More than 150,000 historic maps collected by David Rumsey are being donated to Stanford University, along with digital surrogates and the database Rumsey has created to made the maps accessible online. The first batch of 20 has already been turned over to the university's special collections department, with more to follow.
Rumsey said "Stanford is a pioneer in the digital library world. When I was thinking of who to give my collection to, I wanted to ensure the preservation not only of the original materials but also the digital copies I made. I knew Stanford would be the best place for them." He said he hopes that his example will encourage other donors to give original documents and digital copies at the same time.
The database (which I have used often and found excellent) currently contains more than 18,500 images, and Rumsey says he'd like to add up to 5,000 more each year.
[h/t Joel Kovarsky, MapHist]
