PORTLAND, Maine — Dr. Harold Osher, 99, died on Saturday.
Along with his wife, Peggy, the couple amassed thousands of maps, charts, and other historical items, building the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education at the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus. The library now houses roughly 500,000 cartographic items.
Libby Bischof is the library’s executive director and a history professor at the school. She believed that, as a cardiologist, Osher prolonged many lives in his practice, and then enriched many more with his collection.
According to Bischof, 200 USM classes and 10,000 K-12 students used the collection in 2023.
City plans, civil war troop movements, racist depictions of ethnic demographics—all are displayed and explained with context to students and scholars alike. And sometimes, the curiosities are simple.
"No matter if people are six or 85, they always want to see two things when they come in," Bischof said. "They’re always interested in the oldest map in the collection and they always want to see home."
One of the oldest books in the building is the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, written by Abraham Ortelius in 1595. It is a comically large book filled with bright and colorful text, images, and maps. Bischof pointed out marks on the pages where the metal press collided with the parchment; and hand-written annotations made by a previous owner from another era. For security reasons, Bischof declined to divulge the book's value.
"We don't talk about those things," she gave a half smile.
Nor were we allowed to film in the various levels of the library's secure vault. One particular shelf housed a scenic drive pocket guide from 2010. Just feet away, a five-foot-tall frame hung on a wall that displayed an aged Korean world atlas.
Bischof spoke at length about the Osher's kindness towards her and each Mainer they encountered when visiting the library.
Maine State Historian Earle Shettleworth agreed with the couple's humanity and the immense societal value of their assets. He said any institution would desire the collection, but Osher’s loyalty to Maine kept it in Portland. Its availability to all Mainers, Shettleworth said, is a true legacy.
"There really are two kinds of collectors," he said. "There are the collectors who collect only for themselves and secretly glory in what they have and what they have found; and then there are collectors who collect philanthropically, like Harold and Peggy Osher."
Among priceless atlases and delicate city views, there is one item, in particular, a map library in Maine must-have; a Maine atlas & gazetteer.
Of course, the Osher library has multiple copies, including a first edition print from 1976.