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1861 US Coast Survey Large Antique Civil War Map of New York City & Surrounding Areas

1861 US Coast Survey Large Antique Civil War Map of New York City & Surrounding Areas

  • Title : Coast Chart No 21 New York Bay and Harbor New York From a Trigonometrical Survey under the direction of A D Bache Superintendant of the Survey of the Coast of the United States....1861
  • Size: 33in x 28 1/2in (840mm x 720mm)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Date : 1861
  • Ref #:  93024

Description:
This large scarce, original lithograph very important antique map of New York City and surrounding area, by Alexander Dallas Bache (great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin) in 1861 - dated - was published by the official chart-maker of the United States, the office of The US Coast Survey.
An incredibly important map in light of the civil war that was raging at the time of publishing.
The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the Survey of the Coast, as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation\\\'s coasts and harbors.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 33in x 28 1/2in (840mm x 720mm)
Plate size: - 33in x 28 1/2in (840mm x 720mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - Some folds re-enforced with archival tape

Background: 
A rare 1861 U.S Coast Survey chart of New York City, it\'s harbor, and environs. One of the first 19th century carts to depicts New York City as we know it today, including Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. Also includes Jersey City, Newark and Hoboken. This is a mid-point chart in the development of this particular series. In-land details are not as comprehensive as in later charts, most particularly the 1866 series, however remains quite thorough especially with regard to developing towns and communities. In addition to inland details, this chart contains a wealth of practical information for the mariner from oceanic depths, to harbors and navigation tips on important channels. Map also includes tables of light houses and beacons, tides and magnetic declination as well as detailed sailing instructions. The triangulation for this chart was prepared by J. Ferguson and E. Blunt. The topography by H. L. Whiting, S. A. Gilbert, A. M Harrison, F. W. Door, C. Rockwell and J. M E. Chan. The hydrography was accomplished by R. Wainwright and T. A. Craven. The entire production was supervised by A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the Survey of the Coast of the United States and one of the most influential American cartographers of the 19th century.
The Civil War, as commonly known, took place in 1861-1865, although the crises that led to the war preceded the battles by decades. The many roles played by the U.S. Coast Survey in the war can best be considered by looking at four periods: (1) The Coast Survey under Bache before the war (1843-1858) (2) The Coast Survey prepares for war (1858-1861) (3) The Coast Survey in battle (1861-1865) (4) The aftermath of the war and the transition after Bache’s death (1865-1867)....read more

The Office of Coast Survey is the official chart-maker of the United States. Set up in 1807, it is one of the U.S. governments oldest scientific organizations. In 1878 it was given the name of Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS). In 1970 it became part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The agency was established in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson signed the document entitled An act to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States. While the bills objective was specific—to produce nautical charts—it reflected larger issues of concern to the new nation: national boundaries, commerce, and defence.
The early years were difficult. Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, who was eventually to become the agencys first superintendent, went to England to collect scientific instruments but was unable to return through the duration of the War of 1812. After his return, he worked on a survey of the New York Harbor in 1817, but Congress stepped in to suspend the work because of tensions between civilian and military control of the agency. After several years under the control of the U.S. Army, the Survey of the Coast was reestablished in 1832, and President Andrew Jackson appointed Hassler as superintendent.
The U.S. Coast Survey was a civilian agency but, from the beginning, members of the Navy and Army were detailed to service with the Survey, and Navy ships were also detailed to its use. In general, army officers worked on topographic surveys on the land and maps based on the surveys, while navy officers worked on hydrographic surveys in coastal waters.
Alexander Dallas Bache, great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was the second Coast Survey superintendent. Bache was a physicist, scientist, and surveyor who established the first magnetic observatory and served as the first president of the National Academy of Sciences. Under Bache, Coast Survey quickly applied its resources to the Union cause during the Civil War. In addition to setting up additional lithographic presses to produce the thousands of charts required by the Navy and other vessels, Bache made a critical decision to send Coast Survey parties to work with blockading squadrons and armies in the field, producing hundreds of maps and charts. Bache detailed these activities in his annual reports to Congress.
Coast Survey cartographer Edwin Hergesheimer created the map showing the density of the slave population in the Southern states.
Bache was also one of four members of the governments Blockade Strategy Board, planning strategy to essentially strangle the South, economically and militarily. On April 16, 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the blockade of ports from South Carolina to Texas. Baches Notes on the Coast provided valuable information for Union naval forces.
Maps were of paramount importance in wartime:
It is certain that accurate maps must form the basis of well-conducted military operations, and that the best time to procure them is not when an attack is impending, or when the army waits, but when there is no hindrance to, or pressure upon, the surveyors. That no coast can be effectively attacked, defended, or blockaded without accurate maps and charts, has been fully proved by the events of the last two years, if, indeed, such a proposition required practical proof.
— Alexander Dallas Bache, 1862 report.
Coast Survey attracted some of the best and brightest scientists and naturalists. It commissioned the naturalist Louis Agassiz to conduct the first scientific study of the Florida reef system. James McNeill Whistler, who went on to paint the iconic Whistlers Mother, was a Coast Survey engraver. The naturalist John Muir was a guide and artist on Survey of the 39th Parallel across the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah.
The agencys men and women (women professionals were hired as early as 1845) led scientific and engineering activities through the decades. In 1926, they started production of aeronautical charts. During the height of the Great Depression, Coast and Geodetic Survey organized surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.
In World War II, C&GS sent over 1,000 civilian members and more than half of its commissioned officers to serve as hydrographers, artillery surveyors, cartographers, army engineers, intelligence officers, and geophysicists in all theaters of the war. Civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the Allied Forces. Eleven members of the C&GS gave their lives during the war.

Alexander Dallas Bache 1806 – 1867 was an American physicist, scientist, and surveyor who erected coastal fortifications and conducted a detailed survey to map the mid-eastern United States coastline. Originally an army engineer, he later became Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, and built it into the foremost scientific institution in the country before the Civil War.
Alexander Bache was born in Philadelphia, the son of Richard Bache, Jr., and Sophia Burrell Dallas Bache. He came from a prominent family as he was the nephew of Vice-President George M. Dallas and naval hero Alexander J. Dallas. He was the grandson of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Dallas and was the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin.
Bache was a professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania from 1828 to 1841 and again from 1842 to 1843. He spent 1836–1838 in Europe on behalf of the trustees of what became Girard College; he was named president of the college after his return. Abroad, he examined European education systems, and on his return he published a valuable report. From 1839 to 1842, he served as the first president of Central High School of Philadelphia, one of the oldest public high schools in the United States.
In 1843, on the death of Professor Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. He convinced the United States Congress of the value of this work and, by means of the liberal aid it granted, he completed the mapping of the whole coast by a skillful division of labor and the erection of numerous observing stations. In addition, magnetic and meteorological data were collected. Bache served as head of the Coast Survey for 24 years (until his death).

$950.00 USD
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1718 Henri Chatelain & Claude Delisle Large Antique Map of North America

1718 Henri Chatelain & Claude Delisle Large Antique Map of North America

  • Title : Nouvelle carte de l'Amerique Septentrionale dressée sur les plus nouvelles observations de messieurs de l'Academie des Sciences et des meilleurs geographes
  • Ref #:  27008
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Size: 27in x 20 1/2in (685mm x 520mm)
  • Date : 1720
  • Price: $1499.00US

Description:
This original large hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map of North America, with a index to the territorial claims of the three Europeans powers, England, France & Spain and the indigenous peoples of those regions was published by Henri Chatelain in the 1718 edition of Atlas Historique, Ou Nouvelle Introduction A l'Histoire, aÌ la Chronologie & aÌ la Geìographie Ancienne & Moderne

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Blue, yellow, red, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 27in x 20 1/2in (685mm x 520mm)
Plate size: - 24in x 19in (610mm x 485mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Top margin cropped close to plate mark
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None

Background:
An attractive map of North America, based upon Claude De L Isle's highly influential map of North America published in 1700, from Chatelain's monumental 7 volume Atlas Historique, published in Amsterdam.
California is a peninsula with a number of villages, mountains, and the Channel Islands shown. Mississippi extends far north of its true source. Large Florida and downplayed English colonies.
This fine map is a wonderful example from Chatelain's important text. By combining a wealth of information and geographical observation, with delicate engraving and an uncomplicated composition, this elegant map is a superb example from the golden age of French mapmaking.

Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.

$950.00 USD
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1696 Jaillot Large Antique Map Norway Sweden Finland Denmark - Latvia & Estonia

1696 Jaillot Large Antique Map Norway Sweden Finland Denmark - Latvia & Estonia

Description:
This very large, beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map of Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark along with Latvia & Estonia was engraved in 1696 - dated in cartouche - and was published by Alexis Hubert Jaillot in his monumental Atlas Nouveau.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, green, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 37in x 24in (940mm x 610mm)
Plate size: - 35in x 23in (890mm x 585mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Several small repairs to margins, no loss
Plate area: - Horizontal fold, light soiling and creasing
Verso: - Light soiling

Background: 
Before the fifteenth century the people of Southern Europe had little geographical knowledge of the Scandinavian World except from sketchy detail shown in the Catalan Atlas (1375) and on a number of \" portolani\" embracing Denmark and the southern tip of Norway. It was not until 1427 that a manuscript map prepared about that time by Claudius Clavus (b.1388) a Dane who spent some time in Rome, made available to scholars a tolerable outline of the northern countries and Greenland. That was to remain the best map available for the rest of the century and it was used as the basis for maps of Scandinavia in early printed editions of Ptolemy. Others by Nicolaus Cusanus (1491) and Ehrhard Etzlaub (c. 1492) followed but, needless to say, these are extremely rare; even the later maps by Olaus Magnus and Marcus Jordan, where they have survived at all , are known only by a very few examples. In fact, apart from the rare appearance of an early Ptolemy map, the oldest of Scandinavia which a collector is likely to find are those of Munster\'s Cosmograhy first published in 1544. In the following centuries the few maps and charts complied in Scandinavia were usually published in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris or Nuremberg, the most important maps often being incorporated in the major Dutch, French & German Atlases. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

$925.00 USD
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1748 J N Bellin Large Antique World Map on Mercators Projection

1748 J N Bellin Large Antique World Map on Mercators Projection

  • Title : Essay d une Carte Reduite Contenant les parties connuees Du Globe Terrestre...1748
  • Date : 1748
  • Size: 25 3/4in x 19in (705mm x 480mm)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Ref:  17011

Description:
This large original hand coloured copper-plate engraved 4 sheet joined, antique World Map on Mercators Projection was engraved in 1748 by Jacques Nicolas Bellin - dated in the title.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Later
Colors used: - Blue, yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25 3/4in x 19in (705mm x 480mm)
Plate size: - 25 3/4in x 19in (705mm x 480mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Margins extended from border
Plate area: - Light creasing
Verso: - Light creasing

Background:
First edition of Bellins large mid-18th century world map, published in Paris. This map pre-dates the major world discoveries of the late 18th century including the North West coast of America, the Sandwich Islands, and the Voyages of Capt Cook soon to map the East Coast of Australia & NZ.
This edition is most noteworthy for its marvelous early projection of Australia and New Zealand, each with largely speculative coastlines. Australia is still attached to New Guinea and has several notes of early exploration shown. New Zealand is barely known and with only a portion of its western coastline.
No sign of Antarctica and the NW Coast of America includes the first notes of Russian exploration.
In North America Bellin identifies the semi-mythical civilizations of Quivira and Teguayo, both associated with legends of the Seven Cities of Gold, in what is modern day Utah, California, and Nevada. Along the western coast the strait discovered by Martin Aguilar is noted. Further north still the River of the West (Fl. de l’Ouest) extends from the west coast to the Lake of the Woods (Lac de Bois) and thence via additional waterways to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. The River of the West appeared in many 18th century maps of the Americas and is reflective of French hopes for a water route from their colonies in Canada and Louisiana to the Pacific. Still further north the coastline becomes extremely vague, in places vanishing altogether. The Aleutians are vaguely rendered according to various sightings by Vitus Jonassen Bering and Aleksei Chirikov in the 1740s and identified as the “Archipel de Nord”.
In the Pacific, various Polynesian Island groups are noted though many are slightly or significantly misplaced. The Solomon Islands are vastly oversized referencing the early 17th claims of Quiros. The other lands discovered and erroneously mapped by Quiros in 1606 and Davis in 1686 during their search of the great southern continent are also noted. Hawaii, as yet undiscovered, is absent. New Zealand is rendered twice though is accurate in its form and position. Australia, here labelled “Nouvelle Holland”, has part of its southern coastline ghosted in and Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) is attached to the mainland. The southern coast of New Guinea is similarly ghosted in, suggesting its unexplored state. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

$925.00 USD
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1795 (1806) Canzler Large Antique Map Australia, Ulimaroa, New Zealand SE Asia

1795 (1806) Canzler Large Antique Map Australia, Ulimaroa, New Zealand SE Asia

  • Title : Karte vom Funften Erdtheil oder Polynaesien-Inselwelt oder Australien oder Sudindien (Map of the fifth earth or Polynesia or Australia or South India.)
  • Size: 24 1/4in x 20 1/2in (615mm x 520mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Date : 1795 (1806)
  • Ref #:  93121

Description:
This large original hand coloured copper-plate engraved, antique map of Australia, New Zealand and SE Asia by Friedrich Gottlieb Canzler in 1795, was published by the Homann Firm in 1806.
A distinct map with the short lived alternative name of Ulimaroa for New Holland, given by Canzler after Daniel Djurberg mistakenly interperated the New Zealand Maori word, Olhemaroa, from Cooks diary, for Australia. The real interpretation being Long Hand, the Maori name for New Caledonia.

There are two records in Cooks diary relating to Ulimaroa....

5th Feb 1769....This place we concluded to be the land difcovered by Tafman, which he called Cape Maria Van Diemen, and finding thefe people fo intelligent, we inquired farther, if they knew of any country befides their own: they anfwered, that they never had vifisted any other, but that their anceftors had told them, that to the N.W. by N., or N.N.W. there was a country of great extent, called Ulimaroa, which people had failed in a very large canoe

5th Feb 1770.....When we were under fail, our old man aTopaa came on board to take his leave of us, and as we were ftill defirous of making farther enquiries whether any memory of Tafman had been preferved among thefe people, Tupia was directed to afk him whether he had ever heard that fuch a veffel as ours had vifited the country. To this he replied in the negative, but faid, that his anceftors had told him there had once come to this place a fmall veffel, from a distant country, called Ulimaroa, in which were four men, who, upon coming on fhore, were all killed: upon being afked where this diftant land lay, he pointed to the northward. Of Ulimaroa we had heard fome-thing before, from people about the Bay of Iflands, who faid that their anceftors had vifisted it; and Tupia had alfo talked to us of Ulimaroa.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 24 1/4in x 20 1/2in (615mm x 520mm)
Plate size: - 24 1/2in x 19in (620mm x 490mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Ulimaroa was a name given to Australia by the Swedish geographer and cartographer Daniel Djurberg in 1776. Djurberg adapted the name from Olhemaroa, a Māori word found in Hawkesworths edition of Captain James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks journals which is thought to have been a misunderstood translation — the Māori were actually referring to Grand Terre, the largest island of New Caledonia. Djurberg believed the name meant something like big red land, whereas modern linguists believe it meant long hand — echoing the geography of Grand Terre. The spurious name continued to be reproduced on certain European maps, particularly some Austrian, Czech, German and Swedish maps, until around 1820, including in Carl Almqvists 1817 novel Parjumouf Saga ifrån Nya Holland (Stockholm, 1817).

