Editorial

Abstract

The common theme for the articles in this special issue of the Journal of Map and Geography Libraries is “provenance.” While some in map librarianship may consider this an archival term and thusly not germane, we the editors, Ronald Grim and Ryan Moore, who started our careers in archival settings and moved on to work for the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, though at separate times, propose that provenance is very useful for map librarians. Forgoing the risks associated with assumptions, we define the term, by way of the Society of American Archivists, “provenance is a fundamental principal, referring to the individual, family, or organization that created or received the items in a collection. The principle of provenance or the respect des fonds dictates that records of different origins be kept separate to preserve their context.” Of course, it makes sense for archivists to examine groups of information and to keep common threads intact, thereby highlighting the purpose of the whole, with varying levels of description for the constituent parts. However, we think it is worthwhile for map librarians to adopt this approach, where applicable, to enhance description. In other words, the better a cartographic item’s total history and purpose are described, the more valuable an item or a group of items is for research. Case in point, coeditor Moore notes how the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division cataloged a set of maps of Great Britain, generically describing them as depictions of Great Britain in 1941 by the German General Staff. Upon examination, it was determined that these maps were, in fact, part of a German military feasibility study for a cross-channel invasion! Moore shared this information with cataloger extraordinaire, Charles Peterson, now retired, who reads German like Moore. Peterson then developed a richer record that incorporated provenance. To similar ends, this special edition’s five articles, written by map librarians in North America and Europe, explore the role of provenance. All discuss map or atlas collections within library settings with a focus on the origins of specific cartographic materials, examining such concerns as who created or first owned them, how they were used or consumed, and how they were acquired by the library. Mentioned in the articles are proposals for cataloging and digitizing the maps, moreover, including in those records information about provenance. We begin our exploration of provenance with an article by coeditor Grim that argues that no clue should be overlooked, whether it may be acquisition stamps, handwritten notes or acquisition documentation. He examines a small but exceptional group of annotated atlases acquired by the Boston Public Library during the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These annotations and alterations, along with published acquisition reports and genealogical records, demonstrate the https://doi.org/10.1080/15420353.2021.1926848