Antique Maps & Prints, Week of March 27, 2006

Swann Galleries Auction

The big action this week is at Swann Galleries, on Thursday, March 30, in their sale entitled 100 Rare & Important Maps & Atlases. And indeed, it's a very good auction to follow if you are an antique map enthusiast.

Highlights of the atlas section include Blaeu's Nouvel Atlas, parts 1 & 2, published in 1650 (lot 2, estimate $15-25,000); Bowen's Complete System of Geography, including some important maps of the Americas, published London 1747, (lot 3, estimate $7-10,000); and the star of the show, John Senex's New General Atlas, with 34 double-page engraved maps, published London 1741 (lot 35, estimate $20-30,000). Also featured are David Burr's New Universal Atlas, 1836 (lot 5, estimate $4-6,000); Coven's & Mortier's Atlas Nouveau, 1733 (lot 11, estimate $5-7,500), and a number of American-published atlases, including works by Finley, Greenleaf, Johnson, Mitchell, and Colton, plus a selection of American state and county atlases.

Included in the individual map section is an extremely rare first state of Thomas Holme’s A Mapp of ye Improved Part of Pensilvania in American, Divided into Countyes, Townships and Lotts, one of the earliest accurate mappings of the region, London, circa 1687, (lot 81, $20-30,000). The sale also features Guillaume Delisle’s Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi, which is the first map to name Texas, 1718 (lot 57, $5-7,500); Allard's New Belgium, with an early view of New York City (lot 40, $4-6,000); a scarce early pocket map of Colorado, by Cram (lot 56, $1-1,500); a rare mid-19th century map of Florida, by J. Williams, 1837 (lot 61, $800-1,200); an unusual Arabic manuscript map of the Mediterranean, 17th or 18th century, no publisher, (lot 72, $4-6,000); Mitchell's important 1846 Map of Mexico, showing Texas, (lot 74, $5-7,500), and Nicollet and Fremont's Map of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi River, Washington, 1842, described by Bray as "one of the most important contributions ever made to American geography." The map section concludes with an important run of mid-19th century atlas and pocket maps of Texas.

New Ephemera Blog

It's unusual when a new blog is started that covers any facet of historical collectibles, so even though it is a little off topic, I wanted to mention an informative new ephemera blog that started recently. You can check it out at Ephemera: Exploring the World of Old Paper.

You Can't Throw A Stone In London Without Hitting An Antique Map Dealer

That's more or less what antique map dealer James Rutter says in a new article published in the Financial Times of London. Presumably quoting Mr. Rutter, the article states that "London is the hub of antique-map dealing, reportedly with more dealers than the whole of the U.S." That took me a bit by surprise, but maybe it's so. What do people think? Please feel free to post a comment. The story, by the way, focuses on the big rise in the value of antique maps in the last decade or so.

Upcoming Events

March 31-April 1. Fort Davis, and Alpine, TX, the Spring meeting of the Texas Map Society. There is a lot going on at this meeting, so check out online info if interested.

Technorati Tags: antiques, collectibles, vintage maps,
art, auctions, antique maps

Antique Maps & Prints, Week of March 20, 2006

PBA Galleries Auction

Upcoming on March 23 at PBA Galleries is their Americana auction, including travel, exploration, maps and atlases. Atlases, and books with maps, include works by Barthelemy, Colton, Dury, Mitchell, Johnson, and others. Also on offer is Bancroft's scarce plan of the City of San Francisco (1882). A selection of individual maps also appear in the sale, including Matthew Cary's 1811 map of Louisiana; a few 18th and 19th century atlas maps of North America; world maps by Danckerts and De Fer; a nice western hemisphere by De Laet; De L'Isle's 1730 North America, and works by Hondius, Jansson, and more. Altogether an excellent auction for the collector of American cartography.

Antique Maps & Prints: Auctions & News. Week of 3.6.06

Antique Maps Auctions For Week of March 6, 2006

A late addition to our listings for this week: Paulus Swaen Internet Map Auction is now online, and runs through March 14. More than 1400 antique maps are in the auction, and highlights can be seen here.


An auction, Printed Books & Maps, is scheduled at Dominic Winter in the UK, on Thursday, March 8. Unfortunately, repeated attempts to access their website have been unsuccessful, and as of this writing it appears that the Dominic Winter website is offline. Let's hope they rectify the problem soon.

Upcoming Events for Antique Maps & Prints

March 11, New York City. The New York Map Society meets in the classroom of the New York Public Library at 2:30 PM.

March 11, Richmond, VA. Ronald Grim, director of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, will discuss Roads, Canals, Railroads - Mapping Virginia's Antebellum Transportation Network for the Nathalie P. and Alan M. Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography at the Library of Virginia, at 3 PM.

Current Exhibitions for Antique Maps & Prints

Through March 31, Boston, MA. Mapping California as an Island. At gallery outside Harvard Map Collection, at Harvard's Pusey Library. Information: (617) 495-2417.

Through May 14, New York City. Treasured Maps at the New York Public Library.

Through July 31, Portland, ME. The Changing Peninsula: Two Centuries of Portland Maps and City Views. Osher Map Library.

March 24-August 18, Boston, MA. Journeys of the Imagination, an exhibit of world maps and atlases. Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.

Technorati Tags: antiques, collectibles, vintage maps,
art, auctions, antique maps