Finding Map Resources

Here are three approaches to finding historical maps, roughly defined as pre-20th century.

1. Limit by publication year

You can limit your search by publication year in the sidebar in the library catalog. You could also use the Advanced Search to search 'all fields' for keywords e.g. 'italy maps' and then use another row to search by 'year of publication'. 

2. Identify appropriate subject headings

Library of Congress Subject Headings may help in identifying older maps. You can browse subject headings in Mirlyn by typing a keyword and selecting the 'subject' button. The LCSH volumes may also be consulted.

Some useful LCSH headings for historic maps:

3. Historical Atlases

Historical Atlases include maps and are important supplements in answering research questions. Depending on the location and the time period, it might be the only item that fits your particular query. Search for historical atlases by keyword, or using the subject headings listed above.

It is a good idea to check each institution’s policies for image reuse before using anything.

Library of Congress

• Mostly US-centric maps.

Bibliothèque nationale de France - Gallica

• Especially good if you’re looking for medieval to early modern maps.

David Rumsey 

• Housed at Stanford, the personal map collection of David Rumsey contains over 200,000 maps, of which 137,000 have been digitized so far for this website.

Stanford University

• Links to Stanford’s Digital Repository, which includes maps and other geographic images and Stanford EarthWorks, which houses geospatial data, digitized maps, and census data.

Harvard Map Collection

• Including their collections of pictorial maps, geospatial data, and georeferenced digitized maps.

Yale University 

• Includes 20,000 digitized pre-1900 maps.