Skip to Main Content

Map & Atlas Collections

Check here for current Offers

Digitized Historic Maps of Africa


16th - Earth 20th Century Maps of Africa
This site features digital copies of 113 antique maps of Africa and accompanying text dating from the mid 16th Century to the early 20th Century. All scanned maps are authentic and originally collected by the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies (or the Africana Library) at Northwestern University.

The cartouche above is from a beautiful 1635 map by Bleau

Digitized Maps of Africa : Beyond Northwestern

The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University Library is further enhanced with Africana maps which are housed in the Map Collection. The collection also houses topographic maps of Africa. Cataloging of maps is in progress. Meanwhile, please ask us to locate maps you need.

Northwestern University Library: 16th-Early 20th Century Maps of Africa
Our invaluable historic maps of Africa were digitized and available for viewing & downloading from this site. 

Map History: Africa
A collection of links to online & historic Africa maps.

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - Africa Maps
This library links to online Africa maps available on the web and also scanned maps from its map collection - good sources for contemporary, mid-scale topographic maps produced by US government.

Harvard - AfricaMap
AfricaMap lets researchers discover and explore various geographic information on one map. Various data and scanned historic & topographic maps ("Map Layers" > "Base Mapping") are available from the site.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database
This database (here is the actual database download site) compliments a new atlas, Atlas of The Transatlantic Slave Trade, You can also see the flows of the slave trade in the AfricaMap site above (see under "Map Layers" > "Economics" category.)