New York Map Society Reactivated

After 6 Year Hiatus, Society Back In Action

Very welcome news for antique map enthusiasts who can make it into New York City on a regular basis -- the New York Map Society is starting up again. The hope of the society is to make New York an antiquarian map center.

Society Will Meet In New York Public Library

The society will be able to use the New York Library as its home. This is a real plus, given the recently refurbished map room at the library, and the library's world class holdings of antique maps and related artifacts.

Organizational Meeting On February 11, 2006

Past President Sy Amkraut, former Treasurer Cathe Giffuni, and NYPL Map Curator Alice Hudson are reactivating the society. An organizational meeting will be held at 2:30 pm on February 11 at the library. Alice Hudson will give a tour of the newly renovated and beautifully decorated Lionel Pincus & Princess Firyal Map Division. The meeting will be followed by a guided tour through the "Treasured Maps" exhibit. For more information, email NYMapSociety@webtv.net.

Decorating With Antique Maps & Antique Prints

A Guest Article By Joyce Jamison

Decorating your home is about creating a space that is pleasant to the eye, and that says something personal about the you, the decorator. But more than that, homes are places where memories are formed. Antique maps and prints, by virtue of the history contained in them, make the perfect symbols of remembrance and nostalgia fit for a home in which memories will be created.

Antique maps as interactive works of art

Antique maps, no longer serving their original practical role as records and guides to places and geographies, are now stunning works of collectible art filled with the historical memory of place and geography, of flora and fauna, of people and their journeys.

Antique maps or prints are more than just good-looking works of art framed and hung on a wall. Antique maps are a living piece of history that attract family members, friends and guests to talk and discover. A map draws people to it. A common scene around an antique map is a huddle of guests pointing to it, tracing its coastlines, borders and names, and talking about how things have changed.

When choosing an antique map for your home décor consider the following three ideas.

Choose an antique map to match your decorating theme

Genuine antique maps or prints can add another layer to the theme (traditional, rustic, country, Tuscan, Aegean) you've chosen for your home. If you've filled your rooms with old-World furniture reminiscent of the eighteenth-century then a unique world map dating back to the 1700's is the perfect addition. Nicolas De Fer's double-hemisphere world map, a copper-engraved antique in which California appears as an island and Australia is only half-drawn, is a stunning acquisition for a traditional decor.

Match your antique map to your city of residence

An antique map can add to a person's knowledge of their current residential district or state. For a New York apartment, Matthew Dripps's 1880 pocket map of the city is remarkable for its detail. Place it in a bright room or have it well lit so that you and your guests can locate hotels, churches, theaters, railroads and much more.

Choose an antique map to match your hobby or holiday dream

If you are wine lover and regularly entertain other wine lovers then the perfect map to hang near the dining table is Victor Levasseur's map representing the wine regions of France in 1854.

If you're an avid traveler with a dream of traveling in the South Pacific, then Levasseur's map of "Oceanie" is the perfect addition to your study or home office. You can study the region as it appeared to cartographers of the era and keep your travel dream alive.

Antique maps are records of how places have changed over time and are symbolic of how our homes change over time (children grow up and leave, new rooms are added or joined). Antique maps are the ideal addition to a home and, if chosen well, soon become part of your family's own history.

Technorati Tags: antiques, collectibles, vintage maps,
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Antique Maps & Prints Auction Preview

Auctions For The Week Of January 30, 2006

Dominic Winter Book Auctions has a Printed Books, Maps & Ephemera auction coming up on Wednesday, February 1. Their catalog is online. Bowen's Royal English Atlas is being offered, (lot 69), with an estimate of 4,000-6,000 GBP. It's a very collectible antique atlas, published in 1780.

Also of interest at this auction, Jean Linden's monumental book of Orchids, Iconographie des Orchid, published from 1885 to 1901. The work contains approximately 800 chromolithographed plates of orchids. The presale estimate is 7,000-10,000 GBP.

Last but not least -- a real gem from 1601, a manuscript estate map of a property in Yorkshire, by noted mapmaker Christopher Saxton. This one-of-a-kind item has a presale estimate of 10,000-12,000 GBP.

Overall, a good sale from Dominic Winter, with lots of more moderately priced items than I noted here, including some of the always popular English County Maps by John Speed.

Swann Galleries Printed & Manuscript Americana Sale

This sale takes place on February 2 at Swann Galleries in New York City. Some desirable items show up in this sale. My favorite is lot 121, McKenney & Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America, first octavo edition, 1848-1850, containing 121 hand-colored plates. A gorgeous book of antique prints, and with a presale estimate of $12,000-18,000, this work is starting to get out of reach of most collectors. Lots of rare and desirable items in this sale, but also some moderately-priced pieces, so their site is well worth a visit.

