David Rumsey Maps

December 21, 2011 - 1,163 New Maps Added

2011-12-19T21:52:50-08:00

1,163 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to 29,004 maps and images. Included in this addition is Emma Willard's 1829 History of the United States, one of the first historical school atlases published in the United States; all the illustrations, maps, and plates from the 1861 Ives Expedition up the Colorado River; the 1873 Beers Atlas of Long Island, New York; a fascinating Hieroglyphic Atlas of the U.S.; images and plates from the Macomb 1859 Exploring Expedition in the U.S. West; and a scarce 1878 Atlas of Marion and Lynn Counties, Oregon. Also the 1880 Atlas of Prince Edward Island, Canada; the final composite and remaining maps of the Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 series; the complete Composite Image and all 164 aerial photographs of San Francisco in 1938 (View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Browser); and Herbert Bayer's important World Atlas from 1953. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,163 new maps and images.

	A Series of Maps to Willard's History of the United States, 1829 Willard, Emma, New York Emma Willard's maps in this school atlas are some of the earliest published maps depicting historical events in the formation of the United States. The maps are thematic and very well drawn. Emma Willard was an important teacher and school leader in the first half of the 19th century in the U.S. She believed that girls and young women should study geography and maps and this atlas is part of her many published school texts that further those goals. View Atlas
	Report Upon The Colorado River of the West, Explored in 1857 and 1858, 1861 Ives, J.C., v. Ecloffstein, F.W., Washington, D.C. Originally we put online only the maps from this report, now we have added all the plates and images by Mullhausen, Egloffstein and others. This is the scarce Senate issue with four maps by "Baron" Egloffstein. Egloffstein used a unique engraving process to achieve a superb rendering of topographical features; he used the same technique in the map he drew for Macomb's Report. Of the maps in Ives's Report Wheat said "The two maps were drawn by F.W. Egloffstein...the first...is one of his best." Rare in this form with the two additional geological maps in color wash. These only appear in the Senate issue. They are the same as the two "normal" maps that appear in the House and Senate issue, but they have colors overlaid to show geological formations. View Report
	Atlas Of Long Island, New York, 1873 Beers, F.W., New York One of the rarer Beers New York area atlases. View Atlas
	A Hieroglyphic Geography Of The United States. Part 1 Containing The States Of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut And New York, 1875 Heermans, Anna A.; Cogswell, Charlotte B., New York This atlas contains very small state maps filled with "Hieroglyphic" illustrations and views for each state, followed by a page of text. The text pages decode the "Hieroglyphic" images and text on the maps. Unusual use of maps, text, and image to teach geographical information. Apparently there are additional parts (not present here) that cover other states in the U.S. View Atlas
	Composite Image and Sheets 502 to 674, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany Our project of scanning and putting online the 674 sheets of the Karte des Deutschen Reich, 1893, is completed - this addition adds the last 346 map images and increases the size of the large composite image to all 674 maps (the image is 390 GB, 401,000 x 332,000 pixels, downloadable as georeferenced 3.6GB JP2). View Composite Map
	Report of the Exploring Expedition From Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Junction of the Grand and Green Rivers of the Great Colorado of the West, In 1859, Published in 1876 Macomb, J.N.; Newberry, J.S.;Egloffstein, F.W. von, Washington D.C. We have added the illustrations and plates by J.N. Newberry to the Egloffstein map, which Wheat calls "one of the most beautiful maps ever published by the Army." Egloffstein made his map in 1864. The publication of the map and the report were delayed by the Civil War. View Report
	Historical Atlas Map Of Marion & Linn Counties Oregon, 1878 Williams, Edgar., San Francisco This is the only county atlas made of an Oregon county in the 19th century. Its maps and views are very similar in style to those in the Thompson and West California county atlases. The Edgar Williams Company published no other atlases. View Atlas
	Illustrated Historical Atlas Of The Province Of Prince Edward Island, 1880 Meacham, J.H. & Co.; Allen, C.R., Philadelphia With views, portraits, a list of patrons of the atlas, and land ownership maps. Provincial atlases of the Canadian Maritime Provinces are scarce. View Atlas
	Arbuckles' Illustrated Atlas of Fifty Principal Nations of The World. 1890 Arbuckle Bros., New York Exquisite illustrations and brilliant color. The maps were also issued as individual cards with the coffee products. Maps surrounded by representative scenes from each country. Paper covers and bound with string on the left-hand side. Arbuckle Bros. also issued an Illustrated Atlas of the United States in 1889 View Atlas
	Composite Image and Sheets 1 to 164, San Francisco Aerial Views, 1938 Ryker, Harrison, Oakland We have completed the Composite Image and put online a set of 164 spectacular, large format, sharp, black and white vertical aerial photographs partially overlapping images covering San Francisco in 1938. Resolution generally better than one foot and much higher with high contrast features. Handwritten date on index map indicates photographs taken in August, 1938. Owned by the San Francisco Public Library. View Composite Image in Luna Browser. View Composite Image and Views 1-164 in Luna Browser. View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Browser. View Composite Image or Index in Google Earth Application.
	The "Chevalier" Commercial, Pictorial and Tourist Map of San Francisco From Latest U.S. Gov. and Official Surveys, 1915 Chevalier, August, San Francisco A map of San Francisco showing important buildings which are drawn in vignettes on the map. Also showing public improvement described in the Legend as Car Lines. Proposed Tunnels ... Railroads. At the bottom of the map is the publisher's statement "The Exposition City 1915" Full color map bound in brown card board covers with title " 'Chevalier' Illustrated Map & Guide Of San Francisco ( The Exposition City)." With Stamp "Panama-Pacific -International. Exposition. San Francisco California 1915," with the exposition building delineated just west of Fort Mason. Title hows Chevalier's Trade Mark vignette. This is a reduced size version of the wall map published in 1911 and 1915 and is also a reduced version of the pocket map edition of 1904. View Map
	World Geo-graphic Atlas, A Composite of Man's Environment. Geography, Geology, Demography, Astronomy, Climatology, Economics, 1953 Bayer, Herbert; Container Corporation of America, Chicago Lavishly illustrated with drawings and graphics. Editor and designer Herbert Bayer (1900-1985) was prominent in the Bauhaus movement and personally did considerable map research for the atlas. This clear and concise volume relies upon an attractive juxtaposition of physical and political maps, text, thematic maps, illustrations, cross-sections, graphs, and diagrams. Many of the graphics are truly original yet demonstrative of important concepts.From the Preface: "This book is called "WORLD GEO-GRAPHIC ATLAS" because it includes, in addition to GEO-graphic maps, many GRAPHIC illustrations of subjects closely related to modern geography." The atlas demonstrated the post-World War II geopolitical and economic situation. The international maps of this English language atlas are from the Instituto Geografico di Agostini. Maps of the U.S. are by Rand McNally and Company. Relief shown as combined hachures, shaded relief, and hypsometric tints; bathymetry also tinted. Many insets of the vicinities of urban areas. View Atlas

San Francisco Aerial Photographs 1938

2011-10-16T07:29:17-07:00

We have put online a set of 164 large format, sharp, black and white vertical aerial photographs of San Francisco taken in 1938 from an airplane by Harrison Ryker, a pioneer in aerial photography. The photographs overlap each other and cover the entire city. The resolution is generally better than one foot or even higher with high contrast features allowing visibility of even the paint striping on a basketball court. Relative heights are frequently discernible based on the shadows cast of objects and structures. A handwritten date on the index map indicates the photographs were taken in August, 1938. The photographs are owned by the San Francisco Public Library and are a continuation of our collaboration with them on scanning and putting online important historical maps and views of San Francisco (including our prior collaboration on the 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas).

Image number 18 of the set shows the active waterfront around the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street:

18. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

Enlarging the image to the area around the Ferry Building shows the high level of detail that can be seen:

Detail of 18. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

Zooming to full resolution of the same scene shows cars and ships at the plaza next to the Ferry Building:

Detail of 18. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The adjoining image 17, to the south, shows activity of ships being unloaded to trains on the waterfront under the recently opened (November, 1936) San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge:

Detail of 17. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

A closer in detail of the same image shows cars on the Bay Bridge above the ships at the docks:

Detail of 17. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The Mission Bay Roundhouse (demolished early 1960's) of the Southern Pacific rail yards at Mariposa and 3rd streets is clearly visible on image 14:

Detail of 14. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

In the San Francisco neighborhoods, all kinds of interesting details show up, like the vast outer Sunset sand dunes along Sunset Boulevard on image 148:

148. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

Image 85 shows the Calvary and Laurel Hill Cemeteries, later moved to Colma:

85. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

Crissy Army Airfield and the Presidio Main Post are seen in image 101:

101. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

Parts of the Presidio and other military sites in the city are whited out or blacked out, presumably because they show sensitive military installations, like this area of the Presidio near Baker Beach in image 129:

129. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The index map shows how all the images overlap each other in covering the city, using hand drawn numbered rectangles on top of a 1937 map of San Francisco:

Index Map. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

We have created a composite image of all 164 images joined together and georeferenced:

Composite of Images 1-164. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The georeferenced composite images are in Google Earth (requires plugin) below:

Georeferenced Images 1-164 in Google Earth. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

We also have an index layer in Google Earth for the same images that shows the overlap as well as identifying each image:

Index to Georeferenced Images 1-164 in Google Earth. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

On mousing over any red image outline, the image number shows and reveals a pop up that allows downloading of the original image or the georeferenced image or the large composite image:

Index to Georeferenced Images 1-164 in Google Earth. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The georeferenced composite image and index can be viewed in either the Google Earth Browser (requires plugin) or in the Google Earth desktop application (Composite, Index to Composite, opens in Places/Temporary Places). Or you can view them along with all the 300 plus Rumsey historical maps in Google Earth by downloading this link (opens in Places/Temporary Places, see the New Maps folder).

