Johann Georg Kohl Collection
Maps and papers of Johann Georg Kohl relating to the early history
of America
When Johann Georg Kohl (1808-1878) came to the United States
in 1854, he brought with him an important collection of facsimile
drawings of maps relating to the discovery and exploration of the
New World. The product of years of research in European libraries
and archives, Kohl's drawings represented the most comprehensive
collection of cartographic reproductions existing in America at
that time. In 1856 Congress commissioned Kohl to duplicate his
drawings for a proposed catalog of early maps of America. These
remained in the custody of the Department of State until their
transfer to the Library in 1903. A catalog, compiled by Justin
Winsor in 1886 and reprinted with an index in 1904, describes 474
Kohl facsimiles now in the Geography
and Map Division.
Another of Kohl's American projects, undertaken between 1855
and 1857 at the request of the U.S. Coast Survey, was a monumental
study of the early history and exploration of the North American
coastline. The twenty-nine-part manuscript included hydrographic
and orthographic descriptions, route charts and narrative accounts
of expeditions, catalogs of related maps, and bibliographies of
historical source material. Some 101 facsimiles of maps of the
West Coast and pertinent manuscripts were transferred to the division
in 1912 and briefly described in the Lowery
catalog. In 1925 the Coast and Geodetic Survey transferred
to the Library five portions of the manuscript dealing with the
Gulf Stream, the hydrography of the Gulf of Mexico, and harbors
of the Atlantic Coast. The collection is partially listed in a
card inventory in the Geography and Map Division. Fergus J. Wood
discusses Kohl's work in America in his article "J. G. Kohl and
the 'Lost Maps' of the American Coast," in The American Cartographer (GA101.A49),
v. 3, October 1976, p. 107-115.
Other sections of the Kohl manuscript were transferred to the Manuscript
Division in 1912: a "Historical List of Names" treating points
on thc Atlantic Coast from Maine to Long Island; a bibliography
on the history of the East Coast from 1519 to 1885; and part
of the historical study of the Gulf of Mexico. The Kohl material
is listed in the division's master record of manuscript collections
and is available on microfilm.
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