Collections

Map Library

The MacLean Collection Map Library consists of more than forty thousand maps that date from the fifteenth century to the present. The map collection was begun by Mr. Maclean in the early 1960s and includes a broad range of media and formats such as globes, wall maps, sheet maps, pocket maps, case maps, atlases, manuscript maps, relief maps, pictorial maps, Portolan charts, posters and cartographic games and puzzles. There is cartographic material covering all parts of the world, but the collection’s strengths include maps of discovery and exploration, in particular those of the Great Lakes, maps and atlases of American states and counties, British county maps, nineteenth century American maps, wall maps, and maps of the world.

Asian Art Museum

The MacLean Collection Asian Art Museum consists of more than five thousand objects from Neolithic times to the present. The Asian art collection was begun by Mr. MacLean in the early 1970s and is primarily housed in a building completed in 2004 and designed by Larry Booth of Chicago. The Asian art collection consists of objects focused in three media, pottery, bronze and stone from primarily China and Southeast Asia, with some from other parts of Asia. The Chinese collection includes objects from virtually all of the present geopolitical area of China while the Southeast Asian collection encompasses the present geopolitical areas of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia and includes objects from a variety of early cultures including those of Ban Chiang, Dongson, Dvaravati, Cham, Khmer and others.

  • Mitchell, 1755, British and French Dominions in North America

  • Mora, 1927, The Seventeen Mile Drive

  • Hondius, 1603, Nova Et Exacta Totes Orbis Terrarum

  • Tibet, circa 14th century, manuscript cover, wood with paint and gilding

  • Houghton, 1933, illustrated map of Chicago

  • Japan, 1820-1840, map of Japan, plate, Kutani ware (porcelain with enamel overglaze)

  • Champlain, 1612, Champlain's Carte Geographique De La Nouvelle France

  • China, Song Dynasty, circa 10th century, reliquary, stone with paint