Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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The A.E. Nordenskiöld
Collection
Inscribed 2011
What is it
The collection gathered by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
of more than 24,000 maps and thousands of volumes
of cartographic material – old printed atlases,
geographical works and travel literature.
Why was it inscribed
The extensive collection of maps covers the known
world from antiquity to modern times. Nordenskiöld
was a systematic collector and much of the material is
very rare.
Where is it
National Library of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
The maps and cartographic material in the collection
were gathered over more than 30 years by Adolf Erik
Nordenskiöld (1832–1901). In addition to cartography,
he was famed for his Arctic explorations and was a veteran
of ten other explorations in the later 19th century.
The period was a golden age of Swedish Arctic
exploration and Nordenskiöld was at the forefront.
Although born in Helsinki, he lived and worked in Sweden
for most of his adult life. As a trained geologist and
mineralogist, he valued the potential scientific benefits
offered by the exploration of new territories and always
included scientists in his crews.
Nordenskiöld’s most famous and notable voyage was
around the Northeast Passage which he was first to
navigate successfully. His journey in the SS Vega, a whaler,
364 The A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection
began in Sweden in summer 1878. The ship sailed around
Asia and Europe in a clockwise direction via the Arctic
Ocean – where it was icebound for almost 10 months –
the Bering Strait, the China seas, the Indian Ocean and
north again through the Suez Canal to arrive back in
Sweden the following summer. The Vega was the first ship
to circumnavigate the Eurasia landmass.
As an explorer, Nordenskiöld developed an interest in
maps and especially in historical cartography in which
he made important contributions. The collection of old
maps and associated material he gathered was important
in its own right and as the basis for his two books of
historical cartography.
His collection contains about 5000 volumes covering
the expansion of the known world from antiquity
to modern times together with innovations in the history