The overlay of the 1938 images on current satellite images in Google Earth allows for interesting time comparisons, as in this view of the Southern Pacific Mission Bay Roundhouse on image 14, seen blending into the current satellite image of the same area today showing construction of the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco:

Detail of Georeferenced Images 1-46 in Google Earth. San Francisco Aerial Views, August, 1938

The person who created the 164 aerial views of San Francisco in 1938 was Harrison Ryker of Oakland, California:

Harrison C. Ryker (1898-1981)

Research by Dan Holmes, Librarian of the Rumsey Map Collection, uncovered the following information on Ryker. Harrison C. Ryker (1898-1981) was born in Oakdale, California. He married Charlotte Seward in the mid-1920s; after divorcing, he married Esther Miriam Munson in 1936. He served in the U.S. Army for several years in Germany with the post-World War I occupational forces, and partook of educational opportunities at the University of California, Berkeley. Expanding on his hobby in photography, Mr. Ryker teamed with various pilots beginning aerial photography services out of the Oakland Airport and throughout the West. Colleagues included Lage Wernstedt of the U.S. Forest Service. He also worked with the Fairchild Aerial Camera Company (including an aerial survey of Puerto Rico) and Clyde Sunderland of Pacific Aerial Surveys. As well, he took photographs of the devastating 1923 Berkeley Fire, archived in The Bancroft Library. By 1938 Mr. Ryker was listed in business as a map publisher (see Polk’s Oakland 1938 Street and Avenue Guide) based at 1924 Franklin St., Oakland. At that time, he had at least one patent pending for a stereoscope used for aerial photograph interpretation. Shortly after 1938 Ryker established his company address as Harrison C. Ryker, Inc., at 1000 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, California (relocating to east Oakland in the 1950s). He subsequently manufactured pocket and desktop stereoscopes and a vertical Sketchmaster, instruments that were extensively used by educational institutions and the military, especially during World War II. An example of his stereoscope viewers was the M-11:

Advertisement for the Ryker Model M-11 Reflecting Stereoscope

Ryker's experience in aerial photography led to further involvement in photo interpretation and cartography. An article in the journal The Timberman (1933) describes means of distinguishing individual species of forest trees on aerial photos; later applications were terrain analysis for petroleum geology and unmasking of ground camouflage during wartime. His largest product was the Wernstedt Mahan map plotter, patented in 1954, which was a standard cartographic device for its time. His instruments are in use today in libraries, air photo collections, and earth sciences departments throughout America; they are in the instrument collections of the Archives of the History of American Psychology, and the Institute of Geographical Exploration at Harvard University has the Ryker M-11 Reflecting Stereoscope. Among his patents were (1) the adjustable pocket stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office, patented December 1940, Patent No. 2,225,602; and (2) the stereoscope filed with the United States Patent Office, filed September 1, 1937, Serial No. 161,973, patented January 21, 1941, Patent No. 2,229,309. Harrison Ryker pioneered research in aerial photo interpretation. His work has been noted by A. Everett Wieslander, an early (1930s – 1950s) leader in the mapping of California vegetation and soils, in his Oral History produced by The Bancroft Library, and in a letter by Robert Colwell, Forestry Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Some of our information regarding Harrison Ryker is from personal communications with Ryker's son, Harrison Clinton Ryker, a musicologist from Bellevue, Washington.

First Atlas of Russia, Published in 1745

2011-07-10T07:26:21-07:00

The first Atlas of Russia from 1745 has been added to the online collection. It was published by the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia, expanding on the cartographic work done previously by Russian cartographer Ivan K. Kirilov. Joseph Nicolas de L'Isle, the great French astronomer, was invited by the Academy of Sciences in 1726 to come to St. Petersburg to oversee the production of the atlas, although his role and contributions to the atlas are disputed by historians. The atlas maps present the first complete national survey of the entire country at uniform scales for European and Asiatic Russia. Alexei Postnikov, author of "Russia in Maps," says this atlas "brings together all the geographical discoveries of the early 18th century to give a fuller picture of the entire Empire than shown in the so-called Kirilov atlas. The maps were mostly based on instrumental surveys, geographical descriptions and maps compiled by the Petrine geologists and their successors." Normally the atlas includes 20 maps; this copy is special in adding an additional 17 maps and 2 text pages, including plans of St. Petersburg and Moscow (similar to a copies at the Library of Congress, Phillips 4060 and Phillips 3109). The maps have titles in German and Latin; place names are in Russian and Latin alphabet. The text of cartouches is in Latin. The atlas was also issued with French and Russian title pages and text, with the title Atlas Russicus and Atlas Rossiiskoi. This copy contains 7 pages of text with descriptions of the maps and explanations of geographical names and symbols used in German, Russian, French and Latin, a general map of the Russian empire, 13 maps of European Russia at a uniform scale of 1:1,470,000 (35 versts to one inch, 1 verst equals 3,500 feet), and 6 maps of Siberia at a uniform scale of 1:3,444,000 (82 versts to one inch). Bound in at end of the atlas are 19 additional text and maps of Russian territories, plans from the Russo-Turkish war of 1736, engravings of military fortifications, maps of Ladoga Lake, environs of St. Petersburg, Kronstadt and the Gulf of Finland. Maps are colored in outline, with some maps in full color. We have added 2 composite images of all 13 maps of European Russia and all 6 maps of Siberia. The atlas was printed in September 1745 in St. Petersburg. View the atlas.

The general map of the Russian Empire extends from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean at a scale of 1: 9,030,000:

Mappa Generalis Totius Imperii Russici, 1745

Each of the 13 maps of European Russia are drawn at a scale of 1:1,470,00 or 35 versts to the inch. Many have decorative cartouches:

Territorium Mesenese et Pustoserense cum Adiacentibus Insulis et Territoriis, 1745

This map shows a long portion of the Volga River:

Delineatio Fluvii Volgae a Samara usque ad Tsaricin, 1745

The 6 maps of Asiatic Russia (Siberia) are at a scale of 1: 3,444,000 or 82 versts to the inch:

Territorii Iacutensis Pars Orientalior, 1745

A Legend (in German) on the last page of text describes the various symbols used on the maps:

Legend (in German), 1745

This atlas is unusual in having an additional 17 maps and 2 indexes added to the 20 maps that usually comprise the atlas. Among the 17 extra maps is a plan of St. Petersburg from 1737:

Plan Imperatorskaga stolichanago goroda Sankt Peterburga, 1737

Also included is a map showing the Gulf of Finland between St. Petersburg and the island of Cronstad, and the outlet of the Neva River in St. Petersburg, 1741:

Finskoi z ot Kronshtata do Sanktpeterburga, 1741

And a plan of Moscow from 1739:

Plan Imperatorskago Stolichnago goroda Moskvy, 1739

A map of the Caspian Sea from 1728:

Maris Caspii Littori occidentali inter Fluviorum Wolgae et Kur Ostia, 1728

We have created 2 composite images, 1 of the 13 maps of European Russia and 1 of the 6 maps of Asiatic Russia or Siberia. Here is the composite image of the European Russia Maps:

Composite: Sheets 1-13 (Atlas Russicus) Russischer Atlas, 1745

And here is the composite image of the Siberian maps:

Composite: Sheets 14-19 (Atlas Russicus) Russischer Atlas, 1745

4 languages are used in the atlas: Russian, German, Latin and French (although French is used primarily in the map cartouches and notes). The atlas title page and text pages were printed in 3 versions: Russian, French/Latin, and German. The title page and 6 pages of text describing the maps and Russian geographical terms in this copy are the German version:

The index page for the map of Moscow is in Russian:

The text page describing the some of the Turkish Russian War battles is in Latin, Russian, and German:

Considering the vastness of the Russian Empire, this atlas was a remarkable achievement. While not accurate by today's standards, at the time it was a significant improvement in cartographic representation of the country, and it was certainly then the largest part of the globe mapped systematically at a uniform scale, using the best science of the day.

Reading Historical Maps Digitally: How Spatial Technologies Can Enable Close, Distant and Dynamic Interpretations

2011-07-10T21:57:42-07:00

David Rumsey gave the opening keynote lecture for the Digital Humanities 2011 Conference at Stanford University on June 19, 2011.

Abstract of the talk: Maps are dense, complex information systems arranged spatially. While they share similarities with other visual artifacts, their uniqueness as spatially arranged visual information both allows for and demands special digital approaches to understand and reuse their content. Georeferencing, vectorization, virtual reality, image databases, and GIS-related tools all work to unite our eyes, minds, and computers in new ways that can make historical maps more valuable and accessible to humanists concerned with place and space over time. Rumsey will explore the tools and techniques that have implications for the ways digital humanists approach visual information.

