American Geographical Society Library

Locked inside a fireproof, waterproof cabinet on the third floor of UW-Milwaukee’s Golda Meir Library is a large Italian atlas drawn in 1478, meaning the maps roughly depict the world as understood by explorers Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan upon their departures. This ancient artifact is one of about 16,000 atlases held within the American Geographical Society Library (2311 E. Hartford Ave.), along with some 600,000 individual maps, which can be viewed by appointment.