Follow this guide to learn how to best use the David Rumsey map
collection for your research. Ever since maps were first carved
into clay tablets in ancient Babylon, historians have relied
upon them to provide a snapshot of a place at a particular time.
For genealogists, historical maps are a window into where
ancestors lived, worked and traveled. Maps bring context to
genealogical research challenges and can help you scale even the
tallest brick walls. The David Rumsey Map Collection website,
named for the noted map collector, looms large in the online
cartography world. The site has digitized more than 33,000 maps,
globes and atlases over the past 25 years. And while the
collection focuses on rare 18th- and 19th-century maps of North
and South America, it also features maps of Asia, Africa and
Europe.