Pre-Earthquake San Francisco 1905 Sanborn Insurance Atlas

2011-05-30T18:23:56-07:00

A rare 6 volume 1905 San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906 has been added to the map site in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library which owns the atlas and keeps it in its San Francisco History Center at the main library branch. The atlas was published in 1899/1900 and was updated manually several times by the publisher, the Sanborn-Perris Map Company of New York, with the last updates done in the fall of 1905. The 6 atlas volumes show the city in great detail, with building shape, height, construction materials, and many other details typical of fire insurance atlases of the period. Apparently the volumes were never updated after the earthquake and fire (except for a few small 1908 updates) because the atlas was damaged in the fire with some loss to the edges (as can be seen from the map images).

Update: a wonderful index and map placement tool for these maps is available at Maptcha.org

Click here to view all the pages in Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

Index Map for Volume 1:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 1

An example of the pages: Volume 1, Pages 5-6, blocks bounded by California, Washington, Davis, East and Market Streets:

Volume 1, Pages 5-6, blocks bounded by California, Washington, Davis, East and Market Streets

Detail of Pages 5-6, one block bounded by California, Sacramento, Davis, and Drumm Streets:

Detail of Pages 5-6, one block bounded by California, Sacramento, Davis, and Drumm

The Key explaining all the map symbols:

The Key explaining all the map symbols

Index Map for Volume 2:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 2

Index Map for Volume 3:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 3

Index Map for Volume 4:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 4

Index Map for Volume 5:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 5

Index Map for Volume 6:

Click here to view all the pages in Volume 6

Many of the downtown blocks in this atlas can also be seen as street front drawings in the 1895 Illustrated Directory of San Francisco.

We are grateful to City Archivist Susan Goldstein of the San Francisco History Center, Book Arts and Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library for suggesting this project to us and making the volumes available for scanning and uploading to our online collection. We hope to collaborate on more projects with Susan and the San Francisco Public Library.

June 26, 2011 - 1,676 New Maps Added

2011-06-24T09:14:26-07:00

1,676 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to 27,800 maps and images. Included in this addition are 666 images of Pocket Maps, a rare edition of Sanborn's 1905 Atlas of San Francisco from the S.F. Public Library which shows the city just before the earthquake and fire of 1906 - the atlas pages show burns from the fire. Also the 1889 Cram Standard American Atlas and the 1901 Cram American Railway Atlas. 325 more images from the Karte des Deutschen Reiches are added and the large composite image is increased to 501 maps (the next update will finish it at 674 maps). All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,676 new maps and images.

	Pocket Maps, various dates 1824 to 1962 Various Authors Pocket maps were a popular form of map publishing in the 19th and 20th centuries. Maps typically folded into covers that were small enough to carry in one's pocket. Most of the atlas publishers issued their maps in atlas form as well as pocket maps. The map covers often have interesting information including signatures of owners, dates, catalogs and indexes. Later in the 20th century the maps became self folding, typically as automobile road maps or travel maps. View Pocket Maps
	Official Map of Chinatown in San Francisco, 1885 A.L. Bancroft, San Francisco Map details the various districts in San Francisco's Chinatown: Chinese occupancy, gambling, prostitution, opium resorts, joss houses (temples or shrines), and white prostitution. Copy from the San Francisco Public Library. View Map
	Cram's Standard American Atlas Of The World, 1889 Cram, George Franklin , Chicago The title page claims that the maps show "the true locations of all railroads, towns, villages and post offices that have a name or contain a store." The railroad maps are very detailed. The statistical diagrams are imaginative. View Atlas
	Composite Image, Sheets 1 to 501, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany Our project of scanning and putting online the 674 sheets of the Karte des Deutschen Reich, 1893, is nearing completion - this addition adds another 325 map images and increases the size of the large composite image to 501 maps (the image is 236 GB, 380,000 x 213,000 pixels). View Composite Map
	Cram's Standard American Railway System Atlas Of The World, 1901 Cram, George Franklin , Chicago This atlas has some of Cram's best maps of the U.S. and world. A large number of U.S. cities are mapped. View Atlas
	Insurance Maps of San Francisco, 1905 Sanborn-Perris Map Company, New York A rare 6 volume San Francisco Sanborn Insurance Atlas showing the city as it was just months before the great earthquake and fire of 1906 has been added to the map site in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library which owns the atlas and keeps it in its San Francisco History Center at the main library branch. The atlas was published in 1899/1900 and was updated manually several times by the publisher, the Sanborn-Perris Map Company of New York, with the last updates done in the fall of 1905. The 6 atlas volumes show the city in great detail, with building shape, height, construction materials, and many other details typical of fire insurance atlases of the period. Apparently the volumes were never updated after the earthquake and fire (except for a few small 1908 updates) because the atlas was damaged in the fire with some loss to the edges (as can be seen from the map images). View Atlas
	Golden Gate International Exposition (1939 World's Fair). Treasure Island. San Francisco, Calif. Sanborn Map Company,.San Francisco Detailed insurance map of buildings and layout of fair grounds for the 1939 World's Fair on San Francisco's Treasure Island. The map is heavily annotated (in pencil). Detailed legend. Includes diagram of water system valve control assembly by the main gate. Copy from the San Francisco Public Library. View Map

New Geographical Search by MapRank Viewer

2011-05-30T17:33:08-07:00

The new MapRank Search viewer enables geographical searching of the collection by map location and coverage, in a Google Map window. Pan and zoom the Google Map to the area of the world you want maps of, and the results will automatically appear as a scrollable list of maps with thumbnail images in the right side results window. The maps in the right side results list are ranked by coverage, with the maps that have coverage closest to your search window listed at the top. Maps lower in the list show the area of interest, but with coverage that does not match as closely. Mousing over any map in the list will show the map's coverage as a light red rectangle on top of the Google Map. Clicking on a map in the list will open it in the Luna Browser. You can filter your results with the When timeline, the What or Who keyword text window, and the Map scale windows, as well as search by place name in the Find a place window. Currently about 12,000 online maps are searchable with MapRank search; soon all the 27,000 online maps will be included. Launch MapRank Search.

Below is the MapRank Search viewer zoomed in to find maps of San Francisco, with the 1904 "San Francisco Intensity of Earthquake" map highlighted in red in the results list and with the area covered by the earthquake map shown in light red on the Google Map:

The MapRank Search viewer finding maps of San Francisco, California

Clicking on the thumbnail or title of a map in the list opens it in the Luna Browser with a zoomable image and description:

1904 "San Francisco Intensity of Earthquake" map image in the Luna Browser

Zooming out in the Google Map selection window instantly changes the search results to find maps with similar coverage, here the San Francisco Bay Area and Central California:

Zooming out from San Francisco changes the results list to show maps of Central California and the San Francisco Bay Area

Zooming out further in the Google Map window changes the map results again to maps of California:

Another zoom out level finds maps of the State of California

Here the Google Map is set to find maps of the American West:

Maps of the entire American West are found with this Google Map window

Zooming out and panning east finds maps of the entire United States:

The Google Map window changed to find Unites States maps

Zooming out again finds maps of North and South America:

Maps of North and South America are show with this search view

Finally, zooming out to the full extent in the Google Map window finds maps of the entire World:

World maps shown in this zoom level

The WHEN time range line allows changing the dates of the results, here from 1690 to 1795 for the same set of World maps:

Using the WHEN time range to further filter results to World maps from the period 1690 to 1795

The Map scale boxes are used to limit the range of scales of the search, here set at 1:2,500 to 1:2.5 mil. This setting will show maps with smaller coverages that fall within the Google Map at the top of the list:

Maps of areas inside the Google Map are found by limiting Map scale at 1:2,500 to 1:2.5 mil

The Find a place box is used here to zoom the Google Map to find maps of Paris, France:

Using the Find a place box to zoom to maps of a place, here Paris, France

The WHAT or WHO box is used to further limit results to maps of Paris by Guillaume De Lisle:

Maps of Paris before 1795 by De Lisle with scale between 1:2,500 and 1:2.5 mil

Zooming out to show all of France finds maps by De Lisle of French provinces, still limited by time and scale:

Keeping the same limits of time, scale, and De Lisle, the Google Map is zoomed out and the results are changed again

Finally, keeping the same limits but panning the map to Italy finds maps of Italy by De Lisle with the same time and scale constraints:

De Lisle Maps of Italy from 1690 to 1795 with scale of 1:2,500 to 1:2.5 mil are shown

This new MapRank search interface allows geographical and spatial searching of the map collection in a dynamic and fluid way. It will provide an entirely new experience of exploring our online map library, using a map to search the collection instead of relying on textual terms alone.

While the new search interface is largely complete, please let us know if you find any errors or problems. The bounding coordinates for the maps are correct in almost all cases, but there may be some maps with incorrect coordinate (coverage) data - please let us know if you find any and we will correct them. The MapRank search interface and program has been developed by Petr Pridal of Klokan Technologies.

Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 (Map of the German Empire)

2011-04-09T21:47:18-07:00

The Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893 consists of 674 sheets at a scale of 1:100,000. All sheets join together to make a huge, highly detailed and historically significant map of about 1,155 cm x 980 cm (38 ft x 32 ft), covering all of present day Germany and much of present day Poland. The maps show the landscape as it was at the end of the 19th century. We have completed the process of scanning all the sheets individually as well as making a very large digital composite image of all 674 sheets joined. We have put sheets 1 to 674 online and made a composite image of sheets 1 to 674. The composite image is also placed in Google Earth (requires plug-in)(the georeferenced composite image and any of its parts may be downloaded through the Google Earth Index Map), allowing comparison of the historical map with current satellite imagery and other information layers. We completed the project on October 1, 2011. The publication dates of the sheets vary, generally from about 1800 to 1900. For the whole series we use an average date of 1893.

After German unification in 1871, in an agreement dated March 4, 1878, the states of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg (the areas of modern day Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Kaliningrad, and part of Lithuania) agreed to map their areas on a 1:100,000 scale in a common topographic grid survey consisting of 674 sheets. Each sheet covers about 30 minutes in longitude and 15 minutes in latitude. One centimeter on a map is equivalent to 1 kilometer on the ground. Average sheet size is about 35 cm x 28 cm. Each sheet covers about 1000 square kilometers and was engraved on copper. A polyhedral projection was used. Prime meridian was Ferro, later switched to Greenwich.

The series is known as the KDR-100 (German General Staff map) and was surveyed beginning in 1878, although many sheets were simply drawn from pre-existing military maps, often of larger (more detailed) scale. This map series is remarkable for the level of fine detail. As a consequence, it was scanned at 800 PPI providing four times the resolution of the typical detailed map scan of 400 PPI.

Below is a detail of part of Sheet 269, Berlin, 1893: (clicking on any of the images below will open them)

Detail of Sheet 269 Berlin Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893

Here is part of the same sheet at 800% magnification:

Detail at 800% magnification of Sheet 269 Berlin Karte des Deutschen Reiches 1893

The dates of the maps are estimated based on the apparent library acquisition date, frequently stamped on the back of the map sheet, usually 1893. The maps are mounted on linen in 4, 6, or 8 panels. Comparing our sheets to those at the Library of Congress shows that most of our sheets were published 5 to 10 years before the stamped acquisition date. Thus most sheets were published between 1883 and 1888. A few sheets are duplicated and placed under similar list numbers.

Below is a typical sheet, Sheet 46, Neustadt in West-Pr. 1893, dissected into four parts and folded, with the map seller's label and map scale pasted on one fold:

Sheet 46. Neustadt in West-Pr. Karte des Deutschen Reiches. 1893

Here is the same map, with the four sections joined into a composite, to make georeferencing more accurate.

(Composite of) Sheet 46. Neustadt in West-Pr. Karte des Deutschen Reiches. 1893

Below is a detail of the same Sheet 46, Neustadt in West-Pr. 1893 at 400% magnification:

Detail at 400% magnification of Sheet 46. Neustadt in West-Pr. Karte des Deutschen Reiches. 1893

All 674 sheets are joined together in one composite image. The image is 401,310 pixels wide by 332,060 pixels high, 380 GB. Below are sheets 1 to 674 joined together in the composite image and shown in the Luna Browser:

(Composite of) Sheets 1 - 674 Karte des Deutschen Reiches. 1893

The same composite image can also be viewed in Google Earth:

Germany 1893 layer in Google Earth (requires plug-in)

And the index sheet for the composite image can be viewed in Google Earth:

Germany 1893 Index layer in Google Earth (requires plug-in)

The composite image and the index sheet can also be viewed in the Google Earth desktop application (requires download if you do not have Google Earth installed). Or you can view these layers along with 300 other historical maps from the Rumsey Collection in Google Earth by clicking on this link.

The Karte des Deutschen Reiches have extraordinary map detail and many kinds of cultural, physical, political, and historical information. At least ten separate symbols for special buildings were utilized, a method enhanced by placing an abbreviation next to the symbol. Structures with special symbols include: churches, chapels, monuments, windmills, water mills, stamp mills, forester’s lodges, watchtowers, ruins, forts, quarries, clay pits, lime kilns, and coke-ovens. Factories, brick works, powder magazines, and many other important buildings are differentiated by means of abbreviation. Houses appear as black blocks, either rectangular or shaped like the ground plan of the building. Many other features are differentiated, for example there are four different qualities of roads plus bridle paths and footpaths.

Vegetation is minutely classified including separate symbols for broadleaf trees, evergreens, underbrush, heather, dry meadows, wet meadows, swamps, orchards, gardens, vineyards, and parks. Relief is shown by hachures. Spot elevations are given in meters above sea level.

This collection strongly trends toward the earliest editions. They were published for the General Staffs of Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony and Wurttemberg by several issuers, but most were by “R. Eisenschmidt, Verlags-Buchhandlung ” (publishing bookstore). (Berlin). Key organizations indicated on the maps include (1) Topographic Bureau of Royal Saxony, abbreviated in German as “topogr. bureau des konigl. sachs.” And (2) Royal Prussian General Staff, abbreviated in German as “Kgl. Preuss. Generalstab.”

Most sheets are stamped with "The Library of Massachusetts, State House, Boston," and the apparent date of acquisition. Almost all of the sheets are trimmed to the neatline to allow for closer alignment of multiple sheets when viewing, apparently a common practice by publishers of the sheets. Therefore the printed publishing date has been removed in most cases and we are estimating the date based on the acquisition stamp date (usually 1893).

Cataloging and research for the maps was done by Daniel Holmes, Librarian of the Rumsey Collection. Scanning and georeferencing of the map images was done by Glenn Bachmann of Cartography Associates. Global Mapper software was used to georeference and composite the map images. We are grateful to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress for providing images of four sheets that were missing from the Rumsey Collection.

March 18, 2011 - 1,634 New Maps Added

2011-03-18T11:31:21-07:00

1,634 new maps and images have been added to the David Rumsey Map Collection, bringing the online collection to over 26,000 maps and images. Included in this addition are five issues of Colton's General Atlas of the World dated from 1865 to 1886. Also two editions of Schonberg's Standard Atlas of the World, 1865 and 1867. Sheets from two national surveys: six composite images of the entire Wheeler Survey of the U.S. West, 1876, and the first 338 sheets of the massive 19th century survey of Germany, Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (the remaining 336 sheets will follow in the next update). Added are elegant maps from the Atlante Geographico de Agostini, 1952, and a complete set of all the Shell Oil Company Automobile Road maps of North America, 1956. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,634 new maps and images.

	Colton's General Atlas, various dates, 1865, 1866, 1869, 1974, 1886 Colton, G.W., New York Five editions (1865, 1866, 1869, 1874, 1886) of an important world atlas published yearly from 1856 to 1888 by the Colton family of cartographers in New York City. The 1865 edition includes a gift letter from publisher J.H. Colton to his friend Reverend Edmond Taylor of Brooklyn, New York. The 1874 edition has the publisher's original canvas slip dust cover. In addition to these issues, we also have online the 1856 first edition, the 1857 variant edition (Advertising Atlas of America), and the 1859 variant, Colton's Cabinet Atlas (also viewable as a BookReader flip book). View Five New Colton Atlases View all Eight Colton Atlases
	Schonberg's Standard Atlas Of The World, 1865 and Schonberg's Atlas of the United States, 1867 Schonberg & Company, New York Two editions, 1865 and 1867, of an unusual atlas of the world and the United States, published in New York. Schonberg used very bright colors and striking designs on the maps and charts. View Atlases
	Composite Images of all Wheeler Survey Topographical, Geological, and Land Classification Atlas Sheets, 1876 (various dates) Wheeler, George M, Washington, D.C. The map images are joined and projected in GIS on a conic projection with the central meridian at 111 degrees west - matching the original projection of the Wheeler Survey. View All Composites in Luna Browser View Topographical Sheets in Google Earth View Geological Sheets in Google Earth View Land Classification Sheets in Google Earth
	Karte des Deutschen Reiches, 1893 (various dates, 1880 to 1910) Reichsamt fur Landesaufnahme, Germany In 1878, the states of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurttemberg (the areas of modern day Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, and Kaliningrad, and part of Lithuania) agreed to map their areas on a 1:100,000 scale in a common topographic grid survey consisting of 674 sheets. We have completed scanning of the first 338 sheets, shown here, with the remaining 336 sheets to be added in the next update. These maps are remarkable for the level of fine detail. The series is known as the KDR-100 (German General Staff map). The mapping continued until 1945, so most sheets were revised at least once. Our collection copies strongly trends toward the earliest editions. View Maps Individually or as a composite of sheets 1-138 in Google Earth or in Luna Browser (composite will grow with later additions)
	Atlante Geografico de Agostini, 1952 Instituto Geographico di Agostini, Novarra Instituto di Agostini is known for the beautiful maps and atlases it produced. This may be a proof copy of their "Atlante Geografico de Agostini" or intended to accompany an encyclopedia or text, because it is bound into simple plain covers and lacks a title page and index. The thematic maps of this atlas are especially interesting and elegant in design. View Atlas
	Shell Atlas of Automobile Road Maps, 1956 Shell Oil Company, Chicago San Jose This is a bound set of 92 doubled sided (making 184 map images) automobile road maps covering the entire United States, Canada, and Mexico. This atlas was bound for use by the staff of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. Each map was originally published as a separate roadmap distributed at Shell gas (filling) stations. Every map bears the Shell logo and a complete legend and sometimes the statement, "Current at date of publication, but subject to change." View Maps

