----------------------------Original message----------------------------
     24 hours have elapsed since I posted this to Maps-L,
     without its echoing back to me as a subscriber on the
     list.  So I am trying again.
 
     Andrew Cook
 
 
______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: Re: India 1:50,000
Author:  Andrew Cook at BL-Orbit_House
Date:    03/04/95 08:39
 
 
     The Government of India has since 1950 restricted to
     their official use all topographical maps at scales
     larger than 1:500,000 of coastal and border areas.
     1:250,000 sheets 47A. 47B, 47E and 47F (and their
     constituent 1:50,000 sheets) all lie in this restricted
     coastal strip, which is marked as such in current
     Survey of India map sales list diagrams.  The
     experience of researchers with whom I've discussed the
     problem is that the only legitimate route to such map
     sheets is through co-operative research with an
     official Government of India agency, and even then all
     map sheets and copies are required to be returned for
     destruction before the researcher(s) leave India.  This
     is why GeoCenter etc can supply topo maps only of an
     apparently arbitrary central area of India (see their
     catalogs).
     I hardly need add that I would dearly like to be
     reliably contradicted on anything I have reported here.
     The consequence of the restriction is that pre-1950
     Survey of India topo sheets continue to have a
     relevance to modern research.  We have been
     deliberately firming up, by continuing acquisition of
     archive material, the pre-1947 UK Government India
     Office archive collection of this mapping.  (The India
     Office functioned before 1939 as the official sales
     agency, outside India, of Survey of India published
     mapping.)
     We'd be glad to try to help you or your patron further.
 
     Andrew Cook
 
     Dr Andrew S Cook, Map Archivist, India Office Records,
     The British Library, 197 Blackfriars Road, London SE1
     8NG, England.
     Fax: +44 171 412 7858
     Phone: +44 171 412 7828
     E-mail: [log in to unmask]
 
 
     _________________ Reply Separator _________________
     Poster:       Marsha L Selmer <[log in to unmask]>
     Subject:      India 1:50,000
 
     ----------------Original message---------------
     One of our patrons is seeking 1:50,000 scale
     topographic maps of Bombay, India and vicinity (sheets
     in the 47 A, B, E, and F blocks).  My search of the
     major vendor's catalogs did not yield any coverage for
     this area.  If your library owns and is willing to loan
     these maps please contact me.  Thank you.
     Marsha L. Selmer, Map Librarian, University of Illinois at Chicago
     ([log in to unmask])  312/996-2672    FAX 312-413-0424