The size of the collection is about 10,000 items. The strengths of the collection are maps of New England of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and, more specifically, maps of Massachusetts. AAS purchased this collection in 1992. No major acquisitions comparable in size to the collections of John W. Farwell or Thomas W. Streeter have arrived at the Society since 1958, and purchases of cartographic materials each year are restricted to a few items.
Gifts are always welcome.
Although the geographical arrangement and index of the map collection are adequate for answering reference questions posed by local historians and genealogists, it is almost impossible to respond to queries posed by cartographic historians with respect to cartographers or to techniques used in the compilation of a map. There are partial indices to the collection by engraver and by lithographer. This was reprinted in 1985. These bibliographies are useful to anyone using the collection because they provide access points not available in other finding aids at the Society. The atlas collection is housed in several different locations.