The British Library has released an archive of nearly 18,000 maps and views –digitized—and no copyright restrictions.  Access is free!

The collection is from the Topographical Collection of King George lll and held by the British Library for four centuries of visual  impressions of places throughout the world, from maps and atlases to architectural drawings, cartoons and watercolors. 

Once the collection is totally digitized, the Library plans to make entire collection of 40,000 maps and views available.

The collection is arranged geographically, with around 40% dedicated to the British Isles, one third covering the Europe of the Grand Tour, and 10% for British areas of influence such as North America, the West Indies and India.

There are two planned image releases:

1. British Library’s Georeferencer (http://britishlibrary.georeferencer.com/start) an interactive application that allows volunteers to turn maps into data by adding locations to digitized British Library collections,

       initiating new forms of discovery and research.

1. Fiickr  (https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/albums/72157716220271206  and can be searched for in the Library’s archive at http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do

To read more see: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2020/10/13/british-library-releases-18000-maps-and-views-for-free/

Thank you to Jeanette Rosenberg, JGS Great Britain for sharing this information with us.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee