David Rumsey Map Collection

Abstract

The David Rumsey Map Collection is an online resource that provides free access to a rich collection of digitized historical maps and other cartographic materials. It is a private collection owned by the entrepreneur and philanthropist David Rumsey, who is the president of Cartography Associates, a not-for-profit volunteer organization. The portal is a result of an ongoing mass digitalization that began in 1997, with the long-term goal of making David Rumsey's rich collection freely available to the public. The collection contains high-resolution images of scanned maps, atlases, books, and other artifacts, as well as three-dimensional pictures such as interactive globes.