Research Guides
Atlases are collected for all areas of the world and for planetary bodies within our solar system. Special Collections is responsible for collecting atlases published before 1800.
Atlases are a collection of maps in book or loose-leaf form, with a standard design, organized around a coherent theme. Atlases usually contain maps, text, and helpful place name indexes.
Check the UW Catalog for the call number and location of the materials you are looking for:
The Suzzallo/Allen Stacks have most of the atlases owned by the Libraries.
Map Collection has a few atlases located in Suzzallo Ground Floor Reference or in Maps Folio, both located on the Ground Floor of Suzzallo.
Special Collections in Allen South Basement has many historic and rare atlases, including the Pacific Northwest collection, and the Kroll and Metsker sets for Washington State.
East Asia Library in Gowen Hall has a number of atlases in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean specific to East Asian studies.
Other libraries on the UW campus will often have general world atlases, and may also have atlases specific to their subject focus. If you do not find what you are looking for in the UW Map Collections, be sure to check with the library specializing in your subject as well.
This list of links has been organized by search scope, from largest (world) to smallest (King county).