November 27, 2010 - 1,786 New Maps Added

2010-09-09T18:53:45-07:00

Below are descriptions of 1,786 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included for the first time are six new BookReaders that enable page turning books in the Luna software; four of these are new atlases: Popple's 1746 Atlas of North America; Pertermann and Milners's 1850 Atlas of Physical Geography; Williamson's 1870 Removal of Blossom Rock in San Francisco Harbor; and Baker's 1936 Atlas of American Agriculture. Also, two important boundary dispute atlases, the three volume Alaskan Boundary Tribunal of 1904 and the Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary Commission atlas of 1897. And two important Soviet era world atlases, the Polish Army Topographic Survey World Atlas of 1968 and the USSR World Atlas second edition also of 1967. The Coal Resources of the World, 1913, is presented, along with Mathew Carey's 1818 General Atlas and Anthony Finley's first edition General Atlas of 1824. 35 irrigation maps of the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, from 1880-1888 are shown. Also, the Geological Survey of California's 1873 Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco, 22 important wall maps, many sheet, case, and pocket maps, and more. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 1,786 new maps and images.

	A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto, 1746 Popple, Henry, London This is a full color atlas edition of Popple's twenty sheet map. This edition was sold by Stephen Austin Bookseller and Thomas Willdey in London. Compare this later edition (1746) with our first edition (1733) atlas. View Atlas and BookReader
	22 Wall Maps, 1813 - 1882 Various Authors A group of wall maps ranging from Warren and Gillet's Connecticut 1813, to Berghaus' World on Mercator's Projection, 1882. View Maps
	Carey's General Atlas, 1818 Carey, Mathew, Philadelphia Third and last edition of Carey's General Atlas. There is a Preface to the third edition, dated June 18, 1818. View Atlas
	2 Maps of the United States of Nth. America, Map of Mexico and Louisiana, 1812 - 1820 Tardieu, P.F., Paris Three multi-sheet maps by the French cartographer P.F. Tardieu: United States of North America 1812 and 1820, and Mexico and Louisiana, 1820.Tardieu used Arrowsmith's maps as his sources, but added much new information and employed an elegant style of engraving. View Maps View all Tardieu maps of North America.
	Mappe Monde en deux Hemispheres presentant L'Etat Acuel de La Geographie, 1820 Brue, A.H., 1820 Large map of the world in four sheets plus a title sheet. Includes "Avertissement" commenting on the accuracy of the map, and "Observation" commenting on the projection referencing the 1794 map by Arrowsmith. View Map
	A New General Atlas, 1824 Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia The first edition of this important American atlas. Finley produced many editions of this atlas up to 1834. Most of the atlas maps were also issued as pocket maps. At the end of the atlas there is an advertisement for Finley's Map of the United States. View Atlas
	3 Composite Maps of North and South America, 1827 Vanermaelen, Phillip, Paris These three composite maps of Vandermaelen's 119 sheets of North and South America were created by georeferncing the sheets in GIS, using a polyconic projection similar to Vandermaelen's projection, then combining the sheets using the program Global Mapper which also trimmed the sheets to allow compositing. The result gives a view of Vandermaelen's sheets that is not possible with the atlas presentation but is similar to the large 7.75 meter diameter globe that Vandermaelen created from the atlas sheets and displayed in Brussels. View Maps View Entire Vandermaelen World Atlas 1827
	Atlas of Physical Geography, 1850 Petermann, Augustus; Milner, Thomas, London From the full title: "With Descriptive Letter-Press, Embracing A General View Of The Physical Phenomena Of The Globe. By The Rev. Thomas Milner, M.A., F.R.G.S. ... Illustrated by One Hundred and Thirty Vignettes on Wood." View Atlas and BookReader
	Reports upon the Pacific Wagon Roads, 1859 Campbell, Albert, Philadelphia Six maps show various wagon roads developed by the U.S. government in the late 1850"s: a map of the route from Fort Ridgely in Minnesota to Fort Lookout on the western side of the Missouri River in Nebraska; two maps showing the Western Division of the Fort Kearney South Pass and Honey Lake Road; two maps that begin in El Paso, Texas and continue through Arizona, north of Tucson and San Xavier del Bac to the Pimo Villages on the Gila River; and a map of the Wagon-Road from Platte River via Omaha Reserve and Dakota City to Running Water River, along the Missouri River. View Maps
	Johnson's New Illustrated (Steel Plate) Family Atlas, 1865 Johnson, A.J., New York Late 1865 edition. From Title Page: "The New Plates, Copyrighted by A. J. Johnson, are made exclusively for Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas. Others are the same as Used in Colton's General Atlas." Adds a double page map of "Nebraska, Dakota, Idaho and Montana" that also shows Wyoming - this is a newly drawn map. This is the first appearance of Wyoming on a map (Resor). View Atlas
	Report Upon The Removal of Blossom Rock, San Francisco Harbor, 1870 Williamson, R.S.; Heuer, W.H., Washington, D.C. Story of the demolition of Blossom Rock, a maritime navigational hazard in San Francisco Bay midway between Alcatraz Island and Yerba Buena Island. View Book and BookReader
	Map Of The Region Adjacent To The Bay Of San Francisco, 1873 Hoffmann, Charles F.; Whitney, J.D.; Geological Survey of California, New York An important detailed map of the San Francisco bay area by the Geographical Survey of California under J.D. Whitney. Julius Bien of New York did the engraving and printing. C.F. Hoffmann was the prinicpal topographer; 1st issue was 1867. No mention of the 1873 date in any references. Two sheets printed on thin paper, folded into green covers. Outline color. View Map
	Gray's Atlas Of The United States, 1874 Gray, Ormando Willis, Philadelphia Late 1874 issue - the extra double page Oregon, California and Nevada map is undated and the inset map of the Bay Area shows a new railroad from Benicia, and other railroads projected. However, we cannot find any other changes from the early 1874 issue. This edition was made for the California market, with the extra map of Sacramento and the map of Oregon, California and Nevada. View Atlas
	The National Atlas. Containing Elaborate Topographical Maps Of The United States And The Dominion of Canada, 1878 Gray, Ormando Willis, Philadelphia First edition was 1875. The maps here are identical to our 1878 Gray's Atlas of the United States (although substantially changed from the 1874 edition), except that this copy has 17 large scale maps of Virginia Cities in the rear with a "Professional Directory of Patrons. Virginia." It is a mystery why Gray used two different titles for essentially the same atlas. View Atlas
	35 Irrigation Maps San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, 1880 - 1888 Hall, Wm. Ham. (William Hammond); California State Engineering Department, Sacramento The sheets show the areas of land that can be practically irrigated in the San Joaquin portion of the Central Valley and parts of Southern California. Classifies lands into several categories. Printed in full color. Mounted on linen. Relief depicted by contour lines in valley areas, and by hachures in the hills and mountains. 33 of the maps were scanned from the collection of the Water Resources Center Archives, University of California Library. View Maps
	Johnson's New Illustrated Family Atlas Of The World, 1886 Johnson, A.J., New York A very late edition of this atlas that was first issued in 1860, 1887 is the last edition that we have, although Phillips shows 1885 as the last edition. Most of the maps have been updated to show changes in the American west, railroad development, and geographic discoveries. View Atlas
	Report Upon The True Divisional Line Between The Republic Of Venezuela And British Guiana, 1897 Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary Commission, Washington, D.C. Reproductions of maps from 1534 to 1875. On cover: Venezuelan Boundary Commission Report. 1898. Atlas (vol. 4 indicated on half title). With printed color. The American resolution under the auspices of the Monroe Doctrine, and as illustrated by this atlas, of the dispute between Britain and Venezuela, largely followed the the route (favoring Britain) of the Schomburgk Line, the name given to a survey line made in 1835 by Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-1865). Venezuela periodically contests its validity. View Atlas
	(British Atlas, U.S. Atlas, Atlas of Award). Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, 1904 Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, Washington D.C. Three volumes, with excellent facsimiles of historic maps that support the sides in the dispute. With printed color. "Many of these maps have been reduced in scale to bring them within the limits of this atlas." Many maps also only show the portion of the original applicable to the Alaska/Canada boundary. View Atlas
	The Coal Resources Of The World. Atlas, 1913 Campbell, Marius R., Toronto Shows coal resources throughout the world in the early 20th century. Elegant color printing. This copy has only 45 of 48 maps (missing Map Nos. 24-26, which cover portions of Canada in detail). View Atlas
	Atlas of American Agriculture, 1936 Kincer, Joseph Burton, Washington D.C. A spectacular color atlas of the United States exhibiting great detail in hundreds of maps, graphs, tables, and text on the full range of agricultural topics and subtopics. Bound into a single volume here, it consists of several parts often found as separates: Land Relief; Climate: Temperature, Sunshine, and Wind; Climate: Frost and the Growing Season; Climate: Precipitation and Humidity; Soils; and Natural Vegetation: Grassland and Desert Shrub, Forests. View Atlas and BookReader
	Hammond's New World Atlas. Containing New and Complete Historical, Economic, Political and Physical Maps of the Entire World in Full Colors, 1948 Hammond, C.S., Garden City, New York With 277 maps, shows the new political configuration of the world at the end of World War II. Includes an Illustrated Gazetteer of the United States and Territories. View Atlas
	The World Atlas. Second Edition, 1967 USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Moscow This second edition of the Atlas of the World (1st edition in 1954) has fewer maps of the USSR on account of the interim publication of the "Atlas of the USSR", three fewer historical maps due to then impending publication of the "Historical Atlas of the World", and many new maps and revisions. The Atlas was considered accurate in terms of contemporary knowledge of the ocean floors. This edition also uses both the Russian and the Roman alphabets - making it comprehensible to a much broader range of readers. "The second edition of the World Atlas is issued at a time when all progressive people of the globe are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Great October socialist revolution." Mapped in attractive full color with tints for elevation and sea depth values. Relief shading is sometimes used to contribute to realism. Scales generally in regular increments (two or multiples of two); urban vicinity maps typically at 1:250,000 facilitating the comparison of the sizes of major cities around the world. View Atlas
	Pergamon World Atlas, 1968 Polish Army Topography Service, Oxford This is the English edition of the Polish Atlas Swiata. This massive atlas (weighing nearly 5.5 kilograms and containing 48 square meters of maps) is of high cartographic and aesthetic quality, and provides a rich assortment of thematic (over 400) as well as hundreds of physical and political maps. Includes pictures of the flag and a synopsis for each country. Rich use of symbolism creatively conveys the data in a clear manner. View Atlas

