Cartography Collection

The National Library's map collection contains the vast majority of Icelandic maps that have been published before and since. Most of them are received by the museum in accordance with the law on compulsory returns. Most maps published before the middle of the last century can be found on the website islandskort.is .
The main Icelandic maps are Danish surveyors' maps of the country from the beginning of the 20th century (the General Staff Maps), maps of both the British and American armies from the mid-20th century (AMS maps), publications by the Icelandic Survey of Land and other publishers. The map collection houses a large library (over 600 volumes) on maps and cartography, which was a gift from Haraldur Sigurðsson and his wife Sigrún Á. Sigurðardóttir. Among other things, it contains reprints of map books by leading cartographers of previous centuries, various publications by renowned scholars in this field, as well as major magazines on maps.