Set Maps contain at least ten sheets published at a uniform size, usually drawn at the same scale, that are intended to be portions of a larger map. In general, these maps are medium to large scale and provide much more detailed information than is shown on single maps. Many of the set maps are controlled by index maps that indicate which sheets the Library holds for a given series.

Some of the most heavily used maps in this part of the collection are the large-scale topographic maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire dated circa 1870 to 1914. Frequently used to locate villages and towns that were the homelands of large numbers of Jewish immigrants who came to the United States around the turn of the twentieth century or towns that were “lost” in the Holocaust, these sheets are easily copied from microfilm and can be purchased for reference use at a nominal cost. Similar sets exist for other countries of origin for American immigrants.¹⁰

Detailed set maps for the United States as a whole, as well as for individual states, are also available.