July 4, 2010 - 564 New Maps Added

2010-07-04T08:53:37-07:00

Below are descriptions of 564 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included are Jacob Green's Astronomical Recreations, an early U.S. celestial atlas published by Anthony Finley in 1824; Finley's pocket map version of his American Atlas, 1827; the graphically stunning Atlas Elementaire by Soulier and Andriveau-Goujon, published in Paris in 1838; a German atlas version of J. Calvin Smith's important Map of the United States from 1852; an extensive geography text with maps - Colton's Illustrated Cabinet Atlas of 1859, also online as a flip book at the Internet Archive; and the Ice Atlas of the Northern Hemisphere showing the extent of sea ice in 1946. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 564 new maps and images.

	Astronomical Recreations; Or Sketches of the Relative Positions And Mythological History Of The Constellations, 1824 Green, Jacob; Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia Probably the first U.S. celestial atlas. Issued by Anthony Finley in the same year as his first terrestrial atlas, 1824, this was likely intended to accompany it, although it is never listed in Finley's catalog. The advertisement page states: "The plates have been faithfully reduced from those in the last edition of the magnificent Atlas of Bode, published in Germany a few years since..." View Atlas
	American Atlas (Pocket Atlas), 1827 Finley, Anthony, Philadelphia This is a pocket atlas version of Finley's American Atlas. The maps are printed on thin paper and folded into a red leather pocket case with "American Atlas" embossed on the flap. John Grigg of Philadelphia also issued this pocket atlas with his name on a red cover. View Atlas
	Atlas Elementaire Simplifie De Geographie Ancienne Et Moderne, 1838 Soulier, E.; Andriveau-Goujon, J.. Paris The maps are simplified somewhat, probably indicating that this was used for teaching in colleges and schools. In many cases the graphics on the maps are most unusual, and the style of engraving uses symbols and visualizations that are unique to this atlas. View Atlas
	Special-Karte Der Vereinicten Staaten Von Nord-Amerika. von J. Calvin Smith, 1852 Smith, J. Calvin, Cassel (Germany) The second revised German edition of Smith's large wall map of the United States, here bound as 16 separate sheets in an atlas (we have also digitally joined all 16 sheets into a composite image, shown on the left). The inset map of North America is titled "Uebersichts-Ka rte von Nord Amerika von J. Calvin Smith..." The map has been redrawn onto lithographic plates with a very slight change of scale (smaller). The only German used is in the titles and the references. View Atlas
	Colton's Illustrated Cabinet Atlas and Descriptive Geography. Maps by G. Woolworth Colton. Text by Richard Swainson Fisher, 1859 Colton, G.W.; Fisher, Richard Swainson, New York This atlas is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of etchings on a wide range of geographical subjects, statistical tables, and smaller maps and plans. It is a smaller version of Colton's General Atlas, with regional maps. A one-time effort, not reissued. However, these maps are reused by Colton in some of his school atlases. The text by Fisher (minus the sections on the states and territories) is used later in Johnson's Family Atlas starting in 1861. This is a general physical geography text based on the Atlas of Milner and Petermann published in London. Overall the text is intended to be particularly readable. View Atlas We have also created a flip book version of this atlas at the Internet Archive.
	Ice Atlas of the Northern Hemisphere, 1946 Hydrographic Office, U.S. Navy, Washington, D.C. Published by the U.S. Navy in 1946, this atlas provides colored monthly maps detailing the extent and character of the ice for each principal region of the Northern Hemisphere known to have seasonal or permanent sea or lake ice. Also includes statistical tables. It is interesting to compare the extent of sea ice then with the diminishing extent today, as shown on the National Snow and Ice Data Center of the University of Colorado. View Atlas

April 12, 2010 - 764 New Maps Added

2010-03-15T15:32:46-07:00

Below are highlights from 764 new maps and images recently added to the David Rumsey Collection. Included are John Cary's 1790 Survey of the High Roads From London - an early use of strip road maps, the Atlas Classique De La Geographie - an 1839 teaching atlas by C.V. Monin with Monin's version of the classic Mountains and Rivers plate by Bulla, and Rand McNally's monumental 1924 Commercial Atlas Of America, with some of the most detailed early highway maps of the U.S. along with extensive railroad coverage at a time when the new highway system was beginning to challenge railroads as the most important transportation network in America. Also included are over 240 separate wall maps, case maps, pocket maps, or charts which are distinguished by their large physical size (often over 8 feet in the long dimension), requiring special photographic and software processes to create accurate digital images, resulting in very large digital files - but large map images can be examined and explored as easily as smaller map images, using zooming and panning features, and the amount of cartographic information in the larger maps is much greater. Highlights of this group of maps include Rand McNally's massive thirteen sheet Shippers' Railroad Map of the United States 1891 (12x20 feet, over 10GB file size), nine issues of Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States from 1834 to 1846 (group shown includes a tenth issue already online), Joseph Scheda's 20 sheet richly detailed map of the Austrian Empire in Central Europe in 1856 (5GB file size), and more. All titles may be found by clicking on the View links or images below. Or click here to view all 764 new maps.