Canzler, Friedrich Gottlieb 1764-1811
Friedrich Gottlieb Canzler was born in Wolgast, Sweden in 1764. He graduated from the school in his hometown and from 1781 to 1783 the Sundische Gymnasium in Stralsund . He then studied history , geography , statistics and the Swedish language at the University of Göttingen . After completing his studies, he also received his doctorate and habilitation in Göttingen, and worked as a Privatdozent for history, geography, statistics and cameralistics .
In addition, he published in Göttingen from July 1789 to February 1791 the General Political State Newspaper for all Stands, for which he ran his own university and newspaper printing plant, and founded in 1797 an Academic Reading Museum. Two years later he was appointed Professor of Statistics, State Economics, Cameral, Financial and Commerz Sciences at the University of Greifswald where he worked until his death in 1811.
Selected Works:
- New magazine for recent history, Earth and ethnology. Leipzig 1790
- English language teaching for Germans. Göttingen 1796
- General Litteraturarchiv for history, geography and statistics. Leipzig 1792-1798 (as publisher)
- Map of the fifth earth or Polynesia or Australia or South India. Nuremberg 1795, 1805 and 1806 (as well as 1813 with corrections by Christian Gottlieb Reichard)
- Front India or Hindostan or East India on the side of the Ganges. Nuremberg 1804

$900.00 USD
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1720 Guillaume Delisle Large Antique Map of America, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean

1720 Guillaume Delisle Large Antique Map of America, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean

  • Title : Hemisphere Occidental Dresse en 1720 pour l usage
  • Date : 1720
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93081
  • Size: 25in x 21in (635mm x 535mm)

Description:
This very large 1st edition beautifully hand coloured original antique Map of America by Guillaume Delisle, was engraved by J De la Haye in 1720, dated, and was was published in the Atlas Nouveau.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 25in x 21in (635mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 19 1/2in x 19in (490mm x 485mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Uniform age toning
Plate area: - Uniform age toning
Verso: - Uniform age toning

Background: 
Guillaume de L isle was responsible for some of the most accurate maps of America avaialble in the early 18th century. Delisle did away with most of the speculative cartography especially of North America and researched his information in finite detail. This can be seen in many ways. The most oblivious is showing California as a Peninsular - which some cartographers did not believe until the 1740\'s - and the NW region has been left blank, free of speculation. Another noticeable difference is the accurate depiction of the Great Lakes.
As with all Delisle\'s map this is finely engraved with amazing detail and hand colour. The map includes the tracks of many explorers up until 1710. These include Magellan 1520, Halley 1700, de Quiros 1605, de Mendana 1595, de la Maire 1616, Tasman, Halley and others. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)

$900.00 USD
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1759 Delarochette & Kitchin 1st Edition Antique Map of Germany Central Europe - Rare

1759 Delarochette & Kitchin 1st Edition Antique Map of Germany Central Europe - Rare

  • Titles: Map of the Empire of Germany, Including All the States Comprehend under that name: with the Kingdom of Priussia &c.
    Sizes: 48 1/2in x 41in (1.230m x 1.040m)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Date: 1759
  • Ref #:  93418

Description:
This stunning very large, scare and original copper-plate engraved antique 1st edition wall map of Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Prussia, Poland, Hungary, Netherlands and Northern Italy by the English cartographers Louis d arcy Delarochette & Thomas Kitchin (engraver) was published by Robert Sayer in 1759.
Incredibly detailed map of central Europe showing political boundaries as they were in the mid 18th century. Much detail noting roadways, towns, castles, monasteries, forests, swamps, rivers, towns, cities, mountains and much more. An incredible insight into mid 18th century Europe.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 48 1/2in x 41in (1.230m x 1.040m)
Plate size: - 48 1/2in x 41in (1.230m x 1.040m)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
Louis d Arcy Delarochette 1731 - 1802 was a British cartographer active in the mid to late 18th century. Collaborated with many famous British cartographers including Kitchin, Faden, Laurie & Whittle and Thomas Jefferies. Well know for his large scale maps.

Robert Sayers 1724 - 1794 was an important English map publisher and engraver active from the mid to late 18th century. Sayer was born in Sunderland, England, in 1725. He may have clerked as a young man with the Bank of England, but this is unclear. His brother, James Sayer, married Mary Overton, daughter-in-law of John Overton and widow of Philip Overton. Sayer initially worked under Mary Overton, but by December of 1748 was managing the Overton enterprise and gradually took it over, transitioning the plates to his own name. When Thomas Jefferys went bankrupt in 1766, Sayer offered financial assistance to help him stay in business and, in this way, acquired rights to many of the important Jefferys map plates as well as his unpublished research. From about 1774, he began publishing with his apprentice, John Bennett (fl. 1770-1784), as Sayer and Bennett, but the partnership was not formalized until 1777. Bennett retired in 1784 following a mental collapse and the imprint reverted to Robert Sayer. From 1790, Sayer added Robert Laurie and James Whittle to his enterprise, renaming the firm Robert Sayer and Company. Ultimately, Laurie and Whittle partnered to take over his firm. Sayer retired to Bath, where, after a long illness, he died. During most of his career, Sayer was based at 53 Fleet Street, London. His work is particularly significant for its publication of many British maps relating to the American Revolutionary War. Unlike many map makers of his generation, Sayer was a good businessman and left a personal fortune and great estate to his son, James Sayer, who never worked in the publishing business.

$899.00 USD
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1720 Johannes Baptist Homann Large Antique Map of America

1720 Johannes Baptist Homann Large Antique Map of America

  • Title : Totius Americae Septentrionalis et Meridionalis Novissima Representatio quam ex fingulis Geographorum Tabulis collecta luci publicae accommodavit...Johannes Baptista Homann
  • Ref #:  93506
  • Size: 24in x 21in (610mm x 525mm)
  • Date : 1720
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured copper plate antique map of America was published by Johann Baptist Homann in 1720.
A very nice example of this early landmark American map by one of the greats of 17th & 18th century German cartography.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 24in x 21in (610mm x 525mm)
Plate size: - 22 1/2in x 19in (565mm x 490mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - Bottom centerfold rejoined at bottom of map, not affecting the image

Background:
This is the second state of Homanns map of America that includes an elongated northwest Coastline is called Costa Terrae Borealis incognitae detecta a Dom: Ioanne de Gama navigante ex China in Novam Hispaniam. The map provides credit for the discovery of this coastline to João de Gama (1540-1591). João da Gama, the grandson of Vasco da Gama, was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator in the Far East, during the last quarter of the 16th century. Da Gama sailed from Macau to the northeast and rounded Japan by north, crossing the Pacific Ocean at the northernmost latitudes. The lands northeast of Japan, which João da Gama discovered, were the subject of legend and speculation in the centuries that followed, inspiring its search by European powers.
Good detail throughout the map, especially in the southwest and near the Great Lakes, which were then actively being explored by the French fur traders and Hudson\'s Bay Company.

$899.00 USD
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1783 R. De Vaugondy Large Antique 1st Post Revolutionary Map of North America

1783 R. De Vaugondy Large Antique 1st Post Revolutionary Map of North America

  • Title : Amerique Septentrionale ...Les Etats Unis...1783...Robert De Vaugondy
  • Ref #:  93503-1
  • Size: 27 1/2in x 21 1/2in (700mm x 540mm)
  • Date : 1783
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured copper plate antique map of post revolutionary North America & the newly form United States was engraved in 1783 - dated - and was published by Robert De Vaugondy in his large elephant folio Atlas Universal
This map is in beautiful original condition, original margins, original outline colour on strong sturdy paper with a heavy impression. A must for any collector of maps of historical importance.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, pink, red, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 27 1/2in x 21 1/2in (700mm x 540mm)
Plate size: - 25 1/2in x 18 1/2in (650mm x 465mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
This is Robert De Vaugondys 5th State of his North America map and one of the first to show the newly liberated American States, after the American Revolutionary War 1775 - 1783.
The maps includes an engraved borderline for the newly founded United States as agreed upon by the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Also, the maps title was altered from earlier states to incorporate the name (in French) for the United States, Etats Unis, which also appears on the map itself. This state includes much other new information along with the place names that were added to the previous state, such as the Newport, New York City, and Bermuda. Florida is shown as an archipelago and the coastline of California is quite curious, with a continuation of the coastline in the inset map of the Northwest showing some of the mythical cartography, such as the Sea of the West and River of the West, which were debated among map scholars and explorers until Captain James Cook dispelled these myths in his three Voyages to the Pacific.
The map also locates the area identified as Fou-sang, reflecting the belief that Chinese mariners may have reached America, the location of the mythical colony of Fou-sang. According to some historians such as Charles Godfrey Leland and Joseph de Guignes ( Le Fou-Sang des Chinois est-il lAmérique Mémoires de lAcadémie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tome 28, Paris, 1761), the distances given by Hui Shen (20,000 Chinese li) would locate Fou-sang on the west coast of the American continent, near British Columbia.

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1646 Joan Blaeu Large Antique Map of Scotland - Scotia Regnum

1646 Joan Blaeu Large Antique Map of Scotland - Scotia Regnum

Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original antique map of Scotland was published in the 1646 Dutch edition of Joan Blaeu's Atlas Novus.

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, red, blue, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 3/4in x 19 3/4in (580mm x 500mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 1/4in (510mm x 385mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: When the Blaeu's  published Volume V - GB & Ireland - of Atlas Novus, Scotland became one of the best-mapped countries in the world. Volume V contained forty-eight plates showing forty-nine separate maps of Scotland (plus a map of Ptolemy British Isles and six maps of Ireland). The first two plates from the atlas show the entire country ancient and modern, whilst the remaining forty-six plates cover most Scotland in forty-seven regional maps. In total the regional maps locate some 20,000 different place names. A clue as to the reason for this extraordinary explosion of geographical information is to be found on thirty-six of the regional maps, which all carry engraved credits to Timothy Pont (1524-1606)
Pont was responsible for surveying the greater part of Scotland between 1583-1600, the resulting Pont Manuscript maps were never published but were put to good use some fifty to seventy years later by Robert Gordon and Joan Blaeu. (Ref: Koeman; Tooley; M&B)

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1719 Chatelain Antique Map of North America, GOM, Caribbean, United States

1719 Chatelain Antique Map of North America, GOM, Caribbean, United States

  • Title : Carte Contenant Le Royaume Du Mexique Et La Floride
  • Date : 1719
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  50621
  • Size: 23 1/4in x 17 1/2in (590m x 445m) 

Description: 
This large beautifully hand coloured original antique foundation map of North America and the Caribbean - after Delisle landmark map of 1703 - was published by Henri Abraham Chatelain in 1719, in his famous Atlas Historique.

Background:
A very attractive example of Chatelain's issue of Guillaume De L'Isle's foundation map of present-day United States, Central America and the West Indies, originally published in 1703. Guillaume De L'Isle brought a new scientific approach to mapmaking at the end of the seventeenth century and his rigorously prepared maps of all areas became the standards for much of the following century.

Amongst his most important works were those relating to the New World, especially North America, where the recent reports of French travellers into the interior were utilised. Sources for this map - the first to show the lower reaches of the Mississippi accurately - included d'Iberville, Tonty and Le Sueur, Father Gravier, and Bienville (later to become Governor of the French colony of Louisiana). Evidence of the contemporary superiority of De L'Isle's maps lies in the numerous copies, published in Paris, Amsterdam, London and Germany, and the republishing of the original plate over many years. Geographically his maps were as correct, however, this map is also remarkable for De L'Isle's political boundaries which squeeze the English Colonies, on the east coast into a narrow strip, thus allocating the greater part of North America to France. Chatelain's map has a large panel of text describing Mexico and Florida at lower left.

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Pink, green, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic 
Paper size: - 23 1/4in x 17 1/2in (590m x 445m)
Plate size: - 20 3/4in x 16 1/4in (530m x 415mm)
Margins: - min. 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections: Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None

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1693 Alexis Hubert Jaillot Large 1st Edition Antique Map of England & Wales

1693 Alexis Hubert Jaillot Large 1st Edition Antique Map of England & Wales

  • Title : Le Royaume d'Angleterre Distingue en Ses Provinces...1693
  • Size: 33in x 24in (840m x 610mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Date : 1693
  • Ref #:  17059

Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original 1693 1st edition antique map of England & Wales by A H Jaillot - after Nicolas Sanson - was engraved in 1693 - the date is engraved in the title and was published by Jaillot in his large elephant folio Atlas Nouveau.
An original first state of this handsome map of England and Wales, that includes the east coast of Ireland's, southern Scotland, the Channel Islands, and a stretch of French coastline south to Paris. England and Wales are divided into their local counties, with highly detailed information on towns, cities, rivers, and topographical information.
The stunning decorative title cartouche features the United Kingdom coat-of-arms with a banner underneath reading Je Maintiendray ("I will maintain," which is strangely enough the motto of the Netherlands), along with trumpeting angels, mermen, and symbols of military might. A second cartouche flanked by putti encloses the six distance scales. A compass rose capped with a fleur-de-lis appears in the Irish Sea. Jaillot, in partnership with the sons of Nicolas Sanson, re-engraved Nicolas's Sanson's map on a larger scale in the 1680's. This particular map was published a few years later in the 1690's, and while based on Sanson's cartography (who is credited in the cartouche), it is a Jaillot composition. Also included is an alternate title running along the top neatline: Le Royaume d'Angleterre, Distingue en Ses Provinces; Scavoir en Northumberland, Mercie, East-Angles, Essex, Kent, Sussex, West-Sex, et la Principaute de Galles.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 33in x 24in (840m x 610mm)
Plate size: - 31 1/4in x 23in (795mm x 585mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
English Cartography: When considering the work of English map makers we tend, perhaps, to think too much in terms of county maps, dominated by the names of Saxton and Speed, but we should not underrate the contribution to the sum of geographical knowledge made in other spheres, such as the sea charts of Edward Wright, Robert Dudley and Greenvile Collins, the discoveries of James Cook, the road maps of Ogilby and Cary, the meteorological and magnetic charts compiled by Edmund Halley, to mention only a few.
In 1558 Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in the midst of a fast changing world. In 1563 a nineteen sheet map, copies of which survive only in manuscript form, was completed by Laurence Nowell, and no doubt, the issue of Mercator's large-scale map of the British Isles in 1564 had an important influence on the thought of the period. A few years later a national survey was commissioned privately, although probably at the instigation of Lord Burghley, the Lord Treasurer, but subsequently was completed with royal encouragement. The outcome was Christopher Saxton's Atlas of EngIand and Wales, started about 1570 and published in 1579 - the first printed set of county maps and the first countrywide atlas on such a splendid scale produced anywhere. A Welsh antiquarian, Humphrey Lhuyd completed a set of surveys that were even more successful than Saxton in which he had produced fine manuscript maps of England and Wales which were used by Ortelius in editions of his Atlas from 1573 onwards.
The earliest maps of the 17th century, attributed to William Smith of the College of Heralds, covered only twelve counties based on Saxton/Norden and were presumably intended to be part of a complete new atlas. They were printed in the Low Countries in 1602-3 and were soon followed by maps for the Latin edition of Camden's Britannia dated 1607. In 1610-11 the first edition of John Speed's famous county Atlas The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine was published and immediately replaced Saxton's in popular appeal. Although Speed assembled much of his material from the earlier works of Saxton, Norden and others, a considerable part of the up-to-date information, especially relating to the inset town plans depicted on his maps, was obtained first hand. The maps undoubtedly owed much of their popularity to the splendid engravings of high quality made in the workshops in Amsterdam of Jodocus Hondius to whom Speed sent his manuscripts, the plates subsequently being returned to London for printing.
In 1645, Volume IV of the famous Blaeu World Atlas covering the counties of England and Wales was published in Amsterdam. These maps have always been esteemed as superb examples of engraving and design, the calligraphy being particularly splendid, but nevertheless they were nearly all based on Saxton and Speed and added little to geographical knowledge.
Not until the latter part of the century do we find an English map maker of originality with the capacity to put new ideas into practice. John Ogilby, one of the more colourful figures associated with cartography, started life as a dancing master and finished as King's Cosmographer and Geographic Printer. After publishing a small number of county maps, somewhat on the lines of John Norden he issued in 1675 the Britannia, the first practical series of detailed maps of the post roads of England and Wales on a standard scale of 1,760 yards to the mile. Up to the end of the century and beyond, reprints and revisions of Saxton's and Speed's atlases continued to appear and the only other noteworthy county maps were Richard Blome's Britannia (1673), John Overton's Atlas (c. 1670) and Robert Morden's maps for an English translation of Camden's Britannia published in 1695.
Another noted cartographer of the day was Captain Greenvile Collins, and of his work in surveying the coasts of Great Britain culminating in the issue in 1693 of the Great Britain's Coasting Pilot. Apart from these charts, English cartographers published during the century a number of world atlases. Speed was the first Englishman to produce a world atlas with the issue in 1627 of his A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. Other atlases appeared later in the century by Peter Heylin, John Seller, William Berry, Moses Pitt and Richard Blome, whilst Ogilby found time to issue maps of Africa, America and Asia. Far more important, from the purely scientific point of view, was the work of Edmund Halley, Astronomer Royal, who compiled and issued meteorological and magnetic charts in 1688 and 1701 respectively.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Dutch map trade was finally in decline, the French in the ascendant and the English to a great extent still dominated by Saxton and Speed except, as we have shown, in the spheres of sea charts and road maps. There were atlases by John Senex, the Bowles family, Emanuel and Thomas Bowen, Thomas Badeslade and the unique bird's-eye perspective views of the counties, The British Monarchy by George Bickham. In 1750-60 Bowen and Kitchin's The Large English Atlas containing maps on a rather larger scale than hitherto was published.
In 1759 the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce offered an award of £100 for the best original surveys on this scale and by the end of the century about thirty counties had been re-surveyed. These maps, many of which formed, in later years, the basis for the first issues of county maps by the Ordnance Survey Office were not only decorative but a tremendous improvement geographically on earlier local maps. As a consequence, the skills and expertise of the new-style cartographers soon enabled them to cover the world as well as the domestic market. Thomas Jefferys was such a man; he was responsible for a number of the new 1 in. to 1 mile county surveys and he issued an edition of Saxton's much battered 200-year-old plates of the county maps, but he is better known for many fine maps of North America and the West Indies. His work was continued on the same lines by William Faden, trading as Faden and Jefferys. Other publishers such as Sayer and Bennett and their successors Laurie and Whittle published a prodigious range of maps, charts and atlases in the second half of the century. A major influence at this time was John Cary who, apart from organizing the first re-survey of post roads since Ogilby and subsequently printing the noted Travellers' Companion, was a prolific publisher of atlases and maps of every kind of all parts of the world. After starting work with Cary, and taking part in the new road survey, Aaron Arrowsmith set up in his own business and went on to issue splendid large-scale maps of many parts of the world. Both Cary's and Arrowsmith's plates were used by other publishers until far into the next century and, in turn, their work was taken up and developed by James Wyld (Elder and Younger) and Tallis and Co.
Later into the 19th century some of the better known cartographers and publishers were by Henry Teesdale (1829-30), Christopher and John Greenwood, surveyors, Thomas Moule, a writer on heraldry and antiques (1830-36) and John Walker (1837) but by about the middle of the century few small-scale publishers survived and their business passed into the hands of large commercial concerns such as Bartholomews of Edinburgh and Philips of London who continue to this day. (Ref: Shirley; Tooley; M&B)

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1768 Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

1768 Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

  • Title : Partie De L Amerique Septentrionale, qui Comprend Le Cours De L Ohio...Par le Sr Robert de Vaugondy
  • Date : 1768
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93129
  • Size: 30in x 22in (760mm x 560mm)

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured, scarce 2nd edition antique map of the east coast of the United States, illustrating the course of the Ohio River and stretching from New England to the Carolinas, north to the Great Lakes and south to the Mississippi - with an inset map of The Carolinas - was published in 1768 by Robert Du Vaugondy in his Atlas Universal.
This is one of the best examples of this map I have seen, beautiful hand colour on age toned heavy paper with original margins with a heavy dark ink denoting an early pressing.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 30in x 22in (760mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 25in x 19 1/2in (635mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light spotting in top margin
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Second state of the early de Vaugondy map of the British colonies, with changes after the 1763 Treaty of Paris, with Virginia & Carolina extended to the Mississippi and Pennsylvania extended to Lake Erie. The majority of geographical information is based upon John Mitchells great map of North America from the mid 1750s, also drawing from Lewis, Evans on the Middle British Colonies and Joshua Frys and Peter Jeffersons map of Virginia and Maryland. The Mitchell map was the culmination of many years of British surveying in the North American Colonies and was considered one of the best maps of the continent available to Europeans and Americans in the mid-eighteenth century.
De Vaugondys rendition does not copy the full scope of Mitchells map but instead focuses on the colonies stretching from southern Maine to the Carolinas. In the top left corner is an inset of South Carolina and Georgia. De Vaugondy also pays special attention to the river systems and settlements. This map shows some of the earliest accurate information of the trans-Allegheny regions (the Ohio River, Kentucky, Tennessee and Parts of Ohio) and inland areas to the southeast of the Great Lakes and interior of New England.
Maine is still part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During this era. The dispute between New Hampshire and New York over who controlled the area which is now Vermont has been resolved. The outbreak of the French & Indian War (Seven Years War) briefly suspended interest in the disputed area, and it was not until 1764 that the British crown upheld New Yorks claim to Vermont. Included is a beautiful title cartouche in the Rococo style. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

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1768 Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

1768 Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

  • Title : Partie De L Amerique Septentrionale, qui Comprend Le Cours De L Ohio...Par le Sr Robert de Vaugondy
  • Date : 1768
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93504
  • Size: 30in x 21in (760mm x 550mm)

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured, scarce 2nd edition antique map of the east coast of the United States, illustrating the course of the Ohio River and stretching from New England to the Carolinas, north to the Great Lakes and south to the Mississippi - with an inset map of The Carolinas - was published in 1768 by Robert Du Vaugondy in his Atlas Universal.
This is one of the best examples of this map I have seen, beautiful hand colour on age toned heavy paper with original margins with a heavy dark ink denoting an early pressing.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 30in x 22in (760mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 25in x 19 1/2in (635mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Second state of the early de Vaugondy map of the British colonies, with changes after the 1763 Treaty of Paris, with Virginia & Carolina extended to the Mississippi and Pennsylvania extended to Lake Erie. The majority of geographical information is based upon John Mitchells great map of North America from the mid 1750s, also drawing from Lewis, Evans on the Middle British Colonies and Joshua Frys and Peter Jeffersons map of Virginia and Maryland. The Mitchell map was the culmination of many years of British surveying in the North American Colonies and was considered one of the best maps of the continent available to Europeans and Americans in the mid-eighteenth century.
De Vaugondys rendition does not copy the full scope of Mitchells map but instead focuses on the colonies stretching from southern Maine to the Carolinas. In the top left corner is an inset of South Carolina and Georgia. De Vaugondy also pays special attention to the river systems and settlements. This map shows some of the earliest accurate information of the trans-Allegheny regions (the Ohio River, Kentucky, Tennessee and Parts of Ohio) and inland areas to the southeast of the Great Lakes and interior of New England.
Maine is still part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During this era. The dispute between New Hampshire and New York over who controlled the area which is now Vermont has been resolved. The outbreak of the French & Indian War (Seven Years War) briefly suspended interest in the disputed area, and it was not until 1764 that the British crown upheld New Yorks claim to Vermont. Included is a beautiful title cartouche in the Rococo style. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

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1708 Pieter Schenk Large Antique Map of Scotland - Beautiful Hand Colouring

1708 Pieter Schenk Large Antique Map of Scotland - Beautiful Hand Colouring

  • Title : Novissima Regni Scotia Septrionalis et Merdionalis Tabula
  • Date : 1708
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93524
  • Size: 24 1/2in x 21in (620mm x 535mm)

Description:
This large original copper plate engraved beautifully hand coloured antique map of Scotland was engraved and published by Pieter Schenk in 1708 - dated in cartouche.
This is one of the finest and beautifully hand colored map of Scotland I have seen for sometime

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 24 1/2in x 21in (620mm x 535mm)
Plate size: - 23 1/2in x 19 1/2in (595mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed in 1502 by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England. James married Henrys daughter, Margaret Tudor. James invaded England in support of France under the terms of the Auld Alliance and became the last British monarch to die in battle, at Flodden in 1513. In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh brought an end to the Anglo-French conflict and recognized the Protestant Elizabeth I as Queen of England. The Parliament of Scotland met and immediately adopted the Scots Confession, which signaled the Scottish Reformations sharp break from papal authority and Catholic teaching. The Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots was forced to abdicate in 1567.
In 1603, James VI, King of Scots inherited the thrones of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns, and moved to London. The military was strengthened, allowing the imposition of royal authority on the western Highland clans. The 1609 Statutes of Iona compelled the cultural integration of Hebridean clan leaders. With the exception of a short period under the Protectorate, Scotland remained a separate state, but there was considerable conflict between the crown and the Covenanters over the form of church government. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 saw the overthrow of King James VII of Scotland and II of England by the English Parliament in favour of William III and Mary II In common with countries such as France, Norway, Sweden and Finland, Scotland experienced famines during the 1690s. Mortality, reduced childbirths and increased emigration reduced the population of parts of the country about 10-15%.
In 1698, the Company of Scotland attempted a project to secure a trading colony on the Isthmus of Panama. Although it received a huge investment, the Darien scheme failed, partially due to English hostility. Along with the threat of an English invasion, the resulting bankruptcies played a leading role in convincing the Scots elite to back a union with England. On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England. The following year twin Acts of Union were passed by both parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from 1 May 1707 with popular opposition and anti-union riots in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and elsewhere.
With trade tariffs with England now abolished, trade blossomed, especially with Colonial America. The clippers belonging to the Glasgow Tobacco Lords were the fastest ships on the route to Virginia. Until the American War of Independence in 1776, Glasgow was the worlds premier tobacco port, dominating world trade. The deposed Jacobite Stuart claimants had remained popular in the Highlands and north-east, particularly amongst non-Presbyterians, including Roman Catholics and Episcopalian Protestants. However, two major Jacobite risings launched in 1715 and 1745 failed to remove the House of Hanover from the British throne. The threat of the Jacobite movement to the United Kingdom and its monarchs effectively ended at the Battle of Culloden, Great Britains last pitched battle.
The Scottish Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution turned Scotland into an intellectual, commercial and industrial powerhouse so much so Voltaire said We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation. With the demise of Jacobitism and the advent of the Union, thousands of Scots, mainly Lowlanders, took up numerous positions of power in politics, civil service, the army and navy, trade, economics, colonial enterprises and other areas across the nascent British Empire. Historian Neil Davidson notes after 1746 there was an entirely new level of participation by Scots in political life, particularly outside Scotland. Davidson also states far from being peripheral to the British economy, Scotland – or more precisely, the Lowlands – lay at its core. In the Highlands, clan chiefs gradually started to think of themselves more as commercial landlords than leaders of their people. These social and economic changes included the first phase of the Highland Clearances and, ultimately, the demise of the clan system. In the last third of the 18th century, Highlanders began to migrate seasonally to Lowland cities for work, and emigration to the New World from both the Highlands and Lowlands became commonplace, even as the population increased

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1856 Mitchell Large Antique Pre Civil War Map United States of America California Gold Rush

1856 Mitchell Large Antique Pre Civil War Map United States of America California Gold Rush

  • Title : Mitchells New Travellers Guide through the United States Showing the Rail Roads, Canals, Stage Roads and c. with Distances from Place to Place. Drawn and engraved by Ira S Drake Philadelphia 1856. Published by Charles Desilver
  • Size: 28 3/4in x 22in (730mm x 560mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Date : 1856
  • Ref #:  82034

Description:
This is a large uncommon, beautifully hand coloured and separately issued pre-Civil War original antique map of the United States issued by Charles Desilver in 1856 and is based on the earlier maps by the famous American cartographer, Samuel Augustus Mitchell. 
The map covers the United States from the Atlantic seaboard to the western states beyond the Mississippi, with insets maps offering additional detail of the New England states, Lake Superior Copper Mines Region and in the California Gold Mining regions. As to be expected of a map designed for the traveler & explorer, Desilver offers in-depth detail of contemporary railways, canals, and roads with inset maps showing routes to California, illustrating the huge interest in the gold mining of California. 
This map was drawn & engraved by Ira Drake and issued first by Desilver in 1856.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 28 3/4in x 22in (730mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 28 3/4in x 22in (730mm x 560mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (8mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Charles Desilver (fl. c. 1850 - 1862) is a little known American map published active in the middle part of the 19th century. Desilver began is cartographic career as a partner in the firm Thomas, Cowperthwait and Company, the publisher of S. A. Mitchell popular New Universal Atlas. In 1856 Desilver acquired Mitchell\'s copyrights and print plates and began to issue his own vaJacques Nicholas Bellinmitriant of the New Universal Atlas. Desilver altered Mitchell\'s maps only slightly; adding a new grillwork border, his own color scheme, new titles, and some updated political data. Despite a noble pedigree, Desilver\'s maps did not sell well - possibly because they followed the long and very popular run of Mitchell\'s own atlases. Desliver continued to publish his atlas until 1859 (though we have heard that he also published an 1862 edition). In 1859 he resold the Mitchell copyrights and printing plates to S. A. Mitchell\'s son S. A. Mitchell Jr. The younger Mitchell again updated the plates with own border and color scheme and began publishing his own successful atlas in 1860.

$850.00 USD
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1712 Senex Very Large Antique Map of European Russia - Moscovy Corrected

1712 Senex Very Large Antique Map of European Russia - Moscovy Corrected

  • TitleMoscovy Corrected from ye Observations Communicated to the Royal Society of London and Paris By John Senex & John Maxwell. Sold by them at the Globe.....1712
  • Ref #:  61030
  • Size: 38in x 27in (990mm x 665mm)
  • Date : 1712
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description: 
This extraordinary, very large & beautifully hand coloured  original antique map of European Russia - Moscovy - including parts of Scandinavia, the Baltic States & The Ukraine by John Senex & John Maxwell in 1712 - dated in title - and was published for Senex's large Elephant Folio General Atlas. 

