cartographie' in the bottom box)
Champlain Society Digital Collection (83 of the society’s publications, fully searchable)
Discovery & Exploration mailing list.
Hakluyt Society (and see also 'Hakluyt Society Digitized Books', a growing selection of titles published by the Society from 1847 onwards - Google Books)
The Society for the History of Discoveries and its annual journal, Terrae Incognitae, for which Eric W Wolf produced alphabetical and subject indexes for the period 1969-96

'Age of Exploration On-line Curriculum Guide' (accessed via Menu or Timeline, with biographical notes - Mariners' Museum, Newport News)
'La cartografia en la era de los descubrimientos' (illustrated article in Spanish by Luisa Martín Meras in Mapping Interactivo: Revista Internacional de Ciencias de la Tierra, May 1992)
Discoverer's Web, Major Links on Discovery & Exploration, and the Alphabetical Index to the extensive biographical notes (Andre Engels)
The European voyages of exploration (15th & 16th centuries) University of Calgary, Department of History
Gallica. La Bibliothèque Numérique (a series of pages: grouped by century under 'Découverte' and under 'Dossiers' - Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
Kerr's General history and collection of voyages and travels (by Robert Kerr, 14 vols, 1811-1820s - a version of the full text from Project Gutenberg, arranged for the web by Frances Pritchett)
The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake (this includes the full texts of a range of titles ('Browse by Author'), among them De Bry, Hakluyt, Purchas - Library of Congress)
A Place in History: Tudor Exploration (an interactive site, with sections entitled 'Mapping the World', 'Navigation', etc. - National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

'Arctic & Northern Explorations’ (biographical links - ExploreNorth)
Arctic Blue Books (British Parliamentary Papers on Arctic Exploration), 1818-78 (University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, supported by the Winnipeg Foundation)
Australia: 'Nineteenth Century Exploration of Australia' (Charles H. Smith & Jennifer Rakestraw)

see Web articles: People under (e.g.) Cabot, Columbus, Cook, Drake, Frobisher; and Themes, under History of Discoveries

HISTORY OF HYDROGRAPHY AND NAVIGATION:-

About water levels, tides and currents
Admiralty Charts (leaflet from the National Archives [formerly Public Record Office], London)
Celestial Navigation
Classical Seafaring (a bibliography by George Bass)
Jean Guérard, ‘Traité d’hydrographie ou Art de naviguer’ (notes on the 17th century hydrographer - Olivier Poullet)
Magnetic Declination Charts for Historical Epochs (Robert H van Gent)
'Michael of Rhodes: a medieval mariner and his manuscripts' (a study of the Venetian sailor Michalli da Ruodo (fl. 1401-45) - Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence [formerly Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology])
Navigation and related instruments in 16th-century England (by Olivia Isil for Fort Raleigh National Historic Site)
'The Tidal Correspondence, Biography & Bibliography' (details of 400 19th-century individuals, a number of them hydrographers - Paul Hughes)
Tudor Navigation and Seamanship: Synthesis of an article by the late Peter Whitlock (Mary Rose site)
Wreck databases and lists and the National Archives (formerly Public Record Office) information leaflet Ships wrecked or sunk
Wrecks. 'Down Like Lead: 400 Years of Florida Shipwrecks'
The Wrecksite (a database, interactive charts, etc. covering the English Channel, and the Belgian and Dutch coasts)
see also Maritime History

HISTORY OF SCIENCE:-

'The Armillary Sphere in Poetry, Literature, and Art' [and science!] (with bibliographies)
British Society for the History of Science
'BSHS Directory of Links in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine' (British Society for the History of Science)
'A catalogue of medieval astronomical instruments to ca.1500' (University of Frankfurt)
ECHO (Exploring and Collecting History Online)' ('a directory to 5,000+ websites concerning the history of science, technology, and industry')
EPACT: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe (Bodleian Library, Oxford)
History & Philosophy of Science (web sources) by Thomas B Settle
History of Science: Museums, memorials, historical places and exhibits (Wolfgang R. Dick)
History of Science on the World Wide Web (University of Oklahoma)
HistoryWired (select 'Sciences - Scientific apparatus' for a selection of instruments (with notes) including those relating to surveying - Smithsonian Institution)

HISTORY OF SURVEYING:-

Annotated illustrations of surveyors in the field, through the ages (in Hungarian)
'Arpentage' and 'Centuriation' (bibliography from Bibliotheca Classica Selecta)
History of surveying links (Mapping and Surveying History International)
International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement (part of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), with links to other equivalent organisations)
Physical Sciences Collection: Surveying and Geodesy (Smithsonian: National Museum of American History)
Professional Surveyor Magazine (since March 1996, the monthly magazine has included a 'History Corner', usually featuring a brief article on a United States subject)
Stichting de Hollandse Cirkel voor de Geschiedenis der Geodesie (The Dutch Society for the History of Geodesy, giving details of its periodical, notes on an inventory of historical instruments, etc.)
'Surveying History' (an index of historical articles from the American Surveyor, each with a link to the full illustrated version in pdf form)
'The Surveyor's Trade' by Lynn H. Nelson (Professor of History, University of Kansas) - a question and answer presentation that deals with many fundamental geodetic questions
Survey Review (Maney Publications is starting [March 2009] to place early issues online, from 1931)
Switzerland. 'Was ist Geomatik? Geschichte'' (gateway page for the history of Swiss surveying and geodesy - Thomas Glatthard)
Virtual Museum of Surveying (with online articles from Backsights - Surveyors Historical Society)
A discussion list for Surveying History
see also Web images: Themes and Web articles: Themes - under 'Surveying/Surveyors'
see also under History of Science for surveying instruments

LANDSCAPE AND GARDEN HISTORY:-

History of Landscape Architecture (see particularly Finding Images - Deborah Sommer, UC Berkeley Library)
Garden History Links (Garden History Society)
Garden History Links (Edwinna von Baeyer)

MARITIME HISTORY:-

WWW-VL: Naval and Maritime Links Pages
The Compass: Sites of general maritime interest (Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild)
'German Naval Maps' (about the Kriegsmarine Marinequadratskarte, used by the Germany navy in WW2, and a link to a table that converts the grid to coordinates - a post on Cartography: the Canadian Cartographic Association's weblog, 13 March 2006)
Maritime History Virtual Archives
Maritime History WWW Sites (The Maritime New York Project, Columbia University)
’The Mother of all Maritime Links’ (see, e.g., ‘History’ - John Kohnen)
Pirate Images (click on 'Pirate Maps' for a small selection - Beej)
Piracy. Medieval Pirates (links from TeacherNet - Medieval History)
see also History of Hydrography and Navigation

MILITARY HISTORY:-

WWW-VL: Military History
'The Geometry of War, 1500-1750' (an exhibition, including illustrations of surveying instruments and their use - Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, 1996)
'Historical Documents' (the [UK] Defence Surveyors' Association is adding historical texts; see also issues of the Ranger Magazine since Winter 2004)
Historical map bibliographies [covering American Civil War, WWI, WW2, Korean War, Desert Storm](Air University Library)
Napoleon Online (select Sitemap and search for 'Maps')
Society for Military History: Links
Web Sources for Military History (Richard Jensen)
[There seems to be no site offering chronological listings of battles, but a number treat individual campaigns in detail].
see also Web images: Themes and Web articles: Themes - under 'Military' and 'World War II'

see Special topics with relevance to early maps and also Other discussion lists

HOME (main menu) | Index | Sitemap | What this site is about | What's New