Collection URL: http://www.davidrumsey.com/japan/view.html
カリフォルニア大学バークレー校が１９４９年に三井家の三井文庫より１０万点を購入した際、三井新町家9代当主の三井高堅が収集した2,298点の地図もその中に含まれていた。特筆に値するのは、江戸時代の木版地図６９７点である。
[NCCにより翻訳][1/10/20]
When the University of California at Berkeley purchased the Mitsui Library from the Mitsui family in 1949, included among the 100,000 items was a collection of 2,298 maps which had been assembled by Mitsui Takakata (penname: Soken) (1882-1950), the 9th head of the Shinmachi branch of the family. The most unusual part of the collection is the 697 woodblock-print maps (and a few dozen manuscript maps) dating from the Tokugawa period (1600-1867).
Especially rare is the collection of Tokugawa city maps: 252 maps of the city of Edo (modern Tokyo), 79 maps of Kyoto, 40 of Osaka, and 30 maps of other cities such as Kanazawa, Nagoya, Nagasaki, and Yokohama, all from the Tokugawa period. Among the earliest maps are those of Osaka (1656), Kyoto (1654-68), and Edo (1676). The earliest Japanese world maps also date from this period.
In collecting maps from the Meiji period (1868-1912), Mitsui Soken also displayed his antiquarian interest by concentrating on the earlier decades. Most of the Meiji maps date from the period before 1890 and many are printed on handmade paper; a considerable number are printed from woodblocks. Meiji period city maps include 240 of Tokyo, 112 of Kyoto, 89 of Osaka, and 312 of other cities. A significant number of the maps in the collection, and many of the world maps, are in color.