These large scale maps are scarce as damage and loss over time was frequent from both handling and difficulty storing safely. 

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 38in x 27in (990mm x 665mm)
Plate size: - 37in x 25in (930mm x 635mm)
Margins: - min. 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - Folds re-enforced on verso

Background: It is scarcely necessary to look at a map of Russia - with which we must include Siberia - to visualize the daunting task facing Russian map makers. Indeed, considering the vastness of their territory and the lack of skilled cartographers, it is surprising that relatively good maps were available for engraving and printing in most of the well known sixteenth and seventeenth century atlases. Generally, maps of that time were based on material brought back from Moscow by visitors from the West. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

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1765 Emmanuel Bowen Very Large Antique Map of Africa

1765 Emmanuel Bowen Very Large Antique Map of Africa

  • Title : Africa Performed by the Sr D Anville under the Patronage of the Duke of Orleansrevised and improved by Mr Bolton...E Bowen
  • Date : 1765
  • Size: 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
  • Ref #:  40910-1
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This very large 4 sheet original copper plate engraved antique map of Africa by Solomon Bolton after the French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D Anville, was engraved by Emmanuel Bowen and published in the 1765 edition of Malachy Postlethweyts monumental 2 Volume tomes on The Universal Dictionary of Trade & Commerce concentrating on various states of trade, including slavery, between England and America published between 1751 & 1774.

Malachy Postlethweyt 1707 – 1767
Malachy Postlethweyts Dictionary of Trade & Commerce:
A monumental dictionary of trade and commerce. It is based in part on the Dictionnaire universel de Commerce (Paris: 1723-30) of Jacques Savary de Bruslon, under whose name it is often catalogued, but has been adapted by Postlethwayt for a British audience, with substantial enlargements and improvements, and entirely new material relating to England and her colonies. Postlethwayt devoted twenty years to the preparation of the dictionary, which was first published in 1751-55 & includes a description of British affairs in North America since the peace of 1763.
As with his other works, the dictionary demonstrates Postlethway’s deep commitment to the expansion and strengthening of English trade. Included are entries for geographical locations (Africa, Antilles, Canada, Japan, Louisiana, &c.), products (brandy, cardamom, codfish, diamonds, sugar, &c.), trading companies (Dutch East India Company, English African Company, &c.), treaties of commerce, and a vast range of other information of value to merchants (bankruptcy, currency, bills of exchange, brokerage, exportation, landed interest, privateering, &c.). The Dictionary is also important for containing almost the whole substance of Richard Cantillons Essay on Commerce, its first appearance in print.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
Plate size: - 40in x 39in (1.10m x 990mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light age toning left fold
Verso: - None

Background: 
This is one of the largest and most influential maps, of Africa, to appear in the mid-18th century. Engraved by Emmanuel Bowen after J.B. D Anville, the map covers the entire continent of Africa from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope and from the Cape Verde Islands to Madagascar. D Anville was a careful cartographer known for his scientific approach to map-making, and nowhere is this more evident than in this, one of his greatest and most innovative maps of Africa. Following the trajectory set by Guillaume de L Isle half a century earlier, D Anville takes a number of significant steps forward in addressing the confusions inherent in mapping this vast though mostly, in the mid-17th century, unexplored continent. These include unreliable cartographic suppositions regarding the African interior dating practically to antiquity. Many of these, including such speculative ideas as the Mountains of Kong, have been diminished if not removed entirely from this map, leaving vast unexplored areas throughout.
What was known of Africa, however, D Anville incorporates here in an impressive compilation of the most up to date reports from colonial, missionary, and exploratory entradas into the interior of the continent. Thus well mapped parts of the continent are limited to the Mediterranean Coast, Morocco, the Senegambia, the Congo, South Africa, the Kingdom of Monomatapa, Abyssinia, and egypt. Morocco, egypt, and the southern Mediterranean Coast (Barbary) were well known to europeans since antiquity and D Anvilles accurate mapping of these regions reflects continual contact. Further south the colonial enclaves along the Niger River (Senegal and Gambia), the Congo River, and South Africa reflect considerable detail associated with European penetration by trader and missionaries. The land of Monomopota around the Zambezi River was explored early in the 16th century by the Portuguese in hopes that the legendary gold mines supposedly found there would counterbalance the wealth flowing into Spain from the New Word. Unfortunately these mines, often associated with the Biblical kingdom of Ophir, were mostly tapped out by the 15th century. Abyssinia (modern day ethiopia) was mapped in detail by early Italian missionaries and of considerable interest to Europeans first, because it was (and is) predominantly Christian; second, because it was a powerful well-organized and unified kingdom; and third because the sources of the Blue Nile were to be found here.
The remainder of the continent remained largely speculative though D Anville rarely lets his imagination get the upper hand. He does however follow the well-established Ptolemaic model laid down in the Geographica regarding the sources of the White Nile – here seen as two lakes at the base of the semi-apocryphal Mountains of the Moon. However, he also presents a curious network of interconnected rivers extending westward from the confused course of the White Nile following the popular 18th century speculation that the Nile may be connected to the Niger. To his credit Anville does not advocate this and offers no true commerce between the two river systems.
Lake Malawi, here identified as Maravi, appears in a long thin embryonic state that, though it had not yet been \\\'discovered,\\\' is remarkably accurate to form. Lake Malawi was not officially discovered until Portuguese trader Candido Jose da Costa Cardoso stumbled upon it in 1849 – one hundred years following Anvilles presentation of the lake here. Anvilles inclusion of Lake Malawi is most likely a prescient interpretation of indigenous reports brought to Europe by 17th century Portuguese traders. Its form would be followed by subsequent cartographers well into the mid-19th century when the explorations of John Hanning Speke, David Livingstone, Richard Francis Burton and others would at last yield a detailed study of Africas interior.

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1774 Hawkesworth Large Antique Map of Australia & South Seas 1765-71 - Capt Cook

1774 Hawkesworth Large Antique Map of Australia & South Seas 1765-71 - Capt Cook

  • Title : Carte d une Partie de la Mer du Sud Contenant les Decouvertes de Vaisseaux de sa Majeste, Le Dauphin, Commodore Byron, La Tamar, Capitne. Mouats 1765, Le Dauphin, Capitne. Wallis, Le Swallow, Capitne. Cartaret, 1767, et l Endeavour, Lieutenant Cook 1769
  • Ref  :  35509
  • Size: 28in x 16 3/4in (710mm x 425mm)
  • Date : 1774
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This fine original copper-plate engraved, large antique map, a chart of the tracks of 5 British ships & explorers to the South Ocean from 1765 to 1771 was engraved by Robert Benard and published in the 1774 French translation of John Hawkesworths publication An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere and Successively Performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavor, Drawn Up from the Journals Which Were Kept by the Several Commanders, and from the Papers of Joseph Banks

The 5 Voyages, with Captains, ships & tracks are;
1. 1764-66 - HMS Dolphin under Command of Commodore John Byron, completed the first circumnavigation of the globe under two years.
2. 1764-1766 - HMS Tamar under Command of Captain Patrick Mouat, accompanied Commodore John Byron & HMS Dolphin on 1764-66 circumnavigation of the world.
3. 1766-68 - HMS Dolphin under Command of Captain Samuel Wallis, completed another circumnavigation & was the first European to visit Tahiti & the Society Islands.
4. 1766-68 - HMS Swallow under Command of Captain Philip Carteret, who accompanied HMS Dolphin under the command of Samuel Wallis to circumnavigate the world.
5. 1769-71 - HMS Endeavour, under Command of Lieutenant James Cook (later Captain) completed a the mapping of Tahiti & the Society Islands, New Zealand & the East Coast of Australia.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 28in x 16 3/4in (710mm x 425mm)
Plate size: - 26 3/4in x 14 3/4in (680mm x 375mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued
Verso: - None

Background: 
Commodore John Byron 1723 – 1786 was a British Royal Navy officer and politician.He circumnavigated the world as a commodore with his own squadron in 1764-1766. He fought in battles in The Seven Years War and the American Revolution. He rose to Vice Admiral before his death in 1786.

Captain Patrick Mouat. Commanded HMS Tamer on a voyage of discovery with Commodore John Byron between 1764-66. HMS Tamar was a sloop, mounting sixteen guns: ninety men, three lieutenants, and two and twenty petty officers.

Captain Samuel Wallis 1728 – 1795 was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. Was given the command of HMS Dolphin in 1751 as part of an expedition led by Philip Carteret in the Swallow with an assignment to circumnavigate the globe. The two ships were parted by a storm shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan, Wallis continuing to Tahiti, which he named King George the Third\'s Island in honour of the King in June 1767.

Captain Philip Carteret 1733 – 1796 was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navys circumnavigation expeditions in 1764–66 and 1766–69.

Captain James Cook is considered one of the most talented Surveyors & Map Makers of any age, for Cook, the production of a new chart was his principal reason for going to sea. His charts were aimed at fellow seamen so he incorporated as much information as possible while employing an economy of style and little elaboration. The quality of his charts can be confirmed by the fact that some survey details from Newfoundland to New Zealand & Australias East Coast could still be safely used over one hundred years later. His last piece of the New Zealand hydrographic chart was only removed in the 1990s.

John Hawkesworth An English writer and journalist, Hawkesworth was commissioned by the British Admiralty to edit for publication the narratives of its officers’ circumnavigations. He was given full access to the journals of the commanders and the freedom to adapt and re-tell them in the first person. Cook was already on his way back from his second Pacific voyage, temporarily docked at Cape Town (South Africa), when he first saw the published volumes: he was mortified and furious to find that Hawkesworth claimed in the introduction that Cook had seen and blessed (with slight corrections) the resulting manuscript. (In his defense, Hawkesworth also had been a victim of misunderstanding.) Cook had trouble recognizing himself. Moreover, the work was full of errors and commentary introduced by Hawkesworth and, in Cook’s view, too full of Banks, who had promoted himself and the publication. Still, the work was popular; the first edition sold out in several months.

Robert Bénard 1734 – 1777 was an 18th-century French engraver.
Specialized in the technique of engraving, Robert Ménard is mainly famous for having supplied a significant amount of plates (at least 1,800) to the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d Alembert from 1751.
Later, publisher Charles-Joseph Panckoucke reused many of his productions to illustrate the works of his catalog.

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1639 Jan Jansson Large Original, Antique Map of South Africa

1639 Jan Jansson Large Original, Antique Map of South Africa

Description:
This fine, beautifully hand coloured original antique map of the southern & central parts of Africa, with the south-west coast of Madagascar, was published by Jan Jansson in the 1639 French edition of Gerard Mercators Gerardi Mercators Atlantis Novi.

Background: This handsome map formed the standard for the depiction of South Africa throughout the 17th century, covering the region from Congo-Zanzibar to the Cape. Both Blaeu & Jansson based this map on Portuguese exploration, most detail is confined to the coastlines. There are two large lakes in the interior, one unnamed and the other called Zachef, which is the lake out of which the Zambere (Zambesi River) flows, probably based on reports of Lake Ngami, which was not conclusively discovered until the mid 19th century. The interior shows the mythical Mountains of the Moon or Lunae Montes. Indigenous animals including elephants and monkeys are illustrated, while large galleons sail the sea. The dramatic title cartouche is drawn on an ox hide held up by natives, with monkeys and turtles at their feet.

The first separately printed map of Africa (as with the other known continents) appeared in Munster's Geographia from 1540 onwards and the first atlas devoted to Africa only was published in 1588 in Venice by Livio Sanuto, but the finest individual map of the century was that engraved on 8 sheets by Gastaldi, published in Venice in 1564. Apart from maps in sixteenth-century atlases generally there were also magnificent marine maps of 1596 by Jan van Linschoten (engraved by van Langrens) of the southern half of the continent with highly imaginative and decorative detail in the interior. In the next century there were many attractive maps including those of Mercator/Hondius (1606), Speed (1627), Blaeu (1 630), Visscher (1636), de Wit (c. 1670), all embellished with vignettes of harbours and principal towns and bordered with elaborate and colourful figures of their inhabitants, but the interior remained uncharted with the exception of that part of the continent known as Ethiopia, the name which was applied to a wide area including present-day Abyssinia. Here the legends of Prester John lingered on and, as so often happened in other remote parts of the world, the only certain knowledge of the region was provided by Jesuit missionaries. Among these was Father Geronimo Lobo (1595-1678), whose work A Voyage to Abyssinia was used as the basis for a remarkably accurate map published by a German scholar, Hiob Ludolf in 1683. Despite the formidable problems which faced them, the French cartographers G. Delisle (c. 1700-22), J. B. B. d'Anville (1727-49) and N. Bellin (1754) greatly improved the standards of mapping of the continent, improvements which were usually, although not always, maintained by Homann, Seutter, de Ia Rochette, Bowen, Faden and many others in the later years of the century. (Ref: Norwich; Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Green, red, orange, yellow, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic 
Paper size: - 23in x 19in (585mm x 485mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 1/2in (535mm x 395mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Bottom margin centerfold re-joined, no loss
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

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1755 (1778) De Vaugondy Large Antique Map of The Great Lakes America East Canada

1755 (1778) De Vaugondy Large Antique Map of The Great Lakes America East Canada

  • Title : Partie De L Amerique Septent. qui comprend La Nouvelle France ou le Canada...Par le Sr Robert de Vaugondy; Supplement pour Les Lacs du Canada
  • Ref #:  17017
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Size: 31 1/2in x 22 1/2in (800m x 570mm)
  • Date : 1775 (1778)

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured, scarce 4th edition, antique map of The Great Lakes of North America, Eastern Canada & part of New England, with border changes from the 1763 Treaty of Paris, was published in 1768 by Robert Du Vaugondy in his Atlas Universal.
One of the nicest examples I have seen, of this scarce and beautiful hand coloured map, on heavy paper with original margins and heavy dark ink denoting an early pressing.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Red, yellow, green, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 31 1/2in x 22 1/2in (800m x 570mm)
Plate size: - 24in x 19 1/2in (610mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 2in (50mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
The mapping of the Great Lakes region began in the early seventeenth century, when the first indications of the lakes appeared on maps made by European cartographers. By the mid-1600s, the maps of French Royal Geographer Nicolas Sanson had recognizable depictions of all five Great Lakes. His map is imprecise—Lake Superior lacks its distinctive shape and is unbounded on the west—but Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Michigan can be discerned without difficulty. The lack of any reference to the Mississippi River in Sansons map reflects how little cartographers really knew about the region at the time.
Until the late eighteenth century, maps were made with information acquired in an irregular and imprecise manner. They were not based on formal surveys, but on written records supplemented with sketches by explorers, missionaries and trappers traveling the Upper Midwest. European cartographers had the task of fitting together this often contradictory information and putting the results into the framework of a geographic map. Instead of being mapped in terms of latitude and longitude, prominent places were usually located in relation to other places, which were, of course, similarly positioned. Distances could not be measured with any accuracy at this time, so these maps were liable to gross errors.
The early maps in the Making Maps, Mapping History exhibit provide a capsulized view of the growth of geographical knowledge of the Great Lakes region. As noted above, Sansons map was the first to display all five of the Great Lakes. Vincenzo Maria Coronelli, the cosmographer of the Republic of Venice, used information supplied by Jesuit missionaries in a 1688 map that was the first accurate depiction of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. French cartographer Guillaume De LIsle further refined the image and provided an outline that was not substantially improved until surveyors entered the region in the nineteenth century.
The first official government surveys of the Great Lakes were hydrographic surveys conducted by the British Admiralty under the direction of Capt. Henry W. Bayfield. Bayfield spent his entire career surveying the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, beginning with Lake Superior in 1816. The lake-shore city of Bayfield, Wis., was named in honor of this pioneer surveyor.
One of the first acts of the new government of the United States was to establish a system for the orderly settlement of its western lands. Under the Ordinance of 1785, land surveyors went into the western territories in advance of settlement to divide the land into townships of 36 square- mile sections. Though mapping was not the governments primary aim, the surveys provided ample grist for the mapmakers mill, and the regions were, for the first time, mapped with considerable accuracy. The federal government, however, was not yet in the business of making maps for the public. That was left to enterprising individuals, such as Samuel Morrison, Elisha Dwelle and Joshua Hathaway, who produced one of the first topographical maps of the Wisconsin Territory in 1837.
The surveys of the General Land Office served as the basis for the mapping of much of the Great Lakes region from around 1800, when the surveys began, until about 1890, when the U.S. Geological Survey began to map the region again. In some cases, however, the old surveys were not entirely superseded until the mid-20th century. The distinctive feature of maps based on these surveys is the invariable presence of the township grid.

