world] [ca. 1565]
By Sebastião Lopes
* folio Ayer MS Map 26
Newberry Library Cartographic Catalog - Collection Overview - Special Map Collections and Strengths
Digital Map Images - Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography
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| [Manuscript portolan atlas of the world] [ca. 1565] By Sebastião Lopes * folio Ayer MS Map 26 |
The Newberry Library holds an estimated 500,000 maps issued separately and in atlases and books. Half of these were published before 1900. The map and atlas collections are supported by very extensive holdings in the literature of the history of cartography, cartobibliography and map catalogs, and gazetteer and place name literature. To date, over 60,000 cartographic titles (maps, atlases, and secondary literature) are described in the Newberry Library Cartographic Catalog (NLCC).
The Newberry Library Cartographic Catalog (NLCC) is the most complete record of our cartographic collections and related reference materials. The NLCC often duplicates, but is separate and distinct from, the Newberry Library's main online catalog, which includes hundreds of titles not present in the cartographic catalog. Both catalogs are accessible in the Reference and Bibliographical Center on the 3rd floor.
There are also checklists for several separate map collections; these are shelved in the map reading room. Maps are consulted in Special Collections on the 4th floor or in the General Reading Room on the 2nd floor, depending on their call numbers. For information about the collections, contact the Newberry Library Reference Department (reference@newberry.org).
Geographical coverage of the map collection is best for the Americas and Western Europe but all regions of the earth are well represented. Most of the great printed atlases, from Ptolemy onwards, are present, often in multiple editions. The Novacco Collection of 16th century maps printed in Italy is one of the finest in the world. Other specialized collections rich in maps include the Sack Collection of late 17th and early 18th century maps of western Europe, and the Ayer Collection on the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the Americas. For the United States, there are extensive collections of maps published by the federal government, county land ownership maps and atlases, General Land Office plats and field notes for Illinois (on microfilm), some 900 maps of the Trans-Mississippi West in the Graff Collection, and the Rand McNally collection of maps and atlases from 1876 to the present. Manuscript holdings include portolan charts and atlases of the 15th and 16th centuries, a collection of over 100 maps of French possessions around the world (ca. 1675 - ca. 1725), 125 18th century European battle maps, and several thousand tracings of maps relating to the history of the French marine. In addition, there are hundreds of photostat copies of manuscript maps of the world and the Americas from European archives, containing much of what is needed to study the expansion of European power in the Western hemisphere. Facsimiles and microform copies of old maps are acquired regularly and an attempt is made to comprehensively collect historical atlases for our areas of greatest strength. A selection of modern small- and medium-scale maps and atlases is maintained for reference purposes.
Atlases: The library holds over 17,000 atlases, very broadly defined to include works containing 5 or more maps (over 2,500 dating from before 1850). Included are many 16th and 17th century works, some in multiple editions. Examples include Ptolemy's Geographia (over 70 eds.), Ortelius (31 eds.), Mercator-Hondius (9 eds.), Blaeu (8 eds.), Braun and Hogenberg, Waghenaer, and Lafreri. Most atlases are briefly described in the NLCC.
The Edward E. Ayer Collection, documenting the discovery and exploration of the Americas, includes about 2,000 separately printed maps, 500 atlases, and over 300 manuscript maps. Printed Ayer titles are listed in the NLCC, the Newberry Library's online catalog, and the card catalog. Manuscripts are separately described in the NLCC and in the Newberry Library's main online catalog.
The Cartes Marines Map Collection details French colonial interests throughout the world, and is comprised of about 120 maps dated ca. 1640-ca. 1726. Described in both catalogs.
The Franco Novacco Map Collection includes over 700 maps printed in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries, one of the strongest such collections in the world. All are described in the NLCC; see also the Novacco checklist and shelf lists in the map reading room.
The Johan Gabriel Sack Map Collection comprises over 1,300 national and regional maps of Europe dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, mostly published in France, the Netherlands, and Germany; all are described in the NLCC.
The Everett D. Graff Collection includes hundreds of maps published in the 19th century, chronicling trans-Mississippi Western history. To date, over 600 Graff maps are described in the NLCC; others are described in the main online catalog. In addition, readers may refer to the Index to Maps in the Catalog of the Everett D. Graff Collection (1972), which is keyed to both separate items and maps in books. The index is tipped into copies of Colton Storm's Catalog of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana (1968) shelved in the Reference Center and the map room.
Maps in Books and Atlases --- The NLCC includes over 13,000 descriptions of maps issued in atlases and other books.
County Maps --- Over 3,500 U.S. and Canadian county maps and atlases published in the 19th and 20th centuries are described in the NLCC. Local and family history researchers interested in landownership maps should search the NLCC by using search phrases for individual county names, for example "Adams County" (entered into the NLCC without quotation marks).
The Chicago Region Map Collection includes over 1,200 items detailing Chicago, Cook County, and the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will between 1779-2003; all are described in the NLCC.
The Newberry has a collection of Fire Insurance Maps (mostly Sanborn) for Illinois cities and towns. For more information on the Newberry's collection, please see www.newberry.org/collections/fireinsurancemaps.html .
Railroad Maps --- To date, over 7,000 United States railroad maps published in the 19th and 20th centuries, detailing some 150 railroad routes, are described in the NLCC.
Road Maps --- The archives of Rand McNally and Company, the General Drafting Company, and the H. M. Gousha Company, together forming the so-called "Big Three" of 20th century American road map publishing, are held by the library. To date, over 7,000 U.S. road maps are described in the NLCC.
The archives of Rand McNally and Company, donated by the largest commercial map publisher in the U.S., includes books, atlases, maps, and guidebooks published by the company from the 1870s to the present. To date, over 8,000 Rand McNally publications are described in the NLCC. Contact the Newberry Library Reference Department for more information.
The General Drafting Company Archives includes 25,000 road maps, original artwork, atlases, and travel guides spanning the company's history between 1909-1991; not cataloged. Contact the Newberry Library Reference Department for more information.
The H.M. Gousha Company Archives includes some 100,000 road maps published from 1927 to 1996; not cataloged. Contact the Newberry Library Reference Department for more information.
American MS Photostats --- The Karpinski, Hulbert, and Ayer photostat collections include 1,300 photographic reproductions of manuscript maps illustrating American colonial history. The original manuscripts were variously compiled between the 16th and 19th centuries, and are held by archives in Paris, London, Madrid, Seville, and Lisbon. See the NLCC; see also the Karpinski guides and shelf lists in the map reading room.
The Bibliography of the History of Cartography includes over 7,000 secondary sources on specialized topics, including cartobibliographies and map catalogs, national and regional cartographic histories, gazetteer and place name literature, and academic journals and articles. The Cartographic Reference Collection includes over 500 often-used titles, and is shelved in the Rand McNally Map Reading Room in Special Collections on the 4th floor. Most of these are described in the NLCC. For a selected list of 300 titles, see Robert W. Karrow's Concise Bibliography of the History of Cartography (1997).
The private collection of Newberry Library trustee Roger S. Baskes includes 16,000 books (atlases, travel guidebooks, geography books, and related reference material) containing more than 400,000 maps. Mr. Baskes's web site (http://www.baskes.com) includes short-title lists of his collection, which is gradually being donated to the Newberry. Most of the Baskes Collection is also described in the NLCC.
About 300 map descriptions in the NLCC are linked to low resolution digital images. Included are images of the entire Cartes Marines Manuscript Map Collection, detailing French colonial interests worldwide on about 120 maps dated ca. 1640-ca. 1726.
Revised October 2008