A valuable resource, Antique maps offer a window to our nation's past. The world "Antique" refers to items that are more than a hundred years old. As new lands were discovered and settled, maps were drawn to help locate landmarks, differentiate between claimed properties and help others get a feel for the area. These places have changed over time and property has changed as well. These maps give us the ability to understand the changes that have occurred in the recent past years and are also helpful in making children understand the history and how a map is used. These maps literally take us to the historical age and give us an old and antique feel. These maps are very useful for the people who want to learn about the history.

Whether it is a map of your state on the wall or a globe on top of the bookcase in the corner, maps are ubiquitous decorations in the common classroom, as dependable as the chalkboard or colourful bulletin borders. The sections of old vintage maps are always useful as these maps are rarely available but easy to understand.The importance of these maps mostly can be seen and felt but when it comes to explaining the same to the young and new generations the requirements and the aids are increased.

Old print and maps were produced by techniques where the matrix was worked by hand (as opposed to photo-mechanical methods which became common from the late 19th century), and this is immediately apparent in the quality of the image.

In looking at antique prints and maps you need to be able to identify the different methods employed to make a print, and to distinguish between a genuinely old print and a modern reproduction of an old print. Open up the worlds of the past for us. From the middle Ages forward, it is possible to find prints illustrating practically every area of the globe and every human activity. Prints were both artistic expression and a means of recording daily life, much as photography is today. They are beautiful to look at and intellectually stimulating. Prints are collected for their intrinsic fascination or may be used in decorating to impart a distinctive personalized character.

The collection of these antique prints and maps is becoming very popular nowadays. Usually there is a particular theme for this collection. Often this is a geographic area, usually the one in which they live or are otherwise familiar with, or something else such as the earliest of world maps after the discovery of the New World. Other collections specialize in a feature such as California shown as an island or other figments of imagination. Sometimes people collect examples of many cartographers or a single cartographer. Others might be interested in exploration or highly decorative maps or perhaps maps related to events such as the Civil War or industries such as railroads or even maps of places they lived or visited. As in other fields there are many directions in which to build a collection.