The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection is a large private

map collection A map collection or map library is a storage facility for maps, usually in a library, archive, or museum, or at a map publisher or public-benefit corporation, and the maps and other cartographic items stored within that facility. Sometimes, ...

with over 150,000

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s and

cartographic Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

items. The collection was created by David Rumsey who, after making his fortune in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

, focused initially on collecting 18th- and 19th century maps of

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, as this era "saw the rise of modern cartography." After 2004 Rumsey expanded the collection to include maps from the 16th though 21st centuries, covering more of the world. In 2008 the collections's website was cited as one of only seven websites with freely available "skillfully compiled carto-bibliographic entries with corresponding early-map images."Joel Kovarsky (2008), "Carto-Bibliography on the Web: Links Combinging Text and Image", ''Imago Mundi'', vol. 60, no.1, pp. 93–96. . At that time the site comprised 16,000 digital images. In February 2009, David Rumsey announced that the entire collection would be donated to Stanford University, including 150,000 maps and their digital images, as well as the database used to track the images. Stanford houses the collection in the new David Rumsey Map Center which opened in the main library in 2016. The website (where the images are posted on-line) was to continue as a separate public resource. As of February 2022, there were over 114,000 digitized items available through the website, hundreds of which were hosted through Google Earth layers. Select maps are also featured at the Rumsey Maps island in Second Life. as well as 2D and 3D GIS. A new MapRank search tool has been added enabling geographical searching of about 60,000 maps from the collection by map location and coverage. In addition, a Georeferencer tool has been added that allows site users to georeferenced and display any of the maps in the collection. The website has additional viewers from Luna Imaging, Inc, including the LUNA browser which doesn’t require any special plug-ins or software to view the collection, zoom into image detail, create slide shows, media groups, or presentations. The website also has a blog listing new additions to the collection, featured maps, news, videos, and related sites. When a document is found on the website, it is usually accompanied by extensive metadata, such as author, date of publication,

short title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. T ...

, type, dimensions, note(s), area, full title of the document, full title of the publication it may be part of with notes and download options.E.g.
''Caarte Vande Reede ende Haven van Medenblick, hoemen die ...''
by Willem Jansz. Blaeu from 1620

References

External links

David Rumsey Map Collection: Cartography Associates
{{commons category-inline, David Rumsey Historical Map Collection Map collections Historical geographic information systems Discipline-oriented digital libraries American digital libraries Map websites