Abstract

This study, demonstrating that the annotations in many older atlases can provide evidence for unraveling intriguing and historically significant stories related to their provenance, is intended to encourage curators to recognize and preserve such annotations for future historical research. The study is based on the discovery of eight exceptional pre-1900 atlases in the collections of the Boston Public Library. These atlases are noteworthy because they contain prominent annotations or alterations (bookplates, owner’s signatures, acquisition stamps, explanatory notes, the addition or deletion of maps, or the combining of more than one title in the same binding). These clues helped unravel their history, determining who owned them, how they were used, and how the library acquired them. In addition to these exciting stories based on their hidden or unrecorded provenance, this paper serves as a case study of how major American cartographic collections acquired and built strong map and atlas collections during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It also adds to a growing literature that looks at the “social life” or biography of cartographic materials, by addressing how they were used, following compilation, publication, and marketing.

摘要

这项研究表明，许多旧地图集中的注释可以为解开与其出处相关的有趣且具有历史意义的故事提供证据，旨在鼓励策展人识别并保存此类注释，以供未来的历史研究使用。该研究基于在波士顿公共图书馆馆藏中发现了 8 个 1900 年前的特殊地图集。这些地图集值得注意，因为它们包含显着的注释或改动（书签、所有者签名、购置印章、解释说明、地图的添加或删除，或在同一装订中合并多个标题）。这些线索有助于解开它们的历史，确定它们的所有者、使用方式以及图书馆如何获取它们。除了这些基于隐藏或未记录出处的激动人心的故事之外，本文还作为案例研究了美国主要的制图馆藏如何在 19 世纪和 20 世纪早期获得和建立强大的地图和地图集。它还增加了越来越多的文献，这些文献着眼于“社会生活”或制图材料的传记，通过讨论它们在编辑、出版和营销之后的使用方式。