	Early Wall and Case Maps of the United States, 1796 to 1833 Arrowsmith, Tardieu, Carleton, Lewis, Lay, Varle, Robinson, and Vance 12 large maps of the eastern United States by various publishers over a period of 37 years from 1796 to 1833. All of the maps borrow from each other, gradually adding updated and more accurate geographic information over time. The Arrowsmith maps printed in London are among the earliest to show the young United States, followed by updated copies made in Paris by Tardieu, Carleton's version published in Boston, then the very large wall maps by Lewis, and other variations by Lay, Varle, Robinson, and Vance. View Maps
	Cary's Survey of the High Roads From London, 1790 Cary, John, London An early strip map atlas of the roads leading outward from London, in all directions. The title page lists some of the many attributes of the strip map sheets: "On a Scale of one Inch to a Mile; wherein Every Gentleman's Seat, situate on, or seen from the Road, (however distant) are laid down, with the name of the Possessor; to which is added The Number of Inns on each separate route; also, the different Turnpike Gates, shewing The Connection which one trust has with another." View Atlas English road atlases like this one no doubt influenced contemporary American road books such as Christopher Colles' Survey of the Roads of the United States of 1789 and The Traveler's Directory by Moore and Jones, 1802.
	Map of Pennsylvania, 1822 Melish, John, Philadelphia First edition. A large wall map of Pennsylvania and one of the finest maps of the state in the early 19th century. Compared with the 1826 case map edition, there are many changes. The 1826 edition adds the delineation of topography adjoining the river systems, roads in almost every county, numerous changes in the emerging coal regions in the east central part of the state, more mountains and plateaus. View Map
	Atlas Classique De La Geographie, 1839 Monin, C.V., Paris A very sophisticated college atlas; the mountains and rivers table has no engraver listed but is clearly derived from or by Bulla, the author of the first table in this format published in 1826. See Garner's chart of 1823, and see our blog post on mountains and rivers maps for interesting comparisons. There are also two excellent thematic plates: Tableau de Geographie Physique and the Tableau de Systeme Solaire. View Atlas
	United States Of America, 1830, 1832, 1834 Tanner, Henry S., Philadelphia Three editions of Henry Tanner's large and detailed case map of the United States are added to the online collection, dated 1830, 1832, and 1834, which when added to the 1829 and 1839 editions already online, give an excellent 10 year view of the changes to this important map and to the country from 1829 to 1839. View All 5 Editions of the Map
	Nine Editions of Mitchell's Reference & Distance Map of the United States, 1834 - 1846 Mitchell, Samuel Augustus, Philadelphia Mitchell's Reference & Distance Map of the United States was one of the most important American wall maps produced in the 1830's and 1840's. It was drawn and engraved by James H. Young. The map was large -about 5ft tall and 6ft wide. Shown in this group are the nine new online editions plus a tenth edition already online. View Maps
	Map of the United States Of North America, 1842 Burr, David H., London This large four sheet wall map of the United States west to the 100th meridian must have been intended to accompany Burr's 1839 thirteen sheet American Atlas of postal wall maps. The American Atlas has a large map of the United States from coast to coast, but it lacks the detail of this wall map, which shows most of the postal roads, canals, and railroads that are delineated on the large scale individual state maps of the American Atlas. That detail makes this wall map one of the best large area road maps of the United States as a whole, of the period - more detailed than Tanner's Map of the United States or Mitchell's Reference and Distance Map of the United States, shown above. View Map
	Stream Of Time, Or Chart Of Universal History, From The Original German Of Strass. Revised By D. Haskel, 1842 Colton, J.H., New York Stream of Time maps were popular in the second half of the 19th century (see our 1858 Tableau De L'Histoire Universelle by Pick) and later, but this map or diagram by Colton is an early example, at least in the United States. The period covered starts with the Creation in 4004 BC and extends down to 1842. The bottom of the map has an explanation which states that "Each Nation is represented by a stream which is broken in upon or flows on undisturbed as it is influenced by the accession of Territory or the remaining at Peace." View Map
	Maps of the State of Maine, 1844 - 1862 Greenleaf Moses; Colton, J.H.; DeSilver, Charles; Walling, H.F.; Chase, J. New York, Philadelphia, Portland Five maps showing Maine's evolution over an 18 year period of great change and expansion. 2 wall maps, 2 pocket maps, and 1 case map. View Maps View all Maine Maps in the online Collection.
	General - Karte Des Oesterreichischen Kaiserstaates, 1856 Scheda, Josef, Wien Joseph Scheda was an Engineer in the Geographic Corps, Militarisch Geografischen Institute, Austria. His map shows the extent of the Austrian Empire in 1856. It is comprised of 20 sheets, each dissected into 6 sections. Incredible detail throughout the map. A triumph of Austrian/German engraving. The 20 sheets cover most of central and southern Europe. A digital composite image joins all 20 sheets together in one large map. View Maps
	Map of The World On Mercator's Projection, 1847 and 1857 Colton, J. H.; Johnson, D. Griffing, New York One of the great American World Wall maps of the period. Colton took over the publishing of this map in 1849. The 1847 edition is by Johnson and the 1857 edition is by Colton. Table of distances. Shows numerous routes followed by historic mariners including observations of birds on the high seas. The 1857 edition has numerous annotations in French by a traveler going around the world. View Maps
	The Cottage Ornament, 1856 Ensign, Bridgman & Fanning, New York This is an unusually decorative map by a group of New York map publishers known for their use of portraits, views, and information graphics (the universal Dial Plate showing times at different places around the world, etc.) on their maps. In this large wall map they seem to have added all the views used in all their different publications in one map. The map's title is an understatement. View Map
	Map Of The Vicinity Of Philadelphia, 1860 Lake, D.J.; Beers, S.N., Philadelphia A very large, detailed map showing land owners around Philadelphia. This copy is one of eight issues of the map (Ristow). This issue has inset maps and business directories of Philadelphia, Germantown, Frankford, Bridesburg plus five small towns (all at the top), and Manayunk, Falls of Schuykill, Hestonville, Paschallville, Tacony and Holmesburg at the bottom. Other issues of the map have Philadelphia and Trenton and Philadelphia and Camden in the titles. Lake and Beers may have done eight issues to cover different parts of the local market, much in the manner of Beers' six different issues of his Atlas of New York and Vicinity of 1867-8. The date of 1860 on the map has been changed to 1869 by someone drawing the "9" in place of the "0" which probably had rubbed off. View Map
	The Washington Map Of The United States, 1861 and 1862 Smith, Robert P.; Taintor, S. & Co., New York and Philadelphia Four editions from 1861 and 1862 of this huge and important wall map of the United States, published on the eve of the U.S. Civil War. The 1862 edition is one of the earliest maps to show the states who "claim to have seceded from the United States" in a small note on the right below the title. There are many inset views, portraits of the Presidents in the borders, and thematic inset maps. Smith also published a similar wall map in 1862, the New Naval and Military Map of the United States, which explicitly references the Civil War that had just begun. View Maps
	Atlas Universel De Geographie Physique, Politique, Ancienne Et Moderne, 1875 Brue, A.H.; Levasseur, E., Paris The last edition seen of the Brue Atlas Universel which began in 1822. E. Levasseur was brought in by the publisher to make updates to all the maps, with varying degrees of success. There is an attempt to improve the American maps from the 1866 edition, but they are still ridiculously outdated. Nonetheless, this is a handsome relic of what was once a great atlas. One of the two world maps is unusual in showing geologic formations on several continents. A newly added Tableau Synthetique de Cosmographie provides graphical and textual depictions of several attributes of planetary systems and the earth. The Avertissement pages list in detail the improvements made in the map sheets. View Atlas
	Historical Map Of The United States Showing Early Spanish, French & English Discoveries And Explorations Also Forts, Towns & Battle Fields Of Historic Interest, 1876 Blanchard, Rufus, Chicago This map was published for the 1876 U.S. Centennial celebrations and reflects Blanchard's growing interest in American history during the mid 1870's. Shows historical events on a large map of the Eastern United States from Columbus to about 1840. Six inset facsimiles of early maps. A tablet of history is mounted on the verso. View Map
	Paris Et Ses Environs. Carte Geologique Detaillee. Carte Topographique De L'Etat Major, 1890 Service Geologique Des Mines (France), Paris This map has incredible detail, showing the geological formations around Paris plus the topographical depiction of the area at the end of the 19th century. 4 sheets, each dissected into 18 sections, mounded and edged with linen. Plus a composite image of all 4 sheets joined together. With printed full color by geological formations. View Map
	Rand, McNally & Co.'s New Shippers' Railroad Map of the United States, 1891 Rand McNally, Chicago This is a huge 13 part map of the United States railroads from the east coast to the 105th meridian. When all 13 parts are joined, they form a map more than 12 feet high by 20 feet wide. Railroads are shown in great detail at a scale of 8 miles to 1 inch, making this one of the largest scale railroad maps of the late 19th century. 2 additional maps show the U.S. from the west coast east to the 93rd meridian, at a smaller scale.View Maps
	Lines Of The Bell Telephone Companies. United States And Canada, 1910 American Telephone and Telegraph, Boston Shows the extent of telephone lines in the U.S. and Canada in 1910. The long distance lines are primarily in the eastern half of the country, with one line running as far west as Denver. There are no long distance lines in the west, and few local lines except in California. However, there are many lines in the mid west, with Iowa having greater phone development than Pennsylvania. A fascinating map showing the growth of the phone system at an early stage. View Map
	Andrews' Schoolroom Chart Of Geographical Illustrations, 1915 Rutley, F., London Date is approximate. A wonderful large school chart intended to show all kinds of Geographical Illustrations and how they convey information. Maps include: Map Of Europe, untitled birds eye view of land formations, The Earth In Space, The World In Hemispheres, Zones (also showing mountains of the world), The Seasons, Hemispheres Shewing The Proportion Of Land To Water, and Points Of The Compass (showing rivers of the world). Profile is titled "Section Of The Earth's Crust." View Map
	Rand McNally Commercial Atlas of America, 1924 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago This edition has excellent auto route maps of the entire United States. The atlas combines detailed railroad maps and distance maps based on railroads, with the new and growing automobile road system maps showing the road "trail" markings which we presume are an early attempt to provide consistent naming of roads that extend beyond local routes. In addition there are copious indexes showing place names, railroads, population statistics, post offices, telegraph stations, and more. The maps of large cities show the location of major railroad depots, stations, and yards. Maps are often with printed color. View Atlas
	The Histomap. Four Thousand Years Of World History. Relative Power Of Contemporary States, Nations And Empires, 1925 Rand McNally and Company, Chicago A classic 20th century version of a stream of time map showing the flow of history from 2000 B.C. to 1925. The printed sheet of explanation that accompanies the map states: "To the casual reader a Histomap will open a new field of thought. It will enlarge his vision and add zest to his reading. To the student of history it is a necessary auxiliary to that subject, as necessary as the map is to geography and should form the basis from which the intelligent reader can widen and deepen his knowledge by further reading. The Histomap fills a long felt need. It is modern in theory and practice. It presents an actual picture of the world's history bristling with significant facts in orderly correlation, with which the reader will easily associate, (and therefore remember) all the related facts and ideas that he may pick up in his daily reading. Only by this active association of newly acquired facts and ideas into an orderly background of general history can the reader hope to remember and understand their significance and to appreciate the essential continuity and unity of the histories of all peoples. Accomplishing this he approaches that ideal of every intelligent reader, a true understanding of the struggles of the past and some degree of true vision of the future." View Map

Cartouches, or Decorative Map Titles

2010-01-07T17:22:02-08:00

Cartouches are the elaborate decorations that frame map titles and other information about the map. They add an artistic or symbolic narrative to the maps they describe. According to map historian Edward Lynam, cartouches that frame titles first appear on Italian maps in the 16th century. They persist on maps until the middle of the 19th century, going through many stylistic changes. Below are selected cartouches from maps in our collection, beginning in 1703 and ending in 1852. The cartouche styles in this 150 year period are remarkable for their diversity, symbolism, social commentary, and artistic beauty. Many of the cartouches appear to have iconographic meanings that may be lost to us today. Others are just wildly ornate, attempting to give the map they introduce a more arresting aspect. 50 cartouches are shown below; click on any of the images to see the larger maps that the cartouches embellish.

