This dataset describes the properties of 350 data items. This table has 18 columns that include the following: (1) the type of data: i.e. map, cross-section, long profile, table, topo-bathymetry drawn on the map, (2) the source (archive service) and reference (box number), (3) the original title (in French) and a translated English title, (4) the scale, author, and survey period, (5) the communes covered by the upstream-downstream Kilometric Points (KPs; km 0 is in Lyon, distances upstream from this reference point are negative and distances downstream are positive; the KPs were identified in ArcMap 10.5 using the GIS layer of riverine communes and active channels in 1860, to help in locating the maps with secondary channels), (6) comments on the quality and content of the data, (7) the number of images and their type (on a table or a magnetic board, HD scan, scanned and georeferenced), and (8) the storage file and sub-file.

The CC-BY-NC license was chosen to meet the data reuse policies of the 14 French archive services investigated in this study (either CC-BY or CC-BY-NC). Ten items among the 350 items in the dataset are not furnished in the iconographic database. They are indicated as “available on request” in the table ArchiveResources_Properties.csv, because of specific reuse policies of these institutions. Please consult the URLs of each institution's data reuse policy for further details (in French): AN (http://www.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/reutilisation-des-donnees-publiques), AD Ain (http://www.archives.ain.fr/n/reutilisation-des-donnees-publiques/n:124), AD Vaucluse (http://archives.vaucluse.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/_site-archives/autres_formats/6_qui_sommes_nous/infos_pratiques/ETALAB-Licence-Ouverte-v2.0_AD84.pdf), DREAL (CC-BY) (http://www.auvergne-rhone-alpes.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/les-conditions-de-mise-a-disposition-des-donnees-a9804.html), BnF (https://www.bnf.fr/fr/faire-une-utilisation-commerciale-dune-reproduction#:~:text=L'utilisation%20non%20commerciale%20des,ou%20Biblioth%C3%A8que%20nationale%20de%20France.), AD Rhône (https://archives.rhone.fr/?id=39), AD Ardèche (https://archives.ardeche.fr/n/reutilisation-des-informations-publiques/n:86), AD Drôme (https://archives.ladrome.fr/editorial/page/05bf1f6c-b194-4b79-89a0-8d5f13cf5a12), University of Grenoble (CC-BY-NC) (https://www.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/medias/fichier/charte-uga-v1-2-4_1540454734901-pdf?INLINE=FALSE), AD Gard (CC-BY-ND) (http://www.archives.gard.fr/direct-et-pratique/direct-pratique/reutilisation-des-donnees-publiques.html), AD Savoie (CC-BY-NC and nominative license: available on request) (http://www.savoie-archives.fr/865-reproduction-et-utilisation.htm), AD Isère (public dissemination prohibited: available on request) (https://archives.isere.fr/page/conditions-de-reutilisation-des-donnees-publiques), CNR (available on request), IGN (available at https://remonterletemps.ign.fr/).