The UCLA Henry J. Bruman Map Collection, administered by the Charles E. Young Research Library (YRL), consists of maps and atlases, aerial photographs, gazetteers, place name literature, and specialized books and journals about cartography, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS).
The map and atlas collections are primarily post-1945 in origin, but we also collect facsimile editions of older maps in an effort to trace the origins of cartography. Although we collect maps depicting geographic coverage from all over the globe, our collection is especially rich in materials relating to Los Angeles City and County, southern California, and the remainder of California.
The YRL map collections are housed in multiple locations: the YRL A-level map drawers, the YRL first floor reading room, and the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF). The majority of maps located in SRLF are map series. These series represent geographic coverage of the entire globe and cover contemporary as well as historical time periods. They include all United States Geological Survey topographic maps at scales of 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 except for California; WWII-era Army Map Service maps; and series produced by national mapping agencies from numerous countries throughout the world. These maps can be found in the library catalog, have been designated as non-circulating, and must be paged to a UCLA Library location of choice to be used. Paged materials will be available for use by 5 p.m. on the next working day. We also have online access to our digitized topographic maps.
The UCLA Science and Engineering Library: Geology also has a map collection to support the faculty and students in Earth and Space Sciences.
The Bruman Map Collection contains many atlases. Some cover the entire world while others are concerned with specific continents, regions, countries, various administrative areas, and urban areas. The atlases contain information on an array of topics including history, physical and cultural geography, politics, vegetation, soils, the military, forestry, and climate, to name a few. The earliest atlases in our collection date from the mid-nineteenth century, with the exception of a rare volume from the 1645 Blaeu Atlas.