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Guide to the Walter William Ristow Papers MSS N

Guide to the Walter William Ristow Papers

MSS N

Summary Information

Abstract
Ristow was named head of New York Public Library’s map division in 1937 and served for nine years. In 1946 he began working at Library of Congress and was named chief of the map division in 1968. Ristow was born and raised in La Crosse, Wis., but spent most his adult life in the eastern United States. This collection consists of articles, 1933-1985, written by Walter W. Ristow, on the subjects of map librarianship and the history of maps and mapmaking. The articles are arranged alphabetically by title.
Collection Title
Walter William Ristow Papers
Date of Materials
1933-1985
Creator
Ristow, Walter William, 1908-
Call Number
MSS N
Amount
1.0 cubic foot
Physical Description
3 archives boxes
Language of Materials
English
Repository
La Crosse Public Library Archives

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Walter William Ristow Papers, MSS N, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

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Biographical Note

Walter W. Ristow was born in La Crosse in 1908. He received a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1931 and a master’s degree from Oberlin. After completing his doctoral studies in 1937, Ristow was named chief of the map division of the New York City Library. During World War II he also worked for the U.S. Military Intelligence preparing geographical information for air strikes in the Far East. Ristow was employed by the Library of Congress in 1946 and was made Chief of the Map Division in 1968. He retired in 1977. During his career Ristow wrote many articles on map librarianship and the history of maps and mapmaking.

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Scope and Contents

The Walter W. Ristow collection consists of articles written by Ristow during his career as a map librarian. They are arranged alphabetically by title.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

La Crosse Public Library Archives 1985 October

800 Main St.
La Crosse, Wisconsin, 54601
(608) 789-7136
archives@lacrosselibrary.org

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Acquisitions Information

Donated by Walter W. Ristow, October 1985, and Harold Ristow, October 1985

(Accession Nos. 1985.011, 1985.013)

Processing Information

Processed by Amy Groskopf, October 1985

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Related Materials

Related Materials

(016.623 N225 1977)
 Nautical Charts on Vellum in the Library of Congress, compiled by Walter W. Ristow and R. A. Skelton
(026.912 M321 1979)
 The Map Librarian in the Modern World: Essays in Honour of Walter W. Ristow, edited by Helen Wallis and Lothar Zogner
(026.912 R499A 1980)
 The Emergence of Maps in Libraries, by Walter W. Ristow
(338.76 R499A 1985)
 American Maps and Mapmakers: Commercial Cartography in the Nineteenth Century, by Walter W. Ristow
(912.73 R499A 1972)
 A La Carte, Selected Papers on Maps and Atlases, compiled by Walter W. Ristow
(Picture File)
 Portraits--Ristow, Walter W.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Library of Congress. Geography and Map Division.

Subject(s)

  • Cartography--History
  • Map collections
  • Maps

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OCLC Number

28417004

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Collection Inventory

Box Folder

"Aborted American Atlases," Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 36, 1979, p. 320-345. 

1 1

“Air Age Geography: A Critical Appraisal and Bibliography,” Journal of Geography, Dec 1944, p. 331-342. 

3 1

“Alfred T. Andreas and his Minnesota Atlas,” Minnesota History, v. 40, 1966, p.120-129. 

General note

Reprint

1 1

“American Road Maps and Guides,” Scientific Monthly, v. 62, 1946, p.397-406. 

General note

Reprint

1 1

“Anastatic Process in Map Reproduction,” The Cartographic Journal, v. 9, Jun 1972, p. 37-42. 

General note

Reprint

1 1

“Augustine Herman’s Map of Virginia and Maryland,” Library of Congress Quarterly Journal, Aug 1960, p. 221-226. 

3 1

Aviation Cartography, Library of Congress, 1956. 114 pgs. 

3 1

Aviation Cartography, 2nd rev. ed., Library of Congress, 1960. 245 pgs. 

3 2

“Cartographic Information Services of the Library of Congress,” The American Cartographer, v. 1, 1974, p. 125-130. 

General note

Reprint

1 2

“Cartographical Publications of the Library of Congress,” Professional Geographer, N.S. v. 2 no. 6, 1950, p. 25-32. 

1 2

“Cartography and Robinson Then and Now,” SLA Geography and Map Division’s Bulletin, no. 132, 1983, p. 8-16. 

General note

Reprint

1 2

“Cartography Exhibits,” Surveying and Mapping, Jan-Mar 1954, p. 18-25. 

General note

Reprint

3 3

“Cartography of the Battle of Bunker Hill,” Publicacoes do Centro de Estudos de Cartografia Antiga, Lisboa, 1979, p. 263-279. 

General note

Reprint

1 2

“A Covey of Names,” Birds in Our Lives edited by Alfred Stefferud, 1966, p.68-77. 

1 2

“Dutch Polder Maps,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 31, 1974, p. 136-149. 

1 3

“Early American Atlases,” Surveying and Mapping, v. 22, 1962, p. 569-574. 

