Map Collection, NYU Abu Dhabi Library

Call Number

AD.MC.019

Date

1561-2003, inclusive

Creator

Extent

347 Leaves in 2 boxes and 8 flat file drawers.

Language of Materials

English .

Arrangement

Most of the maps in this inventory have been cataloged, and have corresponding bibliographic records in the library catalog of New York University. This finding aid was created to enable easier access to the contents of the collection as a whole, and to aid the browsability of the collection.

While most of the maps are physically arranged in storage by library classification numbers (Library of Congress classification numbers), or grouped together by their size, the arrangement used in this inventory groups the maps by geographic regions, and then within those categories, alphabetically by the names of the map creators. While the map title, creator, date of creation, publication information, and dimensions are recorded here, further information about individual maps may be found in the corresponding bibliographic records in the NYU Libraries catalog.

Scope and contents

The Map Collection of the NYU Abu Dhabi Library was begun in 2014, following the establishment of the Archives and Special Collections department in library of the university's newly-opened Saadiyat Campus. As such, the collection was designed to be one of five core areas of Special Collections in the library, with an emphasis on preserving and making accessible rare or unique maps depicting the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian Gulf, surrounding areas of the Middle East and the Indian Ocean rim.

One key area of early collecting has been that of maps from European cartographers, demonstrating the evolving understanding of the region from the 16th through the early 19th centuries. Driven by expanded commerce with South and East Asia during these centuries, and a corresponding need for more accurate maps and charts of the regions that merchants passed through, the collection contains examples of maps that range from late Renaissance era maps largely based on Ptolemaic understandings of the region, including fanciful names of non-existant towns, rivers, or mountain ranges; to those that demonstrate the innovations of 17th century Dutch and French cartography, which provided an increasingly accurate view of the contours of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding regions, culminating in British works of the early 19th century, the product of a more active British commercial and military presence in the Gulf during that time.

Maps from the 20th century reflect a shift in commercial and military activities in the wider region, showing the impact of two World Wars, as well as the advent of the exploration and extraction of petroleum from countries around the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula. Maps from the British-led Egyptian Expeditionary Forces that pushed the armies of Ottoman Turkey out of the Levant during World War I, hydrographic charts from the British Royal Navy, as well as maps from German and British forces during World War II, show that while the region was not central to the struggles of the European powers, it was not far from their minds.

With the exploitation of the region's petroleum resources, questions of the demarcation of boundaries became essential, and some maps, such as the U.S. Geological Survey maps of Saudi Arabia from the 1970s, sought to provide a more accurate depiction of previously uncharted parts of the region. As as new states were formed around the Gulf during the mid-to-late 20th century, as well as the rapid development of other countries in the region, maps began to depict the burgeoning national consciousness of countries such as Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates.

Most of the maps in this collection were acquired individually or as groups. However, other relevant maps exist in the Archives and Special Collections department, usually as component parts of archival collections (such as the J.B. Kelly or Chris Kutschera collections), or as component parts of cataloged books or atlases from the Special Collections.

Collection processed by

Brad Bauer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 18:17:50 +0400.

Using Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules

Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Repository

NYU Abu Dhabi, Archives and Special Collections

Africa, 1855-1856, inclusive

Colton, J. H. (Joseph Hutchins). Africa : North Eastern sheet, 1856

box: Maps B, folder: 8 (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Dimensions

40 x 47 cm.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: New York, NY : J.H. Colton and Co.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G8220 .J43 1856

Colton, J. H. (Joseph Hutchins). Africa : North Western sheet, 1855

box: Maps B, folder: 10 (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Dimensions

40 x 47 cm.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: New York, NY : J.H. Colton and Co.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G8735 .J43 1855

Arabian (Persian) Gulf, 1939-1993, inclusive

Language of Materials

English, Arabic.

Scope and Contents

Includes nautical charts of the Gulf, as well as maps of countries on the Arabian littoral of the Gulf (maps pertaining to Iran are included within the "Persia/Iran" series).

Bahrain. Dāʼirat al-Ashghāl al-ʻĀmmah. Bahrain Islands, 1968

map-case: D, drawer: 1 (Material Type: Maps)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [Manama?] Public Works Dept., Bahrain Government

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7590 1968 .B3

Bandar Abbas, 1945

Extent

1 Leaves

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: London : Edward Stanford Ltd

Brownbook Publishing. The great outdoors [cartographic material]

map-case: D, drawer: 1 (Material Type: Maps)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [Dubai]: Brownbook Publishing

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G3201 .E65 B7 2010

Edgell, J.A. Persian Gulf: Um al-Qaiwain to Ras al Matbakh., 1939

Extent

1 Leaves

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [S.l.] : British Admiralty

Great Britain. Directorate of Military Survey. Bahrain 1:50,000 (2 parts: Bahrain North and Bahrain South), 1973

map-case: D, drawer: 1 (Material Type: Maps)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [London] : Ministry of Defense

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7590 1973

Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission. Takhṭīṭ al-ḥudūd al-dawlīyah bayna Jumhūrīyat al-ʻIrāq wa-Dawlat al-Kuwayt, 1993

map-case: D, drawer: 5 (Material Type: Maps)

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: Kuwait : al-Umam al-Muttaḥidah, al-Lajnah

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7611.F2 1993 .I7

Southern, R.N. Persian Gulf, Trucial Oman. Ras Abu al Mishut to Fasht al Arif, 1947

Extent

1 Leaves

General

4305234

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [S.l.] : British Admiralty, 1947

United Kingdom. Admiralty. Hydrographic Office. [Collection of 34 UK Admiralty Charts: The Arabian Gulf]., 1950

Extent

34 Leaves

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: London : United Kingdom. Admiralty. Hydrographic Office

Arabian Peninsula, 1561-1977, inclusive

Cheesman, R. E. (Robert Ernest). Arabia : routes between ʻOqair and Jabrin oasis in Eastern Nejd, 1925

map-case: C, drawer: 1A (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Dimensions

measuring 51 x 48 cm.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: London: Royal Geographical Society

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7521.S12 1925 .C4

Gastaldi, Giacomo [after Ptolemy]. Arabia Felice Nuova Tavola, 1561

box: Maps A, folder: 3 (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Dimensions

22 x 28 cm.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: Venetia : Appresso Vincenzo Valgrisi

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G 7420 .P8 1561

Hole, William. Great Desert of Arabia, 1614

box: Maps B, folder: 5 (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Dimensions

32 x 38 cm.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: S.l. : s.n.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7610 .H6 1614

Holt, A. L. Surveys of Syrian and Arabian Deserts, 1920-1922. The topography along the southern route has been amplified by H. St. J.B. Phillby..., 1925

Extent

1 Leaves

Bibliographic number:

7945553

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: London : War Office. General Staff. Geographical Section,

Lallkan, P.G. (India. Army. Aden Troop). Map of country round Aden Arabia, 1872

box: Maps B, folder: 3 (Material Type: Maps)

Extent

1 Leaves

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: Aden : Aden Troop Office

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Library call number: G7520 .L35 1872

Mariette, Pierre. Carte des trois Arabies: tirée en partie de l'Arabe de Nubie, en partie de divers autres autheurs., 1654

Extent

1 Leaves

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [s.l.] : Chez Pierre Mariette

Ottoman Military Engineers. Yemen Vilâyeti haritasi... / [The Ottoman Vilayet of Yemen.]., 1907

Extent

1 Leaves

Bibliographic number:

7556533

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Publication data: [S.l.] : [s.n.]

Playfair, James. Arabia: drawn and engraved for Dr. Playfair's atlas, 1821

Extent

1 Leaves