Maps in the Atlases of the British Library

Although there are catalogues of individual maps in The British Library, up to now there has been no thorough listing of the maps in the Library's large collection of atlases. This considerable study describes the map contents of over 3300 pre-1800 atlases, including general works of geography, history, and travel which contain nine or more maps. English material predominates, but the Library's holdings of Dutch, French and German atlases are substantial; there are also many atlases from other European countries, as well as those of Arabic, Persian and Oriental origin. Over 100 atlases are composite in nature, often preserving rare material not found elsewhere. Details of atlas publication, provenance, colour and binding are provided, together with itemization of each map, cross references and scholarly source material.