Dr. Coolie Verner (1917-1979) was a professor of adult education at UBC, but his vocation was the history of cartography and cartobibliography. He developed a large collection of maps to support his study of the cartographic development of northern North America. The maps in this collection are mainly of North America, in particular the western and northern parts, and of eastern Russia and China, and cover the period from the 16th - 20th century. There are groups of maps featuring the explorations of Cook, Vancouver, La Perouse, Müller, Cluny, De Fonte, Dixon and Meares, Mackenzie and Hearne. His map collection consists of some 400 maps, including originals and some photocopies.
Dr. Verner also created an endowment fund for the Library's Historical Map Collection, which will fund additions to this collection.