As population and commerce in the Great Lakes region grew, the federal government assumed responsibility for charting the lakes for navigation. The U.S. Lake Survey began in 1841 with an appropriation of $15,000. Before the Civil War, the work was conducted by officers of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Its initial survey was completed in 1882, but the need for contin- uous revisions caused it to be reactivated a few years later. The Topographical Engineers merged with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1863, and the Lake Survey remained in the hands of the Corps of Engineers until 1970, when it became part of the newly formed National Ocean Survey (now known as the National Ocean Service).
The U.S. Lake Survey conducted far more rigorous surveys than those of the General Land Office, which used instruments no more sophisticated than a surveyors compass and a Gunters chain. The Lake Survey used an array of precision instruments and employed triangulation to form the geographic framework of the maps. Triangulation allowed the transfer of geographical coordinates from point to point throughout the system and, for the first time, geographical locations were determined with precision. Inland navigation prompted Congress to order a variety of government surveys. During the era of canal building, surveys like the one for the Portage Canal were common. Most of them were conducted by the Corps of Engineers, as were the surveys of the great rivers, such as the Mississippi.
The degree of accuracy accorded Great Lakes navigators was generally not matched on land for many years to come. The task of precisely mapping the United States by covering it with large-scale topographic quadrangle maps was given to the newly formed U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the 1880s. John Wesley Powell, the second director of the USGS, stated that the mapping of the United States could be accomplished in 25 years, but that goal was not accomplished until the 1980s. The first topographic maps of Wisconsin appeared in the 1890s, when much of the southeastern part of the state was surveyed. The surveys were quickly done, however, and most of the sheets needed at least minor revision within the next decade. Despite a rapid start, the topographic mapping of Wisconsin bogged down and ultimately was not completed until 1983. Mapping standards changed entirely with the application of aerial photography around 1930. Following World War II, all Wisconsin topographic sheets were derived from photographs.
Today, polar-orbiting satellites with thematic mappers can, in a single day, record images that reveal Great Lakes water quality and temperature, the streets and large buildings of urban areas, and the general health of forests, wetlands and farmlands, including the identity of such crops as corn, hay and alfalfa. The detailed precision of todays computerized Space Age technology no doubt would have astounded Nicolas Sanson—but the seventeenth-century mapmakers ability to create a fairly accurate map of a world he had only heard and read about is equally astounding to twenty-first-century mapmakers.

Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.

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1755 (1768) Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

1755 (1768) Robert De Vaugondy Large Antique 2nd edition Map of Colonial United States

  • Title : Partie De L Amerique Septentrionale, qui Comprend Le Cours De L Ohio...Par le Sr Robert de Vaugondy
  • Date : 1755 (1768)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93514
  • Size: 26in x 20 1/2in (660mm x 520mm)

Description:
This large original beautifully hand coloured, scarce 2nd edition antique map of the east coast of the United States, illustrating the course of the Ohio River and stretching from New England to the Carolinas, north to the Great Lakes and south to the Mississippi - with an inset map of The Carolinas - was published in 1768 - dated 1755 in the cartouche - by Robert Du Vaugondy in his Atlas Universal.
This map is all original with hand colour on age toned heavy paper with original margins with a heavy dark ink denoting an early pressing.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 26in x 20 1/2in (660mm x 520mm)
Plate size: - 25in x 19 1/2in (635mm x 495mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in margins
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Second state of the early de Vaugondy map of the British colonies, with changes after the 1763 Treaty of Paris, with Virginia & Carolina extended to the Mississippi and Pennsylvania extended to Lake Erie. The majority of geographical information is based upon John Mitchells great map of North America from the mid 1750s, also drawing from Lewis, Evans on the Middle British Colonies and Joshua Frys and Peter Jeffersons map of Virginia and Maryland. The Mitchell map was the culmination of many years of British surveying in the North American Colonies and was considered one of the best maps of the continent available to Europeans and Americans in the mid-eighteenth century.
De Vaugondys rendition does not copy the full scope of Mitchells map but instead focuses on the colonies stretching from southern Maine to the Carolinas. In the top left corner is an inset of South Carolina and Georgia. De Vaugondy also pays special attention to the river systems and settlements. This map shows some of the earliest accurate information of the trans-Allegheny regions (the Ohio River, Kentucky, Tennessee and Parts of Ohio) and inland areas to the southeast of the Great Lakes and interior of New England.
Maine is still part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During this era. The dispute between New Hampshire and New York over who controlled the area which is now Vermont has been resolved. The outbreak of the French & Indian War (Seven Years War) briefly suspended interest in the disputed area, and it was not until 1764 that the British crown upheld New Yorks claim to Vermont. Included is a beautiful title cartouche in the Rococo style. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

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1744 Georg Mattaus Seutter Antique Twin Hemisphere World Map, California as Island

1744 Georg Mattaus Seutter Antique Twin Hemisphere World Map, California as Island

  • Title : Diversi Globe Terr-Aqveia a Matth. Seutteri...T C Lotter, Geogr.
  • Ref #:  93387
  • Size: 11in x 8 1/2in (280mm x 215mm)
  • Date : 1744
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
These beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map was engraved by Tobias Lotter and published in the 1744 edition of GM Seutters Atlas Minor Prae cipua Orbis Terrarum Imperia Regna et Provincias...., Augsburg, Germany.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 11in x 8 1/2in (280mm x 215mm)
Plate size: - 10 1/2in x 8in (265mm x 205mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background:
Atlas Minor 
was a series of beautiful maps of all parts of the world. Georg Matthäus Seutter was one of the most and important of the German cartographers of the 18th century, being appointed as the Geographer to the Imperial Court. His son, Albrecht Carl, joined Matthäus and eventually inherited the business. The maps from Atlas Minor were drawn by the two Seutters and engraved by Tobias Conrad Lotte. These maps are highly detailed and engraved with a bold hand with equally strong original hand color in the body of the map as was the 18th century German style. The cartouches were left uncolored in order to emphasize the elaborately detailed illustrations for which German maps are especially prized. These are some of the most decorative and interesting maps of the eighteenth century.

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1676 John Speed Antique Map of County of Midlesex Views London & Westminster

1676 John Speed Antique Map of County of Midlesex Views London & Westminster

  • Title : Midle-sex Described with the most Famous Cities of London and Westminster
  • Date : 1676
  • Size: 20 1/4in x 16 3/4in (515mm x 425mm)
  • Condition: (B) Good Condition
  • Ref:  35613

Description:
This original hand coloured copper plate engraved antique map & views of London and the English county of Middlesex by John Speed was published in the 1676 Bassett & Chiswell edition of Speeds famous atlas The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine.
The map is embellished with the famous birds-eye views of London, Westminster and the churches of St Peters (Westminster Abbey) and old St Pauls before the great fire of London in 1666. English descriptive text of London on the verso.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 20 1/4in x 16 3/4in (515mm x 425mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/4in x 15 1/2in (515mm x 410mm)
Margins: - Min 1/8in (2mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - L&R margins cropped to plate-marks
Plate area: - Re-enforced along centerfold very small loss in places, light creasing
Verso: - Re-enforced along centerfold and in several places with transparent archival tape

Background:
This county map of Middlesex, now greater London, illustrates the market towns of Enfield, Pancras, Osterley and Staines. The map is dominated by four large vignettes with the environs of London and the county situated in the central portion of the map. The actual cartography is based on the surveys performed by John Norden, the earlier English antiquary and map maker, who unsuccessfully attempted to publish an updated county atlas of the United Kingdom before Speed. Norden also lived most of his life in Middlesex, thus becoming an obvious source for the map.
The City of London is clearly shown on the lower right of the map with villages such as Hamsted, Pancras, Kensington and Paddington marked around the city. To the lower centre of the map is an acknowledgement to the original survey by Norden, augmented by Speed himself.
Although the cartography is of some note, it is the vignettes for which this map is justly famous. To the two bottom corners are the famous Churchs of St. Peter (Westminster Abbey) Westminster on the left and St. Pauls to the right. This is the medieval Cathedral of St. Pauls, just after it had lost its spire in 1561 and before the Great Fire of 1666, in which it was destroyed then rebuilt in its present form by Sir Christopher Wren. Above these two church vignettes are two text panels in the form of books, the one on the left describing the two churches and the other on the right with a description of London itself.
Finally, two large vignettes on the upper left and right corners depict the two cities of Westminster and London respectively. It is believed that Speed was not responsible for either of these images, more likely drawing from Norden, although there are no surviving evidence of this, to date yet to be found. There are also theories that these two views may have come from either a German sources or other lost birds-eye views of London by unknown persons.
Due to modern growth of London and border changes, the county of Middlesex no longer exists, but there is little doubt this is the most the best map of London and Middlesex published in the 17th century. English text on verso

 

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1541 Fries Ptolemaic Antique Map of the Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

1541 Fries Ptolemaic Antique Map of the Caucasus - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan

  • TitleTabula Tertia Asiae complectitur Colchidem, Iberiam, Alberiam & Armeniam maiorem
  • Date : 1541
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  92814
  • Size: 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)

Description:
This beautifully hand coloured original antique Ptolemaic map by Laurent Fries of the Caucasus region of central Asia - straddling the Black & Caspian Seas (what is today part of the Russian Federation and includes the countries of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, north-western Iran & north-eastern Turkey) - was published by in the 1541 Vienna edition of Ptolemy's Geographia

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, red, blue.
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)
Plate size: - 20 1/2in x 15in (520mm x 380mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Claude Ptolemy - a Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer, living in Alexandria, assembled and codified his predecessors' cartographic theories including those of Strabo & Marinus of Tyre (c. AD 120) to whom he was especially indebted. In about AD 150 he published his Geographia, a work in 8 volumes, supposedly illustrated with a world map, 26 regional maps and a profusion of smaller maps. Although the text of the Geographia survived, no maps older than about the twelfth century have come down to us and, in consequence, we have no means of knowing whether the 'Ptolemy' maps on which we set so much store were, in fact, drawn by him or were the interpretations of later map makers using his text as a basis.

In Europe the initial awakening of interest in geography arose from the revival of knowledge of Ptolemy's Geographia soon after the year 1400. Greek manuscript copies made in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries were brought by scholars to Italy from Constantinople and were subsequently translated into Latin and widely studied. This work coincided with, and was much influenced by, the development of printing techniques, particularly, of course, by the invention of movable-type printing by Gutenberg about 1450, which made possible for the first time the production of printed books in quantity. Apart from this factor, other more far-reaching influences were compelling the peoples of Western Europe to look beyond the horizon they had known for so many centuries. With the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 the Turks effectively closed Europe's trade routes to the East and shut off access to traditional sources of luxuries and precious metals from Asia and, above all, denied the supply of the spices which had become so important in the lives of ordinary people. Other factors often based on long-believed myths and legends added to the urge to break out into the unknown world.
The interpretation of Ptolemy's text began mainly with the Italians Angelus, Beroaldus & Vadius in 1477 and was re-interpreted and re-issued by many over the next century by the likes Waldseemuller 1513, Gastaldi 1548, Mercator 1578 & Magini 1596. (Ref: Tooley; M&B; Dover)

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1765 Emmanuel Bowen Very Large Antique Map of Africa

1765 Emmanuel Bowen Very Large Antique Map of Africa

  • Title : Africa Performed by the Sr D Anville under the Patronage of the Duke of Orleansrevised and improved by Mr Bolton...E Bowen
  • Date : 1765
  • Size: 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
  • Ref #:  40910-1
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This very large 4 sheet original copper plate engraved antique map of Africa by Solomon Bolton after the French cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D Anville, was engraved by Emmanuel Bowen and published in the 1765 edition of Malachy Postlethweyts monumental 2 Volume tomes on The Universal Dictionary of Trade & Commerce concentrating on various states of trade, including slavery, between England and America published between 1751 & 1774.

