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Boeckmann Center Iberian and Latin American map collection
0526
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Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Boeckmann Center Iberian and Latin American map collection
Identifier/Call Number: 0526
Identifier/Call Number: 383
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/3/resources/520
Physical Description:
9.83 Linear Feet
17 boxes and 2 oversize folders
Date (inclusive): 1559-2013
Date (bulk): 1800s-1990s
Abstract: This collection contains over 200 printed maps and small atlases, from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries, relating
to the geographic areas of Latin America, including the Caribbean, and Spain and Portugal. Most are not widely held by other
libraries, and some are unique to USC.
Language of Material: Majority of the items are in Spanish, Portuguese and English, but some are in Catalan, Valencian, Italian, French or Latin.
Although Spanish and Portuguese are the principal languages of Iberia and Latin America, and most represented in this collection,
many other languages may be represented in the collection.
The maps in this collection date from 1599 to 2013, with the majority from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many are
rare, scarce or ephemeral. The oldest map, from Basel, 1559, is of the Western Hemisphere by Sebastian Munster. The next oldest
is by the notable cartographer Abraham Ortelius, printed in 1579 for his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The map, entitled "Culiacana
Provincia; Cuba, et Spagniola," is also the earliest known map of western Mexico, with depictions of Cuba and other Caribbean
islands. 21st century maps added to the collection include a 2012 map from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and a 2013
map from Cuba. Types of maps found in this collection include small atlases, thematic, topographic, street and political maps.
Some are pictorial, archaeological or designed for tourists. Some of the maps were produced by the United States, Central
Intelligence Agency, the American Automobile Association, and the National Geographic Society, as supplements to National
Geographic magazine, and by Standard Oil Company and UNESCO. Many of the Latin American country and city maps were published
by their national, state or provincial government agencies or by commercial publishers. In Cuba Ediciones GEO is the official
mapping company. In Mexico a number of commercial maps are by Guia Roji and Libreria Patria, and others are by INEGI and the
National Chamber of Commerce. In Spain, in addition to the government agencies such as TURESPANA and the Instituto Geografico
Nacional, companies producing maps found in the collection include Edisa, Banco de Bilbao, Firestone Espana, Almax, Distrimapas-Telstar,
and El Corte Ingles. These maps may be used to study local, regional and military history, cultural aspects (language and
music), boundary disputes, place name changes, location of archaeological sites or historic buildings, travel and recreation,
or to reveal relationships among geographic, economic, social and political factors. When used in combination with other works
held in the USC Libraries, such as large atlases, geographic reference books, histories and online sources, these maps may
assist in raising new questions, understanding relationships among diverse locations and identifying research priorities.
The collection is organized into six series. The first includes maps covering the entire region of Latin American or the subregions,
such as Middle America, Central American, South America, the Caribbean and the West Indies. The second series includes individual
country and/or city maps from Latin American, except for Cuba and Mexico. The third and fourth series include maps of Cuba
and Mexico. The fifth series covers the countries and cities of the Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal. The last series
includes oversize maps or rolled maps which require special housing.
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from maps and atlases must be submitted in writing to the Boeckmann Center
Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder# or item name], Boeckmann Center Iberian and Latin American collection of maps, Collection no. 0526, Boeckmann
Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
The majority of the maps in the collection, particularly from the nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, were donated
in 1985 by Mr.and Mrs. Herbert F. Boeckmann as part of their 80,000 volume collection of books, serials and other items for
the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. A number of maps from Latin America and Spain were donated to
the collection by USC alumni L.A. Murillo and Gladys Waddingham, other maps from Spain were received with a book collection
from the estate of Robert I. Burns. The maps by Munster and by Ortelius were purchased from rare map dealer and a bookseller
specializing in Latin Americana. The collection will be selectively supplemented through gifts and purchases.
This collection was initiated by the Boeckmann Center Librarian in 1985 to improve access to the maps and small atlases in
the collection of the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. Over the years the map collection has been
selectively supplemented with gifts and purchases. The primary criteria for inclusion is that the maps relate to the geographic
areas of Latin America, including the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal. Latin America is a term coined in the mid-ninteenth-century
for territories in the Western Hemisphere south of the United States border, most of which were part of the former Spanish
and Portuguese colonial empires. Other terms which refer to the region include New World, Hispanic America and Brazil, or
Ibero-America. Terms which define the subregions include Middle America, Caribbean, West Indies, Central America, and South
America. Iberia refers to the countries of Spain and Portugal which occupy the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe. Luso-Hispanic
world is another term used occasionally to describe the global influence of Spain and Portugal in the Americas, Africa and
Asia.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Caribbean Area -- Maps
Central America -- Maps
Cuba -- Maps
Latin America -- Maps
Mexico -- Maps
North America -- Maps
Portugal -- Maps
Spain -- Maps
Atlases
Maps