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Atlases and Maps

Atlases are distributed through three main divisions of the  Department: Historic Maps, Rare Book, and Manuscripts.  Examples:  Numerous early editions of Ptolemy are part of the Grenville Kane Collection in the Rare Book Division.  Historic Maps holds a number of important atlases such as the  rare Ottoman imprint, Cedid Atlas Tercümesi (New Atlas Translation), printed in Istanbul in 1803. The Manuscripts Division has  Kane MS. 57, a portolan atlas (Spain or Italy, 3rd quarter of the 16th century), with four charts. 

Single maps are also distributed with the largest concentration being in the Historic Maps Collection.  Notable among those bound in books in the Rare Book Division is the rare "White Hills" map of New England, which is the first map produced in North America. It was issued in William Hubbard's A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians. Boston, 1677. For details refer to the Princeton University Library Chronicle XIV, 4 (Summer, 1953) p. 177-182 [full text] .  

In the Manuscripts Division, among the many notable is the manuscript original of the Eastern portion of the Mason-Dixon line. See: Thomas Streeter, "Princeton's Mason and Dixon Map" in the Princeton University Library Chronicle XVI, 2 (Winter, 1955) pp. 97-99 [full text] and [Howard C. Rice] "Princeton's Mason and Dixon Map" in the Princeton University Library Chronicle XXV, 2 (Winter, 1964) pp. 153-55 [ full text] as well as Nicholas Wainwright "Mason and Dixon's Map" in the Princeton University Library Chronicle XLV, 1 (Autumn, 1983) pp. 28-32. [ full text

 

Research Tools for Printed Material (Books, Maps, Prints, etc.)