Annotated Atlases: Unraveling Hidden Stories of Provenance

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.