Historical Land cover map

[Jelle v.Minnen]

My name is Kees Klein Goldewijk and I am working at the 
National Institute of Public Health and Environmental 
Protection (RIVM) in Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
I am member of a modelling group that has built an
Integrated Model to Assess the Greenhouse Effect (IMAGE).

In order to initialize the model we are compiling a 
so-called 'IMAGE Hundred Year (1890-1990) Database.
One important topic of this database will be land use
and land cover. Therefore I would like to know if
someone knows if a global land cover map of 1900 exists, 
or any land cover map of smaller countries/regions from that
period ?. Any suggestion is welcome.

Greetings, Kees Klein Goldewijk