by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
When you think of a public library, the first thing that comes to mind is a building full of books. That’s certainly true of the Main Library, but there’s much more to it than that and the Lewis Ansbacher Map Collection is a perfect example.
Located on the fourth floor in the Morris Ansbacher Map Room, which is named after the collector’s father, it’s part of the Jacksonville Public Library’s Florida Collection. More an exhibit than a traditional library resource, the collection includes 244 antique maps and 47 engravings of Florida, Florida cities, North and South America and the world.
Jacksonville attorney Lewis “Lukie” Ansbacher began collecting maps in the mid-1980s, framed them and used them to decorate his office. Soon the collection grew to the point virtually every inch of wall space was covered, even in the restrooms.
When the collection outgrew his office Ansbacher began looking for a new place to display it. He contacted several universities, but didn’t want to donate the collection to any of them because they wouldn’t be properly preserved, since none of the prospects had enough space to devote to a proper exhibit and all proposed to store the antiquities in map drawers.
After voters approved the Better Jacksonville Plan and the City began preliminary work on the new library on Laura Street, Ansbacher began negotiations to give the collection to the institution where everyone would be able to view his prized collection. He died before the new library opened but his family respected Ansbacher’s wishes and donated the maps to the library in his memory. The room where the maps are displayed was also endowed by the family and named after Lewis’ father, Morris, who was an avid library user his entire life.
The Main Library also has an exhibit of 45 16th-century engravings of drawings by Jacque Le Moyne, a mapmaker and artist who was on the second French expedition to North Florida after Jean Ribault’s initial exploration in 1562.. The drawings depict the events and people who were involved in founding the French colony at Fort Caroline. Many recorded the life and culture of Florida natives including the Timucua.
Jacksonville Public Library has been collecting maps since 1920 and the inventory also includes more conventional maps like U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps, political maps, navigational charts, FEMA Floor Insurance rate maps and aeronautical charts but Florida Collection Senior Librarian Raymond Neal considers the Ansbacher Collection a special asset.
“It’s a valuable reference tool for historians,” he said.
When asked about the value of the Ansbacher Collection and the engravings, Neal said it would be difficult to place a value on them but did comment, “It would be a bear to even try to replace any of them, which I guess means they are priceless.”
He also said having the collection at the Main Library allows anyone to view them any time, which would not have been the case had the maps been donated to a university. Guided tours are available through the “Book a Librarian” program or by calling Neal at 630-2410.
One of 45 16th-century engravings by Jacque Le Moyne, who was the mapmaker and artist on the second French expedition to North Florida, two years after Jean Ribault discovered the St. Johns River and claimed the area for France in 1562.
This map, “Amplissimae Regionis Mississippi seu Provinciae Lu Doviciana,” was drawn by Johann Baptist Homann in 1687. He obviously believed the southern third of Florida was an island.
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