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                  PHILIP LEE PHILLIPS SOCIETY CREATED BY LIBRARY'S
                             GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION
               The Geography and  Map Division of  the Library  of Congress
          recently established the Philip Lee Phillips Society to serve  as
          an  auxiliary  fund-raising  organization  to   further  develop,
          enhance, and promote the historical collections of  the Geography
          and  Map Division.  The  goals  of  the society are  to stimulate
          public  interest; encourage  financial  donations  to  supplement
          appropriated funds for  the acquisition of  rare maps; facilitate
          gifts  and  bequests  of significant geographic  and cartographic
          materials; and advance the division's publication, education, and
          exhibition programs.  Today, the Geography and  Map Division, the
          nation's premier  map collector, maintains  a  collection of  4.5
          million  maps,  60,000  atlases,  1  million microform maps,  500
          globes, and  2,000 spatial digital data  sets.  Dating  from  the
          1300s, the collections are worldwide in coverage.
               A steering committee has  been formed to develop appropriate
          strategies to direct this effort.  The inaugural meeting on April
          10  was chaired  by  Kenneth Nebenzahl and  Eric  Wolf, long-time
          supporters of the Geography and Map Division.  It was attended by
          a group  of  15 invited participants who represented a variety of
          interests-map collecting, map production,  maps  sales,  and  the
          academic  disciplines   of   geography,   historical   geography,
          cartography, and the history of cartography.
               Membership benefits  will  include  a  semiannual newsletter
          describing   current   acquisitions,  publications,   forthcoming
          Library  events,  and activities of  regional  map societies;  an
          annual dinner  and lecture held  in  the  Library  of Congress in
          association with  a locally sponsored map  fair  or  map auction;
          special invitations to exhibition openings sponsored  and  hosted
          by  the Geography and  Map Division; invitations to  map symposia
          and workshops of  interests  to  Society members; guests lectures
          provided  by  Division specialists  to  organizations with  which
          Society  members  are  affiliated;  and  workshops  that  provide
          opportunites for  working  with specialists in  map preservation,
          map cataloging, and cartographic research.
               The society is named in  honor  of  the first chief  of  the
          Geography and  Map Division, Philip Lee Phillips.  Although maps,
          charts  and atlases had  been  part  of  the Library  of Congress
          collections since its founding in 1800, Phillips was the first to
          recognize the value  of  the Library's cartographic materials and
          to organize and care for them.  Even before being named the first
          Superintendent of  Maps when  the  Hall  of  Maps  and Charts was
          established in 1897, he devoted what time he could to the map and
          atlas collections that were stored in odd corners of the Capitol,
          sorting, arranging, cataloging, and  serving requested  items  to
          Congressional and other readers.
               A  collector's collector, Phillips personally acquired  many
          of the treasures of today's collection on trips made to Europe at
          his  own expense.   He  was  also  a  pioneer  in publicizing the
          Library's cartographic riches in publications to which he devoted
          much energy and which today still stand as landmarks in the field
          of cartobibliography.  As early as  1878, Phillips began creating
          a  manuscript  catalog   of   American  maps,   which  eventually
          culminated in  his landmark publication, List of Maps  of America
          in  the Library of Congress, published in  1901.  This  work  was
          followed  by  another  significant cartobibliography, A  List  of
          Geographical Atlases  in  the  Library  of Congress, published in
          four volumes between 1901  and 1920; five additional volumes were
          completed by Clara Egli LeGear (1958-1992).
               In anticipating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the
          Division, it is fitting that the friends of the Geography and Map
          Division organize under  the  name  of  the  Philip  Lee Phillips
          Society.  Membership is  open  to anyone interested in supporting
          the goals of the Society and will be based on  a primary donation
          of  fifty dollars per  year,  with higher levels  of  giving also
          designated.   To  apply  for  membership  or  to  obtain  further
          information, contact  Ralph  E. Ehrenberg, Chief,  or  Ronald  E.
          Grim, Executive Secretary, Philip Lee Phillips Society, Geography
          and  Map Division, Library  of Congress, Washington, D.C.   20540
          (telephone,(202) 707-8532; FAX, (202) 707-8531; Email,
          [log in to unmask])).