The starting point for any inquiry into map history ~ images, events, exhibitions, literature, commentary, research, people ~ is Tony Campbell’s Map History Gateway.
The definitive overview of the history of maps is the multi-volume The History of Cartography, prepared by the History of Cartography Project at the University of Wisconsin and published by the University of Chicago Press. Volumes One through Three are available for free, online.
To explore maps from OML’s collections that have been digitized in high resolution, use Osgood, OML’s map search interface.
Anyone interested in the mapping of the Americas should begin with the following general sites:
Two wonderful sites present the historical products of the two main US federal agencies:
Sites of particular relevance to the history of the mapping of New England include:
These sites are merely the beginning. Most of the map collections in the great national libraries are in the process of putting their collections on line, including the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Harvard University’s Map Collection. An extensive list of imagery websites is maintained by Tony Campbell at the Map History Gateway; there is no way this listing could be complete, but it is the most complete yet produced. If you know of a site that’s not listed, please tell Tony!
There are many regional groups of people interested in maps. These include the Friends of the Osher Map Library, OML’s wonderful friends’ group. Others are identified on the Map History Gateway.
An academic society dedicated to map history was founded in 2011: the International Society for the History of the Map (ISHM). Members can subscribe to the primary journal, Imago Mundi, at a reduced rate!