Waverly Auctions Fine Prints, Art & Illustrated Books Sale

The website for Waverly Auctions in Falls Church, Virginia is always worth a visit around auction time, especially for moderately-priced items, and they are having a sale on February 4. I noticed a run of 19 issues of Harper's Weekly, (lot 39), including illustrations by Thomas Nast; some hand-colored botanical and fashion plates (lot 93); several lots with multiple loose prints in such areas as Natural History, and plenty of reference books for the collector. Worth a look.

Technorati Tags: antiques, collectibles, vintage maps,
art, auctions, interior design

Antique Maps & Prints Auction Preview

Auctions For The Week Of January 23, 2006

No relevant auctions scheduled this week at any of the major auction houses, or at the well-known specialist auction houses for antique maps or prints. If you know of any auctions we may have missed, please post the information!

Technorati Tags: antiques, collectibles, vintage maps,
art, auctions, interior design

Antique Map May Show Chinese Beat Columbus To America

Antique Map On Display In Beijing

There is a very interesting story on CNN.com this morning about a map on display in Beijing which purports to show that Chinese admiral Zheng He sailed to the American continent around 1421, decades before the arrival of Columbus. The map is allegedly an 18th-century copy of a 1418 original. It was bought, according to the article, for $500 back in 2001, by a Chinese lawyer and art collector.

Storm Of Controversy Surrounds Map

Not everyone agrees. Many academics think it is a fake, arguing that there is no historical evidence that Zheng He reached America's shores. It is noted in the article that the current Chinese government may be using the map for contemporary political purposes. It would not be the first time a map has been used in that way! Whatever the true story, one thing is for sure -- antique maps can be a lot of fun! Imagine stirring up this kind of debate with a map that you paid just $500 for.

Yale's Beinecke Library Tightens Antique Map Security

Map Curator Fired By Yale

In the fallout following the theft of rare maps from Yale's Beinecke Library last summer, the former curator of maps, Fred Musto, has been fired from his decade-long position, according to a new article in the Hartford Courant. According to the article, Musto was cited for "gross mismanagement." In the wake of the map thefts in 2005, well-known antique map dealer E. Forbes Smiley III was arrested and charged in the theft.

Yale Pulls Antique Maps Pending Digitization

The article also notes that the Beinecke has pulled its vast, and fabulously valuable, rare map collection, while it ponders the task of digitizing all the maps. Digitization would allow the library to keep its most valuable items under lock and key, and would also provide images of all the maps, so that they can be tracked in the future if they "disappear."

Other Famous Institutions Checking Their Inventory

The article also notes that following the arrest of Martha's Vineyard resident E. Forbes Smiley III, several major institutions, including the British Library, the Boston Public Library, and the Newberry Library in Chicago, all found that books handled by Smiley were missing maps. Harvard University Library and the New York Public Library continue to review their collections.

Antique Maps & Prints Auction Preview

Auctions For The Week Of January 16, 2006

it's the quiet season for auctions, not much to report from week to week. If you know of any upcoming auction, featuring antique maps or prints, be sure to post the news.

Jan. 16. Bonhams, Bath, England: Books, Maps, & Atlases
Antique maps and prints, with a British slant.

Jan. 20. Sotheby's, New York: Americana
Views of New York City; florals by Thornton; full folio Audubon birds; otherwise, the rest of the sale is non-print items.

Antique Vermont Wall Maps Now Available On CD

David Allen, of Old-Maps.com, got a well-deserved press mention in the Burlington Free Press for a new project -- putting important Vermont wall maps, circa 1850, onto CDs. The CDs are offered for sale through David's website.

Preserving Antique Wall Maps

Antique wall maps are one of the most overlooked categories of the antique maps business. They are scarce, they are fragile (often in poor condition), and they tend to be expensive. Hence you don't see them on many antique map dealer websites, which is a shame. Old wall maps are treasure troves of information. Usually drawn on the county or town level, and usually mid-19th century, wall maps typically show incredible detail -- often depicting indiviual landowners, businesses, institutions, and so forth. Many have borders with beautiful vignettes showing local scenes. In addition to collectors of antique maps, wall maps are likely of great interest and use to local historians, genealogists, librarians, and many others.

In light of the scarcity of old wall maps, David Allen has performed a really worthwhile project here. As noted in the Burlington Free Press article, it took about 500 individual scans to create the necessary images to reproduce just 11 Vermont wall maps (which measure about 60" x 60" on average). Thanks to David Allen for a project that contributes to the preservation of New England's cartographic heritage.