[Rockhounds] USGS Folios - and now maps

[Alan Goldstein]

What's interesting is the covers of these USGS folios are in pretty good shape, considering they are brittle being on non-acid-free paper. (Unlike the interior pages that are acid-free.) Because they were used in a university library, there are penciled notes, ink blots, torn pages, taped pages, chunks of a page missing, and such. The big thing is the water stains and mold on the edges. Many of those damaged pages could be trimmed with a razor blade. They are all scanned on the USGS website, but I still get more satisfaction flipping through paper. It's more "real."

I just also received a pile of maps from the same source. The most useless are a stack of 1920s Arkansas topo quad maps. I'm in Indiana / Kentucky. There's a bunch of 1920s Kentucky county aerial geology maps mounted on muslin to keep the paper from tearing. A large 1890 Cahaba Valley, Alabama, coal field geological map is really cool. It would look good on somebody's wall. There is a large 1914 map of the U.S. in two parts and a colorful geologic map of eastern Pennsylvania - a real eclectic mixture. Considering how diverse my own library is, I can understand how a couple of geology professors can build up a collection over 60+ years.

I've got a couple geology programs at the Falls of the Ohio this weekend and will try to give them away. 

Alan G.

-----Original Message-----
From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of gary brown
Sent: Thursday, March 5, 2020 7:04 AM
To: 'Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors' <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>
Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] USGS Folios

Those are fun.  I got a bunch of them around 20 years ago.  They fetched from $15 to $100 on eBay.  They were printed on REALLY crappy paper, especially the covers, which chip quite easily.  I've sold most of mine, but kept a handful from interesting areas.  One ideas...  if the written content is damaged beyond use break out the maps <gasp!>.  They were usually printed on better paper and stand up better.  Individual maps from significant localities can fetch a good price.  Check with your local antique dealers.  I've got an early 1900's map of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area hanging on my office door.  I find myself looking at it almost every day.

GcB