Uncatalogued collections

Some categories of material are not fully catalogued and these items will not, therefore, be found easily in the online or card catalogues or in ArchiveSearch.

A brief listing of these uncatalogued items and collections is given below. For more information please consult a member of staff.

1. Individual sheets of topographic and thematic map series

• The individual map sheets in map series are not catalogued. There will be just one catalogue entry for the series (e.g. Brazil 1:100,000) and individual sheets are identified from a graphic index (a diagram that shows the arrangement of sheets in a map series and their names or numbers). Ask a member of staff for help. 

2. Great Britain - Ordnance Survey large scale (detailed) County and National Grid series maps

• a) 1:500, 1:528. 1:1,056, 1:5,280 town plan series - London and other towns. 
• b) 1:1,250, 1:2,500, 1:10,000 and 1:10,560 series. 
• c) SIM etc. microform aperture cards, i.e. 1:1,250 and 1:2,500 National Grid maps. 
• Ask staff for graphic indexes.

3. Ireland - Large scale map series produced by Ordnance Survey Ireland and Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland

• a) 1:1,000, 1:1,056 town and village plan series. 
• b) 1:1,250, 1:2,500, 1:5,280 and 1:10,560 series. 
• Ask staff for graphic index.

4. Air photo mosaics - Great Britain, 1:10,560 and 1:1,250, ca. 1946 - 1948 [Classmarks = Maps.APM.01. & 02.]

• The mosaics have the same sheet numbers as the Ordnance Survey 6" and 50" National Grid maps. Ask staff for the graphic indexes.
• Please note that coverage is limited.
• See also the Spot the Difference blog post.

5. Administrative maps of British counties compiled by Ordnance Survey, ca. 1973 - [Classmark = Maps.31.011.]

• Filed by county name.
• No listing of holdings available.

6. Goad plans of shopping centres [Classmark = Maps.33.022.]

• Filed alphabetically by name of town.
• No listing available.

7. Admiralty charts, pilots' guides and ancillary material [Classmark = Maps.719.01. to Maps.719.05.]

• Earlier charts were catalogued separately and may be found via the card and/or online catalogues. However, since ca. 1970 they have only been listed in the class catalogue, a manuscript shelf list.
• Consult the Hydrographic Office’s Catalogue of Admiralty Charts [Atlas.1.06] for chart numbers
• Scans of the old Admiralty chart catalogues are available on UK Hydrographic Office website

8. Synoptic weather charts [Classmark = Maps.W.]

• Listed in class catalogues (manuscript shelf lists). Ask a member of staff.

9. Particulars of sale (sales particulars for properties in Great Britain and Ireland)

• Uncatalogued particulars (which mostly date from the 19th and early to mid 20th centuries) are arranged by county and are available by prior arrangement.   
• Many particulars of sale are catalogued and can be found via the card catalogue or iDiscover [classmarks have prefix Maps.PS. & Maps.PSQ.] or ArchiveSearch [classmarks have prefix Maps.PSV]
• Use this link to start an iDiscover search for Sales Particulars - just add a place name in the 'Any field' line or, if this retrieves too many non-relevant results (e.g. for larger places such as Cambridge), change the 'Any field' option to 'Subject'. 
• See also the Fruitful Resource blog post.

10. Maps and diagrams to accompany books in the main library

• These are arranged in the order of the classmark of the parent document.

11. Photographic slide and postcard collections

12. Map sellers' catalogues (official, private, modern, antiquarian) 

13. Miscellaneous items and information listed in subsidiary card indexes 

• Mainly obsolescent 

14. Road maps of USA and Canada

• Some road maps, particularly those that were distributed free of charge by oil companies, tourism offices, etc. have been placed, uncatalogued and unlisted at these classmarks:

• Maps.c.M.012 Maps of individual states in USA
• Maps.c.M.013 Maps of individual provinces in Canada
• Maps.c.M.014 Maps of groups of states in USA
• Maps.c.M.015 Maps of whole groups of provinces in Canada

Publicly available lists of uncatalogued collections

15. Cambridge University Expeditions Society (CUEX)

• Collection of reports, etc compiled by the University's Expeditions Society
• Partial catalogue (PDF file)
• Society archives held in CUL's Department of Manuscripts and Archives can be found on ArchiveSearch

The items in the following collections are listed in databases from which PDF files have been generated and put online to aid access. These lists can be searched via the links below. Note that in every case Map Department staff will have access to current versions of the lists.

16. Town plans 

Many, though not all, of our town plans have been placed in one of three classmarks:

• Maps.TPE Plans of towns in England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. List arranged by town name 
• Maps.TPI Plans of towns in Ireland. List arranged by town name 
• Maps.TP Plans of towns in all other areas (i.e. outside of Great Britian and Ireland). List arranged by country and then by town name 

17. Country Maps [Classmark = Maps.CTRY]

• A collection of maps of continents, countries and parts of countries of the world, excluding Great Britain, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. Arranged by country and place within that country
• List of the maps at the classmark
• List only of countries and parts of countries of which there are maps in this collection 

18. Cartographic Calendars [Classmark = Maps.Calendars]

• Calendars illustrated with usually 12 pictures of old maps. Includes a few calendars with views of Cambridge. 
• List ordered by Year 
• List ordered by Publisher 

19. Cartographic Facsimiles [Classmark = Maps.Facsimiles]

• Facsimiles of printed and manuscript maps (and a few views). 
• List ordered by Area covered by the facsimile. 
• List ordered by Cartographer
• Other facsimiles are catalogued online or in our card catalogue 

20. Tourist maps of Great Britain and Ireland, and parts of Great Britain and Ireland [Classmark = Maps.GBI]

• A collection of tourist maps of Great Britain and parts of Great Britain and Ireland. Usually distributed free. Arranged by place - ask a member of staff
• List of maps in this collection arranged by place 

21. Fantasy Maps [Classmark = Maps.Fantasy]

• A collection of maps of imaginary, fictitious, fantasy lands and places.
• The collection was assembled in 2014-2015 by Ian Pittock, Cambridge University Library Map Department staff member, who posted a request for examples of fantasy maps on the Cartographers' Guild website. This resulted in some high definition files being supplied and it is from these that the prints were made.
• The Cartographers’ Guild is 'a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed ... membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs'. They specialise in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing).
• List of maps in the collection arranged by classmark 

This text is also available as Information Sheet 5B - Uncatalogued Collections (a MS Word document) or ask a member of Map Department staff for a hard copy.