Malachy Postlethweyt 1707 – 1767
Malachy Postlethweyts Dictionary of Trade & Commerce:
A monumental dictionary of trade and commerce. It is based in part on the Dictionnaire universel de Commerce (Paris: 1723-30) of Jacques Savary de Bruslon, under whose name it is often catalogued, but has been adapted by Postlethwayt for a British audience, with substantial enlargements and improvements, and entirely new material relating to England and her colonies. Postlethwayt devoted twenty years to the preparation of the dictionary, which was first published in 1751-55 & includes a description of British affairs in North America since the peace of 1763.
As with his other works, the dictionary demonstrates Postlethway’s deep commitment to the expansion and strengthening of English trade. Included are entries for geographical locations (Africa, Antilles, Canada, Japan, Louisiana, &c.), products (brandy, cardamom, codfish, diamonds, sugar, &c.), trading companies (Dutch East India Company, English African Company, &c.), treaties of commerce, and a vast range of other information of value to merchants (bankruptcy, currency, bills of exchange, brokerage, exportation, landed interest, privateering, &c.). The Dictionary is also important for containing almost the whole substance of Richard Cantillons Essay on Commerce, its first appearance in print.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 47in x 41in (1.20m x 1.04m)
Plate size: - 40in x 39in (1.10m x 990mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light age toning left fold
Verso: - None

Background: 
This is one of the largest and most influential maps, of Africa, to appear in the mid-18th century. Engraved by Emmanuel Bowen after J.B. D Anville, the map covers the entire continent of Africa from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope and from the Cape Verde Islands to Madagascar. D Anville was a careful cartographer known for his scientific approach to map-making, and nowhere is this more evident than in this, one of his greatest and most innovative maps of Africa. Following the trajectory set by Guillaume de L Isle half a century earlier, D Anville takes a number of significant steps forward in addressing the confusions inherent in mapping this vast though mostly, in the mid-17th century, unexplored continent. These include unreliable cartographic suppositions regarding the African interior dating practically to antiquity. Many of these, including such speculative ideas as the Mountains of Kong, have been diminished if not removed entirely from this map, leaving vast unexplored areas throughout.
What was known of Africa, however, D Anville incorporates here in an impressive compilation of the most up to date reports from colonial, missionary, and exploratory entradas into the interior of the continent. Thus well mapped parts of the continent are limited to the Mediterranean Coast, Morocco, the Senegambia, the Congo, South Africa, the Kingdom of Monomatapa, Abyssinia, and egypt. Morocco, egypt, and the southern Mediterranean Coast (Barbary) were well known to europeans since antiquity and D Anvilles accurate mapping of these regions reflects continual contact. Further south the colonial enclaves along the Niger River (Senegal and Gambia), the Congo River, and South Africa reflect considerable detail associated with European penetration by trader and missionaries. The land of Monomopota around the Zambezi River was explored early in the 16th century by the Portuguese in hopes that the legendary gold mines supposedly found there would counterbalance the wealth flowing into Spain from the New Word. Unfortunately these mines, often associated with the Biblical kingdom of Ophir, were mostly tapped out by the 15th century. Abyssinia (modern day ethiopia) was mapped in detail by early Italian missionaries and of considerable interest to Europeans first, because it was (and is) predominantly Christian; second, because it was a powerful well-organized and unified kingdom; and third because the sources of the Blue Nile were to be found here.
The remainder of the continent remained largely speculative though D Anville rarely lets his imagination get the upper hand. He does however follow the well-established Ptolemaic model laid down in the Geographica regarding the sources of the White Nile – here seen as two lakes at the base of the semi-apocryphal Mountains of the Moon. However, he also presents a curious network of interconnected rivers extending westward from the confused course of the White Nile following the popular 18th century speculation that the Nile may be connected to the Niger. To his credit Anville does not advocate this and offers no true commerce between the two river systems.
Lake Malawi, here identified as Maravi, appears in a long thin embryonic state that, though it had not yet been \\\'discovered,\\\' is remarkably accurate to form. Lake Malawi was not officially discovered until Portuguese trader Candido Jose da Costa Cardoso stumbled upon it in 1849 – one hundred years following Anvilles presentation of the lake here. Anvilles inclusion of Lake Malawi is most likely a prescient interpretation of indigenous reports brought to Europe by 17th century Portuguese traders. Its form would be followed by subsequent cartographers well into the mid-19th century when the explorations of John Hanning Speke, David Livingstone, Richard Francis Burton and others would at last yield a detailed study of Africas interior.

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1639 Mercator & Hondius Large Old, Antique Map of Wales, GB - Humphrey Llwyd

1639 Mercator & Hondius Large Old, Antique Map of Wales, GB - Humphrey Llwyd

  • Title : Cambriae Typus Auctore Humfredo Lhuydo Denbigiense Cambrobritanno
  • Date : 1639
  • Size: 23in x 19in (590mm x 485mm)
  • Ref #:  43139
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This beautifully hand coloured original antique map of Wales - dedicated to its original creator the Welsh cartographer Lhuyd Humphrey - by Gerard Mercator was published by Jodocus Hondius in the 1639 French edition of Mercators Atlas.
One of the best examples I seen of this map to date, beautiful original hand colour with strong sturdy paper with a deep strong impression.

Humphrey Llwyd (also spelled Lhuyd) (1527–1568) was a Welsh cartographer , author, antiquary and Member of Parliament. He was a leading member of the Renaissance period in Wales along with other such men as Thomas Salisbury and William Morgan.
Llwyd was born in Denbigh, the county seat of the then county of Denbighshire at Foxhall, his family's estate. His father, Robert Llwyd, was descended from Harry Rossendale, henchman and grantee of the Earl of Lincoln. The first of the family that came to Wales from England appears to have been Foulk Rosindale, from whom Foxhall, or Foulk's Hall, was called. He married into the family of the Llwyd's of Aston, and probably from where his descendants derived their name, as well as their extraction from Einion Evell of the 12th Century. Einion Evell, Lord of part of Cynllaith, resided at Llwyn y Macn, in the parish of Oswestry. He and his twin brother, Cynwrig Evell, Lord of Y Glwyegl in Maelor Gymraeg, were the illegitimate sons of Madog ab Maredydd, Prince of Powys, by Eva, daughter of Madog (ab Einion Hael) ab Urien of Macn Gwynedd, ab Eginirab Lies ab Idnerth Benvras, Lord of Maesbrwg.
As a young man, he was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford and fared so well in the sciences and engineering that he was given a position as a physician to the Earl of Arundel during the Earl's tenure as Chancellor of the university. He was MP for East Grinstead during Elizabeth I's first parliament (1559).
In 1563, Llwyd returned to Denbigh and lived at Denbigh Castle at the permission of Sir John Salusbury who was then the Lord of the Manor of Denbigh. That year, he was elected MP for Denbigh Boroughs during Elizabeth's second Parliament where he promoted an act allowing the translation of the Bible into Welsh.
From 1566 he toured Europe, including Brussels, Augsburg, Milan, Padua and Venice. In Antwerp, he learnt from, and collaborated with, map maker Abraham Ortelius. In 1567, when Llwyd returned to Denbigh, he was given a stipend from the Crown to create the first printed map of Wales.
Llwyd died in 1568 and is buried in Whitchurch, a small chapel on the outskirts of Denbigh

Jodocus Hondius (1563 - 1612), one of the most notable engravers of his time, is known for his work in association with many of the cartographers and publishers prominent at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
In 1604 Hondius bought the plates of Mercator's Atlas which, in spite of its excellence, had not competed successfully with the continuing demand of the Ortelius Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. 
To meet this competition Hondius added about 40 maps to Mercator's original number and from 1606 published enlarged editions in many languages, still under Mercator's name but with his own name as publisher. These atlases have become known as the Mercator/Hondius series. The following year the maps were re-engraved in miniature form and issued as a pocket Atlas Minor.
After the death of Jodocus Hondius the Elder in 1612, work on the two atlases, folio and miniature, was carried on by his widow and sons, Jodocus II and Henricus, and eventually in conjunction with Jan Jansson in Amsterdam. In all, from 1606 onwards, nearly 50 editions with increasing numbers of maps with texts in the main European languages were printed. (Ref: Koeman; M&B; Tooley)

Condition Report:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy & stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, green, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23in x 19in (590mm x 485mm)
Plate size: - 19 1/2in x 14in (500mm x 360mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light toning to bottom of margin
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

$875.00 USD
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1755 Kitchin & Boulton Large Original Antique Map of South America

1755 Kitchin & Boulton Large Original Antique Map of South America

  • Title : South America. Performed Under the Patronage of Louis Duke of Orleans First Prince of the Blood...Tho. Kitchin sculp. 1755
  • Size: 53in x 30 1/2in (1.35m x 780mm)
  • Ref #:  41163
  • Date : 1755
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This very large finely engraved original antique map of South America was engraved by the famous English cartographer Thomas Kitchin in 1755 - dated and signed at the foot of the map - after JB D Anville, was published in Malachy Postlethweyts Dictionary of Trade & Commerce
These large maps are hard to find in such good condition and make fantastic historical reference tools due to the high level of detail.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - 
Colors used: - 
General color appearance: - 
Paper size: - 53in x 30 1/2in (1.35m x 780mm)
Plate size: - 48in x 30 1/2in (1.22m x 780mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued, light creasing along folds
Verso: - Folds as issued, light creasing along folds

Background: 
A curious and uncommon joined three panel 1755 wall map of South America by Thomas Kitchin and published by the English publisher Malachy Postlethwayte. A derivative of D\'Anville\'s earlier map, Postlethwayte\'s map covers the entire continent from the Lesser Antilles and Panama to Cape Horn. Published in three separate panels, this map can be either joined as a single massive map as assembled, as above, in separate sections. D\'Anville\'s map, and by extension this revision of that map by Bolton and Postlethwayte, represents a serious attempt to compile all of the accurate scientific knowledge of the South American continent available at the time. While cartographically very similar to D\'Anville\'s map, Postlethwayte\'s work is a full re-engraving in which all text has been translated to english, a new cartouche of a rococo ethic incorporated, and Postlethwayte\'s own fascinating Anglo-centric commentary added. This primary cartographic development on this, the Postlethwayte variant of D\'Anville\'s map is the incorporation of data associated with the expedition of Charles Marie de La Condamine - which being published in 1748 Postlethawyte postulates was not available to D\'Anville. 
Our survey of this map beings with the coast which Spanish and Portuguese navigators had mapped with considerable accuracy as early as the late 16th century. This, like most early maps of the area, contrasts a detailed mapping of the coast with a speculative discussion of the interior, particularly Patagonia and the Amazon Basin. The map offers a fairly accurate discussion of both the east and west coasts with exceptional detail in the populated Andean regions of Venezuela, Columbia, ecuador (Labeled Quito), and Peru. Cuzco, Lima, Quito, Valladolid, Arequipa, Trujillo and other important trading centers of the region are noted. In Portuguese controlled Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, San Salvador and San Sebastian are identified.
Much of South America\'s interior, particularly the inland river basins, dominated by the Paraguay River in the south, the Amazon River in the center, and the Orinoco in the north, were largely unexplored. Nonetheless, several corrections and updates appear. D\'Anville (also Bolton and Postlethwayte) have done away with the myth of Lake Parima (supposedly in southern Guyana), the site of the legendary city of Manoa or el Dorado, and instead correctly identify the vast flood plain located in this same region. The cities and tribes identified along the Amazon river mostly date to the journals of the harrowing 16th century Francisco Orellana voyage - a clear indication of how little information actually emerged from the Amazon Basin.
Further south, the cartographers have retained the mythical Laguna de Xarayes as the northern terminus of the Paraguay River. The Xarayes, a corruption of \'Xaraies\' meaning \'Masters of the River,\' were an indigenous people occupying what are today parts of Brazil\'s Matte Grosso and the Pantanal. When Spanish and Portuguese explorers first navigated up the Paraguay River, as always in search of el Dorado, they encountered the vast Pantanal flood plain at the height of its annual inundation. Understandably misinterpreting the flood plain as a gigantic inland sea, they named it after the local inhabitants, the Xaraies. The Laguna de los Xarayes almost immediately began to appear on early maps of the region and, at the same time, almost immediately took on a legendary aspect. Later missionaries and chroniclers, particularly Díaz de Guzmán, imagined an island in this lake and curiously identified it as an \'Island of Paradise,\'
...an island [of the Paraguay River] more than ten leagues [56 km] long, two or three [11-16 km] wide. A very mild land rich in a thousand types of wild fruit, among them grapes, pears and olives: the Indians created plantations throughout, and throughout the year sow and reap with no difference in winter or summer, ... the Indians of that island are of good will and are friends to the Spaniards; Orejón they call them, and they have their ears pierced with wheels of wood ... which occupy the entire hole. They live in round houses, not as a village, but each apart though keep up with each other in much peace and friendship. They called of old this island Land of Paradise for its abundance and wonderful qualities.
D\'Anville, to his credit, shows the \'Laguna\' and its island in a much reduced form compared to earlier cartographers acknowledges that its existence is dubious. Our map, clearly referring to the work of Díaz de Guzmán, identifies the island as the \'I. de Orejones.\'
Far to the south Patagonia is crisscrossed with a number of speculative rivers based upon assumptions from earlier cartographers. Postlethwayte includes annotations referencing the failure to discover one such pass between Julian Bay (Chile) and the Campana River. earlier in the century speculation on such a pass fueled the famous South Sea Company, one of the modern world\'s first stock bubbles, but when no such pass was discovered, the bubble burst. Another element that bears attention in this region is a curious note about an island on the Sauces River (Rio Negro, Argentina) that is supposedly inhabited by white people - possibly the survivors of a shipwreck?

Malachy Postlethwayt (c. 1707 - 1767) was a British economist and commercial expert famous for his publication of the commercial dictionary titled The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce in 1751. The dictionary was a translation and adaptation of the Dictionnaire économique of the French Inspector General of the Manufactures for the King, Jacques Savary des Brûlons. Malachy claims to have spent nearly 20 years adapting and researching his important dictionary, which attained a popular following. The second edition of the Dictionary issued in 1752, was updated with a series of fine maps based upon D\'Anville\'s work, but updated by Postlethwayt to reflect his political and social views. Politically Postlethwayt was extremely conservative and highly patriotic though his views more often than not took the form of rants against the social and political enemies of the British Empire. In the mid-1740s Postlethwayt lobbied for the Royal Africa Company and was known for his pro-slavery advocacy. His belief that the slave trade had a place in the larger \"political arithmetic\" of empire, promoted through his many popular books and other publications, in time became the party line for the ruling class. Despite his misguided feelings about the Africa slave trade, Postlethwayt was an influential and thoughtful economist whose ideas influenced Adam Smith, Samuel von Pufendorf, Alexander Hamilton, and others. Postlethwayt also commonly spelled his name as Postlethawyte and Postlethwait.

Samuel Boulton (fl. 1775 - 1800) was a historian and cartographer active in the late 18th century. In general Boulton is an extremely elusive figure of which little is known. His most important work is his magnificent map of Africa published in conjunction with Robert Sayer and, later, Laurie and Whittle.

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1712 John Senex Large Antique Map of Europe - Large Poland, Russia, Italy, Spain

1712 John Senex Large Antique Map of Europe - Large Poland, Russia, Italy, Spain

  • Title : Europe Corrected from ye Observations Communicated to the Royal Society of London and Paris By John Senex, Geographer to The Queen
  • Size: 35 1/2in x 26in (900mm x 660mm)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Date : 1712
  • Ref #:  70707

Description:
This extraordinary, rare very large & beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map of Europe - showing the Political Boundaries of the early 18th century - by John Senex was published in the 1712 edition of his large Elephant Folio General Atlas. The map is dedicated to Sir Richard Child of Wansted Ist Earl of Tynley and Essex.This map is in VG condition. These large scale maps are scarce due mainly to their size, with damage and loss over time inevitable.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 35 1/2in x 26in (900mm x 660mm)
Plate size: - 35 1/2in x 26in (900mm x 660mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Several small repairs to margins
Plate area: - Soiling to & several professional repairs to folds
Verso: - Soiling

Background: 
A very interesting and scarce map of Europe at the beginning of the 18th century reflecting a continent before war and upheaval. The Ottoman Empire is still well entrenched stretching north to the southern borders of Austria & Hungary. Poland extends from the Baltic to the Black Sea encompassing much of SE Europe bordering Russia. Germany and Italy are shown as large extended countries on the map but were in truth made up of many large and small parochial states and Kingdoms. Overall a fantastic large and fascinating map entering a century of great upheaval. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

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1647 Joan Blaeu Antique Map of the English County of Oxfordshire, Beautiful

1647 Joan Blaeu Antique Map of the English County of Oxfordshire, Beautiful

Description: 
This beautifully hand coloured original copper plate engraved antique map of the English county of Oxfordshire was published in the 1647 Dutch edition of Joan Blaeus Atlas Novus. 
There is also the added bonus on the verso of the map with an early depiction of Stonehenge engraving to text.