This first group of three cartouches are from Guillaume de Lisle's World Atlas of 1731:

Carte du Canada ou de la Nouvelle France et des decouvertes que y ont ete faites; Guillaume de Lisle; 1708.

Carte des Courones du Nord. Dediee au tres puissant et tres invincible Prince Charles XII; Guillaume de Lisle; 1706.

Carte de la Grece. Dressee sur un grand nombre de memoires anciens et nouveaux; Guillaume de Lisle; 1707.

Henry Popple's 1733 atlas Map of the British Empire in America features a cartouche remarkable for its mysterious symbolism, including a severed head of a (we assume European) man with an arrow sticking into it:

A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto; Henry Popple; 1733.

A detail of the Henry Popple map cartouche showing the severed head with arrow, a crocodile, two monkeys, and female figure.

Another detail of the Henry Popple map cartouche showing a female figure with child, pointing to scenes of trade and commerce.

The large, ornate cartouche of John Mitchell's Map of the British and French Dominions in North America is shown below in the London edition, the Paris edition by Le Rouge, and the derivative Italian edition by Zatta:

A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America ; John Mitchell; 1757 (London edition).

Amerique Septentrionale avec les Routes, Distances en miles, Limites et Establissements Francois et Anglais. Par le Docteur Mitchel; John MItchell; 1756 (Paris edition by Le Rouge).

Le Colonie Unite dell' America Settentrle; Mitchell, John; Raynal, G.T.; Zatta, Antonio; 1778 (Venice, Italy, edition by Zatta).

Here is the elegant map cartouche of the immense, nine sheet Plan of St. Petersburg 1753, with a depiction of and dedication to the Empress Elizabeth of Russia:

Plan stolichnago goroda Sanktpeterburga s izobraheniem znatiieshikh onago prospektov, izdannyi trudami Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk i khudozhestv. Plan de la ville de St. Petersbourg avec ses principales vues dessine & grave sous la direction de l'Academie imperiale des sciences et des arts; Akademiia nauk SSSR; 1753.

Five imaginative and artistic map cartouches from the Atlas Universel by Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy, 1757:

Carte de l'Egypte Ancienne et Moderne; Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy; 1753.

L'Empire de la Chine, Dresse d'apres les cartes de l'Atlas Chinois; Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy; 1751.

L'Empire du Japon; Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy; 1750.

Nouvelle France ou le Canada; Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy; 1755.

Etats du Grand-Seigneur en Asie, Perse, Pays des Usbecs, Arabie; Didier and Gilles Robert de Vaugondy; 1753.

Thomas Jefferys used cartouches showing scenes of commerce and landscape in many of the maps in his American Atlas, published after his death by Sayer and Bennet in 1776, three of which are shown below:

A Map of the most Inhabited part of New England; Thomas Jefferys; 1776.

A Map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia; Thomas Jefferys; 1776.

The Provinces of New York, and New Jersey; with part of Pennsilvania, and the Province of Quebec; Thomas Jefferys; 1776.

Some of Thomas Jefferys' maps were also published posthumously by Kitchin, Laurie and Whittle in their New Universal Atlas of 1787, including this map of the Western Coast of Africa (derived from a French map by D'Anville) with a cartouche full of various African themes:

The western coast of Africa from Cape Blanco to Cape Virga; Thomas Jefferys; 1789.

Even Thomas Jefferys' trade-card was in the form of an elaborate cartouche:

Thomas Jefferys Engraver... (trade card advertisement); Thomas Jefferys; 1750.

James Cook's 1773 map of South Carolina has a cartouche that follows Jefferys' themes of colonial enterprise, nature, and indigenous peoples:

A Map of the Province of South Carolina; James Cook; 1773.

The four cartouches below using engraved Baroque style frames are from maps in Thomas Kitchin's General Atlas of 1790:

England and Wales; John Rocque; 1790.

Map of the Empire of Germany; Louis Stanislas d'Arcy Delarochette; 1790.

A new map of North America, with the West India Islands; Thomas Pownall; 1786.

A map of South America; Thomas Kitchin; 1787.

William Faden's General Atlas of 1811 included the four map cartouches below, placing titles in buildings, on mountains and rocks, and adding humorous elements (as on the map of Turkey in Europe):

Greece, Archipelago and part of Anadoli; Louis Stanislas d'Arcy Delarochette, William Faden; 1791.

Nouvelle carte de la Suisse; William Faden; 1799.

A map of Bengal, Bahar, Oude & Allahabad; James Rennell, William Faden; 1786.

European dominions of the Ottomans, or Turkey in Europe; William Faden; 1795.

Aaron Arrowsmith, London map publisher, used cartouches on many of his wall maps, including depictions of Niagara Falls, the tropics, and portraits of explorer Captain James Cook:

A map of the United States of North America; Aaron Arrowsmith; 1802.

Map of America; Aaron Arrowsmith; 1811.

Map of the World on a Globular Projection; Aaron Arrowsmith; 1808.

American map publishers used modest cartouches starting in the late 18th century and gradually developed more elaborate ones in the first half of the 19th century:

Vermont From actual Survey Delineated & Engraved by Amos Doolittle; Mathew Carey; 1795.

Connecticut From the best Authorities. Delineated & Engraved by A. Doolittle; Mathew Carey; 1796.

Map Of Massachusetts; Osgood Carleton; 1801.

New Hampshire; Philip Carrigain; 1816.

To The Citizens Of Philadelphia This New Plan Of The City And Its Environs Is respectfully dedicated By the Editor; Charles P. Varle; 1802.

The State of New York with part of the adjacent States; John H. Eddy; 1818.

Map of Pennsylvania, constructed from the county surveys authorized by the State; John Melish; 1826.

Samuel Lewis' simple illustration of a traveler with his dog form the title cartouche for his 1819 map of the United States:

The travellers guide. A new and correct map of the United States; Samuel Lewis; 1819.

Joseph Bouchette's maps of Canada were surveyed and drawn by him in Canada, but printed in London by William Faden. The cartouches for two of the maps below are extremely ornate, probably reflecting the influence of Faden:

Map of the Provinces of Upper & Lower Canada with the adjacent parts of the United States of America; Joseph Bouchette, William Faden; 1815.

Topographical map of the Province of Lower Canada; Joseph Bouchette, William Faden; 1815.

Philadelphia map publisher Henry Tanner used scenes of the American landscape in his panoramic cartouches for his maps of North America, New England, and the United States:

A Map of North America; Henry Tanner; 1823.

Map Of The States Of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut & Rhode Island; Henry Tanner; 1823.

United States of America; Henry Tanner; 1829.

Smaller, independent American map publishers produced some interesting variations. This pocket map of Ohio by Columbus, Ohio map publisher Hiram Platt has an unusual cartouche:

Ohio; Hiram Platt; 1825.

S.A. Mitchell and James H. Young of Philadelphia used landscape and commerce as the themes for this cartouche:

Map Of The United States; Samuel Augustus Mitchell, James H. Young; 1831.

Even American school atlas maps had cartouches, as shown in this map from Thomas Smiley's Atlas of 1842:

N. America; Thomas T. Smiley; 1842.

By the middle of the 19th century, map cartouches were incorporating actual views of cities or landscapes into the maps to add decoration to the titles, as in this map of Naples, Italy and the one below it of North America:

Naples. Napoli.; Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: 1844.

Map of North America; J.H. Colton; 1852.

The use of views to embellish maps largely replaced decorative cartouches after 1850. In a sense, the illustrated cartouche now wraps the entire map, not just the title. Three examples are shown below, the first from the Illustrated Atlas of 1851 by Martin and Tallis:

Ceylon; R.M. Martin, J & F. Tallis: 1851.

An even more ornate example of map illustration is this map from Levasseur's Atlas National Illustre des 86 Departments et des Possessions De La France from 1856:

Dept. De Corsica; Victor Levasseur; 1856.

The final example of the use of views is this map from Fullarton's Royal Illustrated Atlas of 1872, one of the last of the decorative atlases published in the 19th century:

British Possessions on the North East Coast of South America; A. Fullarton & C0.; 1872.

This entire group of cartouches and the maps they are taken from can be seen as a slide-show or as a group. For further reading, especially on the early period of map cartouches from the 16th and 17th centuries, see Edward Lynam's discussion of cartouches in his 1953 Mapmaker's Art (PDF).