Books
The AGSL’s large monograph collection dates back to 1472 and contains some of the earliest printed geographical works. Broad themes include:
- The Age of Exploration
- The exploration and mapping of the United States
- The exploration of the polar regions
- Military geography, history and tactics
- Scientific exploration
- The history of cartography
- Descriptive regional geographical works
- Modern and early reference works
- The history of geographical thought and knowledge
Journals
Chauncy D. Harris and Jerome Fellman (Geographical Review, 1973) concluded that “the leading American library in recorded holdings of the older geographical serials, those which began publication before 1950, is the library of the American Geographical Society … for recent geographical serials, the American Geographical Society and the Library of Congress have an impressive lead over all the other libraries in the United States.” This tradition continues through affiliation with the UWM Libraries and the University of Wisconsin System.