General note

Reprint

1 3

“The Ebeling-Sotzmann Atlas von Nordamerika,” The Map Collector, (no date) p. 2-11. 

General note

Reprint

1 3

“Eliza Colles, America’s Forst Female Map Engraver,” (no date, circa 1980), The Map Collector

General note

Reprint

1 3

“Emergence of Maps in Libraries,” Special Libraries, v. 58, 1967, p. 400-419. 

General note

Reprint

1 3

“Facsimiles of Rare Historical Maps,” Library of Congress Quarterly Journal, Jan. 1960. 6 pgs. 

3 3

Facsimiles of Rare Historical Maps: A List of Reproductions for Sale by Various Publishers and Distributors, Washington DC rev. 1966; reprint 1967. 12 pgs. 

1 4

Facsimiles of Rare Historical Maps, 3rd rev. ed., Library of Congress, 1968. 20 pgs. 

3 3

“First Maps of the United States of America,” paper presented in Belgium, Sept 1976 on the subject of Cartography in the 18th Century and the Work of Count Ferraris, p. 179-190. 

1 4

“The French-Smith Map Gazetteer of New York State,” The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 36, 1979, p.68-90. 

1 4

“From Maps to Riches,” The Map Collector, 1979. 

General note

Reprint; 9 pages

1 4

“Geographical Information Please!,” Journal of Geography, v. 38, 1939, p. 314-318. 

General note

Reprint

1 5

Geography and Map Division: a guide to its collections and services. Washington, DC, rev. 1975. 42 pgs. 

1 5

“Geography and Map Libraries Subsection, International Federation of Library Associations,” Int. Libr. Rev. 2, 1970, p. 387-389. 

General note

Reprint

1 5

“The Greening of Map Librarianship,” Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division Bulletin, Mar. 1978, p. 2-9. 

General note

Reprint

3 3

“A Guide to Historical Cartography,” Library of Congress, 1954. 17 pgs. 

3 3

“Guide to the History of Cartography,” Library of Congress, 1973. 96 pgs. 

3 3

“The Haile Selassie Map of Ethiopia,” The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress. v. 27, Jul 1970, p. 257-266. 

1 6

“A Half Century of Oil-Company Road Maps,” Surveying and Mapmaking. 24, 1964, p. 617-637. 

General note

Reprint

1 6

“The Hauslab-Liechtenstein Map Collection,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Apr 1978, p. 108-138. 

3 4

“Historical Cartography in the United States, 1959-1963", Imago Mundi. 17, 1963, p. 106-114. 

General note

Reprint

1 6

“The Human Side of Maps,” Wilson Library Bulletin, Oct 1945, p. 151-152. 

3 4

“The Industrial Geography of Seneca Falls, N.Y.,” written with J. Norman Carls, Economic Geography, 1936, p. 289-293. 

General note

Reprint

3 4

“The Influence of Geography Upon the History of Bohemia,” The Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, v. 31, no. 2, Apr 1933, p. 73- 86. 

General note

Reprint

1 6

“John Melish and His Map of the United States,” Library of Congress Quarterly Journal, Sept 1962, p. 159-191. 

3 4

“Journalistic Cartography,” Surveying and Mapping. v. 27, no. 4, Oct-Dec 1957, p. 369-390. 

General note

Reprint

1 7

“The Library Map Collection,” Library Journal. 15 June 1942. 

General note

Reprint; 4 pages

1 7

“Library of Congress Computerized Map Cataloging Project,” written with David K. Carrington, Int. Libr. Rev. 2, 1970, p. 391-397. 

1 7

“Machine-readable Map Cataloging in the Library of Congress,” written with David K. Carrington, Special Libraries, v. 62, Sept 1971, p.343-352. 

General note

Reprint

1 7

“Map Collections in the Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Germany,” Special Libraries Association Geography and Map Division’s Bulletin, Jun 1971, p. 20-23. 

3 5

Map Division Manual No. 15, Library of Congress, 1950. 40 pgs. 

3 5

“Maps for an Emerging Nation, Commercial Cartography in the Nineteenth Century,” Library of Congress Quarterly Journal, 1977. 66 pgs. 

3 5

Maps in Libraries: A Bibliographic Summary,” Library Journal, Sept 1946, p. 1101-1106. 

3 6

“Map Librarianship,” Library Journal, v. 92, no. 18, Oct 1967, p. 3610-3614. 

General note

Reprint

1 7

“Map Library Education in the United States and Canada,” SLA Geography and Map Division’s Bulletin, no. 104, Jun 1976, p. 38-41. 

General note

Reprint

1 8

“Maps of Cloth,” Antiques Magazine, Apr 1947, p. 256-258. 

3 6

“Map Preservation: Developments and Trends,” paper presented at the Nordenskiold Seminar on the History of Cartography and Maintenance of Cartographic Archives, Espoo (Finland), 1979, p. 214-228. 

1 8

“Map Production and Procurement Today,” SLA Geography and Map Division’s Bulletin, no. 96, Jun 1974, p. 2-17. 

General note

Reprint

1 8

“The Map Publishing Career of John Pearsall Smith,” The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 26, no. 3, Jul 1969, p. 170-196. 

1 8

“Maps” (annual report on acquisitions), Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 23, 1966, p. 231-242. 

1 9

“Maps by Pendleton’s Lithography,” The Map Collector, circa 1992, p. 26-32. 

General note

Reprint

1 9

“Maps: How to Make them and Read them,” Journal of Geography, Oct 1943, p. 258-265. 

General note

Reprint

3 6

Maps: How to Make Them and Read Them: A Bibliography of General and Specialized Works on Cartography, New York, 1943. 

General note

Reprint; 8 pages

1 9

“Maps of Distinction,” Surveying and Mapping. v. 28 no. 4, Oct-Dec 1958, p. 445-448. 

General note

Reprint

1 9

“Maps of the American Revolution: A Preliminary Survey,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Jul 1971, p. 196-215. 

General note

Reprint

1 9

“Maps in War Time,” Education, Jan 1943. 

General note

Reprint; 4 pages

1 9

Marketing Maps of the United States: An Annotated Bibliography, 3rd ed., Library of Congress, 1958. 147 pgs. 

3 6

“The Melville Eastham Gift of Atlases,” written with Clara E. Le Gear, Library of Congress Quarterly Journal, Aug 1958, p. 219-227. 

3 7

“New Maps from Old: Trends in Cartographic Facsimile Publishing,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Jul 1967. 

General note

Reprint; 17 pages; originally titled "Recent Facsimilies Maps and Atlases"

1 10

“Newtown, Birthplace of Mapmakers,” The Map Collector, (no date), p. 22-26. 

General note

Reprint

3 8

“Nineteenth-century Cadastral Maps in Ohio,” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 59, 1965, p. 306-315. 

General note

Reprint

1 10

“Otto Lindberg: Finno-American road map publisher,” paper presented at Nordenskiold Seminar on the History of Cartography and the Maintenance of Cartographic Archives, Espoo (Finland), 1979, p. 177- 193. 

General note

Reprint

1 10

“Philip Lee Phillips, Cartobibliographer,” Kartensammlung und Kartendokumentation, no. 9, Karten in Bibliotheken, p. 95-109. 

General note

Reprint

1 10

“Recent Facsimile Maps and Atlases,” The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 24, Jul 1967, p. 213-229. 

1 11

“Robert Mill’s Atlas of South Carolina,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 34, Jan 1977, p. 52-66. 

1 11

The Services and Collections of the Map Division, Library of Congress: Washington D.C., 1951. 

General note

22 pages, 16 plates

1 12

“Seventeenth Century Wall Maps of America and Africa,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 24, Jan 1967, p. 3-17. 

1 12

“Simeon De Witt, Pioneer American Cartographer,” Kartengeschichte une Kartenbearbeitung, 1968, p. 103-114. 

General note

Reprint

2 1

“Some Recent Regional Atlases: a review,” The Geographical Review, v. 41, 1951, p. 479-484. 

General note

Reprint

2 1

“State Maps of the Southeast to 1833", The Southeastern Geographer, v. 6, 1966, p. 33-40. 

General note

Reprint

2 1

“A Survey of World Atlases,” Library Journal, Jan 15 and Feb 1, 1945. 

General note

Reprint; 8 pages

2 1

“Thank the Wheelmen for Your Road Map,” Frontiers, v. 11, 1946, p. 56-59. 

2 2

“Theatrum Orbis Terrarum 1570-1970", Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 27, 1970, p. 316-331. 

2 2

Three-Dimensional Maps: An Annotated List of References Relating to the Construction and Use of Terrain Models. Washington, D.C. 1951 (43 pgs) and 2nd ed., 1964 (38 pgs). 

2 3

“United States, 1965-1966", (summary of History of Cartography interests), Imago Mundi, no. 20, 1966, p. 90-94. 

3 7

“United States Fire Insurance and Underwriters Maps, 1852-1968,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, Jul 1968, p. 194-218. 

3 7

“U.S. Fire Insurance Maps, 1852-1968", Surveying and Mapping, v. 30, 1970, p. 19-41. 

General note

Reprint

2 3

“Visualizing and Mapping the World,” Global Geography, written by E. Willard Miller, 2nd ed., 1957, p. 171-194. 

General note

Reprint

2 3

The Western Hemisphere: An Exhibition Held at the New York Public Library: A List of Maps of the World and America from 1492 to 1942, New York, 1942. 

General note

27 pages

2 3

“What About Maps,” Library Trends, Oct 1955, p. 123-139. 

General note

Reprint

2 4

“World Reference Atlases,” Special Libraries, v. 38, 1947, p. 67-72. 

2 4

“World Reference Atlases: A Survey of Current Sources,” the American Society for Professional Geographers’ Bulletin

2 4

“Worlds of Christmas Greetings,” Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, v. 35, 1978, p. 234-241. 

2 4