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Inventory of the Lafon Allen Kentucky Maps Collection,
ULSC_LafonAllen Inventory of the Lafon Allen Kentucky Maps Collection, 1635-1937 Processed by Susan Finley; machine-readable finding aid encoded by Rachel I. Howard Special Collections 2008 Special Collections University of Louisville Ekstrom Library Louisville, Kentucky 40292 USA Phone: (502) 852-6752 Fax: (502) 852-8734 Email: Special.Collections@louisville.edu URL: http://louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/special/ University of Louisville. All rights reserved. Machine-readable finding aid derived from typescript by rekeying. Description is in English. Inventory of the Lafon Allen Kentucky Maps Collection, 1635-1937 Contact Information Special Collections University of Louisville Ekstrom Library Louisville, Kentucky 40292 USA Phone: (502) 852-6752 Fax: (502) 852-8734 Email: Special.Collections@louisville.edu URL: http://louisville.edu/library/ekstrom/special/ Processed by: Susan Finley Encoded by: Rachel I. Howard Copyright 2008 University of Louisville. All rights reserved. Allen (Lafon) Kentucky Maps Collection, 1635-1937 Rare Books map cases Allen, Lafon 78 maps The materials are in English, French, , and German. This collection of rare maps assembled by Lafon Allen, a Kentucky jurist and collector, includes 17th- and 18th-century French, English, and Dutch maps of North America, as well as later maps printed in the United States. Described by the Kentucky Geological Survey team as the most extensive group of Kentucky maps known, the Lafon Allen collection boasts a 1635 map of America, Americae Nova Tabula by Willem Janzoon Blaeu (1571-1638), John Filson's (ca. 1747-1788) 1785 Carte de Kentucky d'apres les Observations Actuelles , and maps by noted cartographers such as John Russell (fl. 1733-1795) and Fielding Lucas (1781-1854). University of Louisville Libraries, Special Collections. In 1950, Allen donated his personal "Collection of Maps of North America with Special Reference to Kentucky" to the University of Louisville's Rare Books department. Collection is open for research. For further information, contact Special Collections, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville. [Image Number], Lafon Allen Maps Collection, University of Louisville Special Collections, Louisville, Kentucky. Maps Kentucky Tennessee North America Lafon Allen, Esq. (1871-1952), a graduate of Yale College and University of Louisville Law School, was a prominent attorney, Circuit Court Judge (1922-1934), and active supporter of art and historical organizations in his home state of Kentucky. 57 maps in Allen's album feature Kentucky, either alone or with Tennessee, or cities in Kentucky. Two maps are duplicates, for a total of 76 unique maps. The Kentucky Geological Survey team called these drawings, created between 1785 and 1933, the most extensive group of Kentucky maps known. Highlights include Carte de Kentucke d'apres les Observations Actuelles (1785) by John Filson (ca. 1747-1788), A Geographical, Statistical and Historical Map of Kentucky (1822) by Lucas Fielding (1781-1854), and a small tourist map with steam boat routes and stage coach schedules published in 1839. Allen's collection also contains 17th and 18th century French, English, and Dutch maps of the Western Hemisphere plus illustrations of all or part of North America by noted colonial cartographers, such as John Russell (fl. 1733-1795). In an introductory note, Allen acknowledged the only link some of the early maps have to Kentucky is "territory which later included . . . Kentucky is, of course, found within the larger area depicted on these maps," and said the older maps were placed at the head of his collection because of their "antiquity and beauty." The oldest, and perhaps most decorative, is Americae Nova Tableau (1635) by Willem Janzoon Blaeu (1571-1638). Related Material The images are available as part of Lafon Allen Map Collection in the University of Louisville Digital Collections. Access images in University of Louisville Digital Collections