Rare and Historical Maps
We have over 15,000 rare and historical maps in our collection including some of the earliest cartographic works by explorers of Australasia and other regions.
Access Rare and Historical Maps
Digital Maps
Our collection includes high-resolution digitised rare and historical maps.
Guides
Search
You can find most items in our collection in the Library Catalogue Some items are not in the catalogue. We can help you access these items. Search for more items in the library search tool Discovery or in individual ejournals or databases:
Significant Collections
The Walker Collection
Ronald and Pamela Walker donated a collection of 135 maps to the University of Melbourne in 1991. The collection includes beautifully ornamented and coloured works by important figures in the development of cartography, such as Claudius Ptolemy, Abraham Ortelius and Gerhard Mercator.
The collection includes maps of Asia Minor and nearby areas such as the Mediterranean, Middle East and Balkans, which few Western institutions hold.
All the maps in the collection have been digitised and can be viewed online:
- Walker Collection of Asia Minor & the Middle East, 1511-1774
- Walker Collection of Maps of Constantinople and surrounds, 1493-1734
A catalogue from an exhibition of maps from the Walker Collection held in 2005:
Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) maps
We hold many Victorian first series Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) maps, which contain footprints of buildings, pathways and other details. We also hold the second and third series MMBW maps:
Some digitised MMBW maps are available online from the State Library of Victoria: