Maps
The Mitchell Library and Sir William Dixson Research Library hold one of the most significant collections of maps in Australia, reflecting changes in mapmaking from the charts of European navigators, maritime surveys and nineteenth century cartography to the computer generated mapping of today. Map formats include manuscript and printed individual maps, map series, subdivision plans, hydrographic charts, atlases, digital cartographic data sets and CD ROMs.
The Maps section acquires maps through donation or purchase. Acquisitions are considered on the basis of a map's historical and informational value. Current editions of maps published in New South Wales are deposited with the Library under legal deposit provisions.
Scope of the collection
Geographic coverage is worldwide, with the main focus on New South Wales, then Australia, the Pacific region and Antarctica.
Collection strengths include:
- Original manuscript maps relating to Eastern and Pacific trade routes, and European exploration and colonisation. Of major importance are the Tasman Map, the Gijsbertsz Map of Africa, Asia and the East Indies, and the Miranda World Map.
- Rare pre-1800 European maps, charts and atlases relating to exploration and navigation in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Early surveys of Australia and the Pacific including charts by James Cook, Alexander Dalrymple, William Bradley, John Hunter, William Bligh, Matthew Flinders and Phillip Parker King.
- Comprehensive holdings of nineteenth century maps of Sydney, NSW and the other Australian states.
- Maps recording inland exploration of Australia including the expeditions of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Augustus Charles Gregory and Donald Mackay.
- The subdivision plan collection of subdivision posters and survey plans mainly of Sydney from the 1880s to 1930s - a valuable resource for researching local and social history.
- Other collection strengths include World War I maps, topographic and thematic map series, and twentieth century maps of Sydney and NSW.
Contact Maps for specific information about the collection. Use Accessing items to find out how to access maps in our collections. For a brief guide on using the Maps catalogues and collections see Getting Started: Maps research.
Top image: Detail from the Tasman (Bonaparte) map, circa 1695. Ornate manuscript map on Japanese paper bought in 1891 by Prince Roland Bonaparte, and presented to the Mitchell Library by the Princess George of Greece in 1931. Now thought to be neither by Tasman nor from 1644, this map is important for being the only first-hand record of Tasman’s route in 1644.