Background:
This along with John Speeds map, is one of the most decorative of Oxfordshire. The basic cartographic information is derived from Speed's map, but presented with Blaeu typical elegance & decoration. These include coats-of-arms of the Oxford colleges along the sides, each expertly coloured, as well crests of nobility, the Royal coat-of-arms, and a title cartouche flanked by two Oxford scholars.
Blaeu is one of the most revered map makers of all time and it is easy to see why in this beautiful original map. The high level of the topographical detail, the  quality of the paper, the artistic professionalism of the engraving and the beauty of the original hand colouring combine to produce a work of art that is both functional and of exceptional beauty. (Ref: Koeman; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, pink, red, blue, green
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23 1/2in x 19 1/2in (600mm x 495mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 15 1/4in (510mm x 390mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

$775.00 USD
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1696 Coronelli Antique Map Globe Gore Section of SE Africa & Madagascar

1696 Coronelli Antique Map Globe Gore Section of SE Africa & Madagascar

Description:
This is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the hand coloured original antique Globe Gores of Madagascar & SE Africa by Vincenzo Coronelli published in 1696. 

The copper-plates for these gores were originally engraved in 1688 by Coronelli for the construction of the large 42in (110cm) terrestrial globe. 
In 1696 Coronelli published all his gores - from the 2in to the 42 in - in an atlas,  Libero dei Globi, part of the great series of atlases,Atlante Veneto. Libero dei Globi was published by Coronelli to ensure his work was available to a wider audience, as very few could afford travel to Venice, Rome or Paris to view his completed globes.

Background: 
In the early 1680’s Vincenzo Coronelli constructed two vast 15ft diameter terrestrial & celestial globes for Louis XIV of France. These were meticulously hand drawn & engraved. Such was the admiration of these Globes that in 1688 Coronelli began the engraving & publication of Globe Gores for the construction of two 110cm (42in) terrestrial & celestial globes. 
Coronellis claim to have produced the best globes of any age was exemplified by the high demand and purchase of the globes by various institutions & cities within Europe. Yet many scholars still did not have the opportunity to visit Paris, London, Rome or Venice to view them and so Coronelli devised his famous atlas Libero dei Globi the first atlas of globe gores ever produced. The Libroformed part of a great series of atlases by Coronelli, the Atlante Veneto, in which Coronelli was able to combine the two cartographic art forms in which he excelled, maps & globes. 
The engraving of the gores was of the highest standard with neat contrasting lettering and five large cartouches of a singular grace and elegance. One cartouche situated below Australia carries a portrait of the author and Pope Alexander VI. 
Some of the more interesting features contained within the Gores are the recording of recent French explorations in North America, such as La Salles journey to the mouth of the Mississippi in 1681-87 & the French possessions within North America. Elsewhere the Caspian Sea is drawn closer to its modern shape, the Nile in Africa is shown without its fictitious source and the Blue Nile is shown correctly from a large lake in Ethiopia. The tracks of Le Maire crossing of the Pacific in 1616 are marked, as is the voyage of Chaumont to Siam in 1685-6. There are an unusual number of legends, all explanatory and informative along with many vignettes of ships and fishing scenes throughout the globe. 

Coronelli was one of the finest engravers & cartographers of any era, producing some of the most stunning work ever seen. These Globe Gores are no exception. Coronelli was a master craftsman with an eye for detail. You can feel the uncompromising accuracy & passion in his work when you study his maps & globes. 
These globe gores are scarce, with only a few sales records from the last 25 years. Similarly there is very little choice currently on the market. This scarcity ensures ongoing value and future appreciation. (Ref: Shirley 538; Tooley; Dr. Helen Wallis The Map Collector Dec 1980;Armao, Ermanno. Vincenzo Coronelli Cenni sull'uomo e la sua Vita Catalogo... Bibliopolis, Florence pp.130-134)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue  
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 19 1/2in x 14in (495mm x 355mm)
Plate size: - 19in x 11 1/2in (485mm x 290mm)  
Margins: - min. 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

$775.00 USD
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1752 D Anville Large Original Antique Map of India Sri Lanka Burma Siam - Scarce

1752 D Anville Large Original Antique Map of India Sri Lanka Burma Siam - Scarce

Description:
This large finely engraved scarce and highly detailed original antique map of India, Sri Lanka Burma & Thailand was engraved by Guillaume de la Haye in 1752 - dated in the tile cartouche - and was published in Jean-Baptiste Bourguinon D\'Anville\'s large elephant folio atlas Atlas Generale.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 43in x 37 1/2in (1.1m x 950mm)
Plate size: - 41in x 35in (1.04m x 890mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Spotting
Plate area: - Spotting, aging toning along folds as issued
Verso: - Spotting, aging toning along folds as issued

Background: 
The map is drawn from numerous sources, including Ptolemy, Turkish and Indian geographies, and Jesuit surveys. More contemporary works by Bouchet in 1719 and Boudier in 1734 are seen both in the detail and inset river maps. The map reflects the level of knowledge of India & SE Asia at the time, especially of the interiors. The map has excellent detail of Southern India and coastlines were trade had been happening for centuries, but a conspicuous absence of detail of the northern interior
There are seven Inset maps that include the environs of Goa, entrance of the Ganges River and a wonderfully detailed depiction of the entrance to the Hugli River and other river tributes.

$775.00 USD
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1758 J N Bellin Large Antique Map of The Caribbean Island of Jamaica

1758 J N Bellin Large Antique Map of The Caribbean Island of Jamaica

  • TitleCarte Particuliere De L Isle De La Jamaique Dressee au Depost des Cartes Plans et Journaux de la Marine . . . M. DCC LVIII
  • Date : 1758
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Ref:  82084
  • Size: 36in x 24in (915mm x 610mm)

Description:
This very large beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate engraved antique map, a sea chart, of the Caribbean Island of Jamaica by Jacques Nicolas Bellin in 1758 - dated in the title cartouche - was published by the Depot De La Marine, Paris.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 36in x 24in (915mm x 610mm)
Plate size: - 36in x 23 1/2in (915mm x 600mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - L&R margin cropped to plate-mark
Plate area: - Professional restoration to top centerfold, 2 names penned in to top of map & bottom right corner
Verso: - Professional restoration along centerfold

Background: 
At the time of publishing the Island of Jamaica was under the British, after 150 years of Spanish rule. The focus of the British was trade and specifically that of Sugar, which required a large labor force. This labor, as in all of the Americas, was supplied from the abhorrent African slave trade.
Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish transplanted African slaves to Jamaica as labourers. The island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England conquered it and renamed it Jamaica. Under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on African slaves. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many freedmen chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British utilized Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations.
Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the British colonies in the Caribbean. The Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. In the 1655 Invasion of Jamaica, the English, led by Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables, took over the last Spanish fort on the island. The name of Montego Bay, the capital of the parish of St. James, was derived from the Spanish name manteca bahía (or Bay of Lard), alluding to the lard-making industry based on processing the numerous boars in the area.
In 1660, the population of Jamaica was about 4,500 white and 1,500 black. By the early 1670s, as the English developed sugar cane plantations and imported more slaves, black people formed a majority of the population. The colony was shaken and almost destroyed by the 1692 Jamaica earthquake.
The Irish in Jamaica also formed a large part of the islands early population, making up two-thirds of the white population on the island in the late 17th century, twice that of the English population. They were brought in as indentured labourers and soldiers after the conquest of Jamaica by Cromwells forces in 1655. The majority of Irish were transported by force as political prisoners of war from Ireland as a result of the ongoing Wars of the Three Kingdoms at the time. Migration of large numbers of Irish to the island continued into the 18th century.
Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and then forcibly converted to Christianity in Portugal, during a period of persecution by the Inquisition. Some Spanish and Portuguese Jewish refugees went to the Netherlands and England, and from there to Jamaica. Others were part of the Iberian colonisation of the New World, after overtly converting to Catholicism, as only Catholics were allowed in the Spanish colonies. By 1660, Jamaica had become a refuge for Jews in the New World, also attracting those who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal.
An early group of Jews arrived in 1510, soon after the son of Christopher Columbus settled on the island. Primarily working as merchants and traders, the Jewish community was forced to live a clandestine life, calling themselves Portugals. After the British took over rule of Jamaica, the Jews decided the best defense against Spains regaining control was to encourage making the colony a base for Caribbean pirates. With the pirates installed in Port Royal, which became the largest city in the Caribbean, the Spanish would be deterred from attacking. The British leaders agreed with the viability of this strategy to forestall outside aggression.
When the English captured Jamaica in 1655, the Spanish colonists fled after freeing their slaves. The slaves dispersed into the mountains, joining the maroons, those who had previously escaped to live with the Taíno native people. During the centuries of slavery, Maroons established free communities in the mountainous interior of Jamaica, where they maintained their freedom and independence for generations. The Jamaican Maroons fought the British during the 18th century. Under treaties of 1738 and 1739, the British agreed to stop trying to round them up in exchange for their leaving the colonial settlements alone, but serving if needed for military actions. Some of the communities were broken up and the British deported Maroons to Nova Scotia and, later, Sierra Leone. The name is still used today by modern Maroon descendants, who have certain rights and autonomy at the community of Accompong.
During its first 200 years of British rule, Jamaica became one of the worlds leading sugar-exporting, slave-dependent colonies, producing more than 77,000 tons of sugar annually between 1820 and 1824. After the abolition of the international slave trade in 1807, the British began to import indentured servants to supplement the labour pool, as many freedmen resisted working on the plantations. Workers recruited from India began arriving in 1845, Chinese workers in 1854.

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1768 D Anville Large Antique Map of South America

1768 D Anville Large Antique Map of South America

  • Title : Amerique Meridionale Publiee Sous Les Auspices...Sr D Anville MDCCXLVIII
  • Size: 55in x 32in (1.40m x 810mm)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Date : 1768 (dated)
  • Ref #:  92329

Description:
This very large original copper plate engraved antique map of South America was engraved in 1768 by William Delahaye - dated in the tile cartouche - and was published in Jean-Baptiste Bourguinon D Anvilles large elephant folio atlas Atlas Generale.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 55in x 32in (1.40m x 810mm)
Plate size: - 49in x 30 1/2in (1.30m x 770mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Creasing, light soiling
Plate area: - Creasing, light soiling
Verso: - Creasing, light soiling

Background: 
In 1494, Portugal and Spain, the two great maritime European powers of that time, on the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west, signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which they agreed, with the support of the Pope, that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries.
The treaty established an imaginary line along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, roughly 46° 37W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (known to comprise most of the South American soil) would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. As accurate measurements of longitude were impossible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian.
Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it in colonies.
European infectious diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus) – to which the native populations had no immune resistance – caused large-scale depopulation of the native population under Spanish control. Systems of forced labor, such as the haciendas and mining industrys mita also contributed to the depopulation. After this, African slaves, who had developed immunities to these diseases, were quickly brought in to replace them.
The Spaniards were committed to converting their native subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end; however, many initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as native groups simply blended Catholicism with their established beliefs and practices. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought their language to the degree they did with their religion, although the Roman Catholic Churchs evangelization in Quechua, Aymara, and Guaraní actually contributed to the continuous use of these native languages albeit only in the oral form.
Eventually, the natives and the Spaniards interbred, forming a mestizo class. At the beginning, many mestizos of the Andean region were offspring of Amerindian mothers and Spanish fathers. After independence, most mestizos had native fathers and European or mestizo mothers.
Many native artworks were considered pagan idols and destroyed by Spanish explorers; this included many gold and silver sculptures and other artifacts found in South America, which were melted down before their transport to Spain or Portugal. Spaniards and Portuguese brought the western European architectural style to the continent, and helped to improve infrastructures like bridges, roads, and the sewer system of the cities they discovered or conquered. They also significantly increased economic and trade relations, not just between the old and new world but between the different South American regions and peoples. Finally, with the expansion of the Portuguese and Spanish languages, many cultures that were previously separated became united through that of Latin American.
Guyana was first a Dutch, and then a British colony, though there was a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars when it was colonized by the French. The country was once partitioned into three parts, each being controlled by one of the colonial powers until the country was finally taken over fully by the British.
The European Peninsular War (1807–1814), a theater of the Napoleonic Wars, changed the political situation of both the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. First, Napoleon invaded Portugal, but the House of Braganza avoided capture by escaping to Brazil. Napoleon also captured King Ferdinand VII of Spain, and appointed his own brother instead. This appointment provoked severe popular resistance, which created Juntas to rule in the name of the captured king.
Many cities in the Spanish colonies, however, considered themselves equally authorized to appoint local Juntas like those of Spain. This began the Spanish American wars of independence between the patriots, who promoted such autonomy, and the royalists, who supported Spanish authority over the Americas. The Juntas, in both Spain and the Americas, promoted the ideas of the Enlightenment. Five years after the beginning of the war, Ferdinand VII returned to the throne and began the Absolutist Restoration as the royalists got the upper hand in the conflict.
The independence of South America was secured by Simón Bolívar (Venezuela) and José de San Martín (Argentina), the two most important Libertadores. Bolívar led a great uprising in the north, then led his army southward towards Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. Meanwhile, San Martín led an army across the Andes Mountains, along with Chilean expatriates, and liberated Chile. He organized a fleet to reach Peru by sea, and sought the military support of various rebels from the Vice-royalty of Peru. The two armies finally met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where they cornered the Royal Army of the Spanish Crown and forced its surrender.
In the Portuguese Kingdom of Brazil, Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese King Dom João VI, proclaimed the independent Kingdom of Brazil in 1822, which later became the Empire of Brazil. Despite the Portuguese loyalties of garrisons in Bahia, Cisplatina and Pará, independence was diplomatically accepted by the crown in Portugal in 1825, on condition of a high compensation paid by Brazil mediatized by the United Kingdom.

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1874 Colonial Govt. Text & Maps on Boundary between South Australia & Victoria

1874 Colonial Govt. Text & Maps on Boundary between South Australia & Victoria

  • Title : 1874 Victoria - Papers relating to The Boundary Line Between South Australia and victoria - presented to both houses of parliament by his excellencys Command...John Ferres, Gov. Printer, Melbourne
  • Ref #:  91463
  • Size: 4to
  • Date : 1874
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This very scarce original Australian Government report prepared for both houses of Parliament over the boundary between the states of South Australia and Victoria was presented in 1874. The bound submission contains 28 pages of parliamentary conversations, reports and tables relating to the conflict over the boundary and two photo lithograph maps one of the Lower part of the Glenelg River showing the old and new proposed boundary lines and the 2nd map shows the original boundary line between NSW and South Australia and the subsequent Victorian boundary line.
This is an amazingly rare document (I have never seen one outside of the state or federal libraries) giving us a snapshot into a controversial period in the history of the two states.
Bound in 4to (14in x 9in) hard boards with ties, clean paper (some joined at top of page) in fine condition.

Background:
The border between the Australian state of South Australia and what is today the State of Victoria was established in 1836 by imperial letters patent "as the 141st degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich". In 1836 the land we now call Victoria was part of the colony of New South Wales, so the original Victorian border was actually drawn between the colonies of South Australia and New South Wales. Due to human error by numerous explorers and surveyors, it took more than 75 years and a protracted legal dispute before the precise placement of the border was settled, resulting in the forfeiture of more than 1,300 km2 (500 sq mi) of territory from South Australia to Victoria.
Following the establishment of the colony of South Australia in 1835, the region between the coast and the Murray River was rapidly being settled by squatters selecting large runs for sheep grazing. With no clear border legal oversight was impossible. An accurate border needed to be defined. The earliest relevant reference to the eastern boundary of South Australia is contained in a despatch dated 30 September 1844 from Governor Grey of that Colony to Lord Stanley. The Governor reminded the Secretary of State that it would be extremely difficult to determine with accuracy a number of points upon the earth's surface through which the 141st degree of East longitude passes, and pointed out that in addition to difficulty there would be attendant expense both in ascertainment and maintenance.
In 1839 Charles Tyers was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Colonial Service and instructed by Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, to ascertain the precise longitude at the mouth of the Glenelg River so that a distance to the 141st meridian (the eastern border of South Australia) could be measured.
Several months later Tyers completed a survey from Melbourne to the Glenelg River and on an expanse of sandy beach he formed a broad arrow with limestone rocks. This became known as Tyers' Mark and was used to determine the starting point for the border survey. Due to primarily inadequate equipment this was later determined to be 2 miles and 4 chains (3.3 km) in error.
For several years following Tyers' survey no action was taken to extend his work but by 1845 the need to have the boundary line defined on the ground had become urgent, particularly to the east of Mount Gambier. South Australian pastoralists had worked their way east from the coast and there were disputes when they met pastoralists from the Wimmera country pushing their way westwards with flocks of sheep.
There was uncertainty as to which Government should grant pastoral licenses to the squatters and which had legal control. In November 1846 the Colonial Secretary's Office directed surveyor Henry Wade to proceed from Sydney to the disputed territory to define a "Boundary for Police Purposes".
By March 1847 Wade had got his party of seven and equipment at the mouth of the Glenelg River. He was joined by assistant surveyor Edward White who had been appointed by the South Australian government to act as an observer on its behalf.
After much deprivation and hardship due to drought and reluctance by his men to continue with poor work conditions, Wade was still 155 miles (250 km) from the Murray River after nine months of swamp, sand dunes and broken equipment. The expedition collapsed at the 36th parallel of latitude. On 16 December 1847 the South Australian Government published a proclamation that the "line as marked on the ground" by Wade should be "deemed and construed" to be the eastern boundary of South Australia. In March, 1849 New South Wales issued a proclamation in similar terms. Wade later died in 1854.
As the survey was only partially completed the two colonies were in agreement that surveyor White should complete Wade's line to the Murray River as soon as possible. This was doubly urgent as the colony of Victoria was to be proclaimed within twelve months further complicating legal and later political matters.
In August 1849 the extension from Wade's line was begun. White and his party of five were similarly troubled by the severe nature of the Big Desert mallee country: where there was little water in 1847 there was none two years later. Within two weeks mutinous men had deserted him and two of his three horses collapsed from being without water for four days. White led the other until it also lay down, he himself was also on the verge of collapse but he managed to bleed the horse and drink half a pint of the blood. Lost, he did not know how far from the Murray River he was but he managed to stagger on for about two miles (3.2 km) to find himself on the riverbank at the border of three states and the survey completed. After drinking and resting he retreated back to the dead horses and collecting his saddle and bridle he returned to the river, managed to cross it and borrow a horse at Chowilla sheep station. He rode 180 miles (290 km) to Adelaide and filed a report on the survey. White died three years later.
Doubts as to the accuracy of the Wade-White line grew with the availability of better astronomical equipment and the advent of the telegraph. As a result of appointments of Government Astronomers in Sydney and Melbourne there were far more precise values for the longitudes of these places and hence the 141st longitude of the legal border.
By agreement an expedition left Adelaide in April 1868 for Chowilla near the Murray River and the border. It was led by George Smalley, N.S.W. Government Astronomer and Charles Todd South Australian Superindentent of Telegraphs. The purpose was to make transit observations of eleven stars whilst similar observations were made in Melbourne and Sydney. Whilst Tyers had used a small three inch (76 mm) theodolite this expedition had a 45-inch (1,100 mm) telescope, the largest available portable device in Australia at the time.
As a result of their observations Smalley and Todd declared the new 141st meridian. This led to the discovery that the proclaimed border on the ground was at least two miles and 19 chains (3.6 km) to the west of the more accurate measurement of the 141st meridian. The "Disputed Territory" as it was termed between the surveyed border and the actual 141st meridian contained over 500 square miles (1295 km²) of land. By 1849, 47% of it had already been sold freehold or leased out by the Victorian Government. If the more accurate border were adopted, Victoria would not have owned the land to be able to sell or lease it. This was the beginning of the battle of the Disputed Territory, a bone of contention which was to last for more than forty years.
The South Australian Government did not let the matter rest. In 1874 it suggested the value of the land was about £800,000. Between 1883 and 1893 South Australia sent more than 70 letters or telegrams to Melbourne seeking Victorian relinquishment or financial redress. There were many futile conferences. The nearest to an agreement between the two states was in 1908. Then it was decided, subject to ratification by Parliament, that £215,000 should be regarded as compensation to South Australia. Parliament did not ratify the proposal, nor did anything come of the 1909 South Australian premier's plan to send surveyors to subdivide some of the land on the east of White's marked border, the last "legally proclaimed" border.
South Australia finally abandoned all hope of settlement, due to Victoria's intransigence, and in 1911 it appealed to the High Court only to have the appeal dismissed. In 1914, it resorted to an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which unanimously ruled in favour of Victoria. (Ref Tooley M&B)

General Description:
 Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
 Paper color: - White
 Age of map color: - 
 Colors used: - 
 General color appearance: - 
 Map #1 size: - 13 1/2in x 11in (345mm x 280mm)
 Map #2 size: - 14in x 13 1/2in (355mm x 345mm)
 Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)
 
 Imperfections:
 Margins: - None
 Plate area: - None
 Verso: - None

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1778 Capt James Cook Antique Map The Southern Hemisphere, Australia, Antarctica

1778 Capt James Cook Antique Map The Southern Hemisphere, Australia, Antarctica

  • Title : Carte De L Hemisphere Austral Montrant les Routes des Navigateurs les plus Celebree par le Capitaine Jacques Cook
  • Ref  :  42004
  • Size: 22in x 21 1/2in (560mm x 545mm)
  • Date : 1778
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This fine original copper-plate engraved, antique map, a chart of the Southern Hemisphere, was engraved by Robert Benard and is dedicated to the discoveries in the South Seas and Antarctic Regions of Captain James Cook during his second Voyage of Discovery between 1772 & 1775. By comparison the tracks of 11 other explorers are included, from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The map by Captain James Cook was published in the 1778 French edition of A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World. Performed in His Majestys ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775..... Paris : Hotel de Thou ......1778
This map is unique in another way, as the English edition of this map was used as a prop, by Nathaniel Dance, in his 1776 portrait of Captain James Cook. Please also see above for the portrait. 

The 11 other explorers and their tracks around the Southern Hemisphere are;
1. Mendana in 1595
2. Quiros in 1606
3. Le Maire & Schouten in 1616
4. Tasman in 1642
5. Halley in 1700
6. Roggewein in 1722
7. Bouvet in 1738-39
8. Byron in 1765
9. Wallis in 1767
10. Bougainville in 1768
11. Surville in 1769
12. Cooks first and second voyages.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 22in x 21 1/2in (560mm x 545mm)
Plate size: - 22in x 21 1/2in (560mm x 545mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Repair without loss to left of image
Plate area: - Folds as issued, light creasing along folds
Verso: - Folds as issued, light creasing along folds

Background: 
This map by James Cook, was published as the premier map of his second voyage to the Southern Hemisphere, dispelling forever the myth of the Great Southern Land and showing the true cartographic nature of the southern hemisphere dominated by Australia & New Zealand. The map on a South Polar Projection also shows South America, the South Atlantic Ocean, South Africa, Madagascar, Australia - with Tasmania still joined to the mainland - New Zealand and the southern Pacific Ocean with islands.
Engraved within the explorer\\\'s tracks are the dates of their voyages and ships tracks are particularly noted around the Antarctic Circle with notations of ice fields seen during the voyages.

John Hawkesworth An English writer and journalist, Hawkesworth was commissioned by the British Admiralty to edit for publication the narratives of its officers’ circumnavigations. He was given full access to the journals of the commanders and the freedom to adapt and re-tell them in the first person. Cook was already on his way back from his second Pacific voyage, temporarily docked at Cape Town (South Africa), when he first saw the published volumes: he was mortified and furious to find that Hawkesworth claimed in the introduction that Cook had seen and blessed (with slight corrections) the resulting manuscript. (In his defense, Hawkesworth also had been a victim of misunderstanding.) Cook had trouble recognizing himself. Moreover, the work was full of errors and commentary introduced by Hawkesworth and, in Cook’s view, too full of Banks, who had promoted himself and the publication. Still, the work was popular; the first edition sold out in several months.

Robert Bénard 1734 – 1777 was an 18th-century French engraver.
Specialized in the technique of engraving, Robert Ménard is mainly famous for having supplied a significant amount of plates (at least 1,800) to the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d Alembert from 1751.
Later, publisher Charles-Joseph Panckoucke reused many of his productions to illustrate the works of his catalog.

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1712 Senex Large Original Antique Map of Europe Russia, Moscow - Finland to Azov

1712 Senex Large Original Antique Map of Europe Russia, Moscow - Finland to Azov

  • TitleMoscovy Corrected from ye Observations Communicated to the Royal Society of London and Paris By John Senex & John Maxwell. Sold by them at the Globe.....1712
  • Ref #:  82074
  • Size: 39 1/2in x 26 1/2in (980mm x 675mm)
  • Date : 1712
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description: 
This extraordinary, very large & beautifully hand coloured  original antique map of European Russia - Moscovy - including parts of Scandinavia, the Baltic States & The Ukraine by John Senex & John Maxwell in 1712 - dated in title - and was published for Senex's large Elephant Folio General Atlas. 

These large scale maps are scarce as damage and loss over time was frequent from both handling and difficulty storing safely. 

Background: It is scarcely necessary to look at a map of Russia - with which we must include Siberia - to visualize the daunting task facing Russian map makers. Indeed, considering the vastness of their territory and the lack of skilled cartographers, it is surprising that relatively good maps were available for engraving and printing in most of the well known sixteenth and seventeenth century atlases. Generally, maps of that time were based on material brought back from Moscow by visitors from the West. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 39 1/2in x 26 1/2in (980mm x 675mm)
Plate size: - 37in x 25in (930mm x 635mm)
Margins: - min. 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Light age toning along centerfold & top of image
Verso: - Folds re-enforced on verso

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1774 James Cook Large Antique Map of The South Seas, Australia, New Zealand etc

1774 James Cook Large Antique Map of The South Seas, Australia, New Zealand etc

  • Title : Carte d une Partie de la Mer du Sud Contenant les Decouvertes de Vaisseaux de sa Majeste Le Dauphin, Commodore Byron La Tamar, Capitne. Mouats 1765 Le Dauphin, Capitne. Wallis Le Swallow, Capitne. Cartaret, 1767 et l Endeavour, Lieutenant Cook 1769
  • Ref #:  17034
  • Size: 28 1/2in x 18 3/4in (725mm x 475mm)
  • Date : 1774
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description: 
This large original hand coloured copper-plate engraved antique map, a chart of the voyage tracks of Captain James Cook during his first voyage of discovery of Australia & NZ, and 4 other explorers to the South Seas from 1765 to 1771. It was engraved by Robert Benard and published in the 1774 French translation of John Hawkesworths publication An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere and Successively Performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavor, Drawn Up from the Journals Which Were Kept by the Several Commanders, and from the Papers of Joseph Banks.

The 5 Voyages, with Captains, ships & tracks are;
1. 1764-66 - HMS Dolphin under Command of Commodore John Byron, completed the first circumnavigation of the globe under two years.
2. 1764-1766 - HMS Tamar under Command of Captain Patrick Mouat, accompanied Commodore John Byron & HMS Dolphin on 1764-66 circumnavigation of the world.
3. 1766-68 - HMS Dolphin under Command of Captain Samuel Wallis, completed another circumnavigation & was the first European to visit Tahiti & the Society Islands.
4. 1766-68 - HMS Swallow under Command of Captain Philip Carteret, who accompanied HMS Dolphin under the command of Samuel Wallis to circumnavigate the world.
5. 1769-71 - HMS Endeavour, under Command of Lieutenant James Cook (later Captain) completed a the mapping of Tahiti & the Society Islands, New Zealand & the East Coast of Australia.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Early
Colors used: - Yellow, brown, pink, red, blue
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 28 1/2in x 18 3/4in (725mm x 475mm)
Plate size: - 27in x 15in (685mm x 380mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Folds as issued, light toning along folds
Plate area: - Folds as issued, light toning along folds
Verso: - Folds as issued, light toning along folds

Background:
Commodore John Byron 1723 – 1786 was a British Royal Navy officer and politician.He circumnavigated the world as a commodore with his own squadron in 1764-1766. He fought in battles in The Seven Years War and the American Revolution. He rose to Vice Admiral before his death in 1786.

Captain Patrick Mouat. Commanded HMS Tamer on a voyage of discovery with Commodore John Byron between 1764-66. HMS Tamar was a sloop, mounting sixteen guns: ninety men, three lieutenants, and two and twenty petty officers.

Captain Samuel Wallis 1728 – 1795 was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. Was given the command of HMS Dolphin in 1751 as part of an expedition led by Philip Carteret in the Swallow with an assignment to circumnavigate the globe. The two ships were parted by a storm shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan, Wallis continuing to Tahiti, which he named King George the Third\'s Island in honour of the King in June 1767.

Captain Philip Carteret 1733 – 1796 was a British naval officer and explorer who participated in two of the Royal Navys circumnavigation expeditions in 1764–66 and 1766–69.

Captain James Cook is considered one of the most talented Surveyors & Map Makers of any age, for Cook, the production of a new chart was his principal reason for going to sea. His charts were aimed at fellow seamen so he incorporated as much information as possible while employing an economy of style and little elaboration. The quality of his charts can be confirmed by the fact that some survey details from Newfoundland to New Zealand & Australias East Coast could still be safely used over one hundred years later. His last piece of the New Zealand hydrographic chart was only removed in the 1990s.

John Hawkesworth An English writer and journalist, Hawkesworth was commissioned by the British Admiralty to edit for publication the narratives of its officers’ circumnavigations. He was given full access to the journals of the commanders and the freedom to adapt and re-tell them in the first person. Cook was already on his way back from his second Pacific voyage, temporarily docked at Cape Town (South Africa), when he first saw the published volumes: he was mortified and furious to find that Hawkesworth claimed in the introduction that Cook had seen and blessed (with slight corrections) the resulting manuscript. (In his defense, Hawkesworth also had been a victim of misunderstanding.) Cook had trouble recognizing himself. Moreover, the work was full of errors and commentary introduced by Hawkesworth and, in Cook’s view, too full of Banks, who had promoted himself and the publication. Still, the work was popular; the first edition sold out in several months.

Robert Bénard 1734 – 1777 was an 18th-century French engraver.
Specialized in the technique of engraving, Robert Ménard is mainly famous for having supplied a significant amount of plates (at least 1,800) to the Encyclopédie by Diderot & d Alembert from 1751.
Later, publisher Charles-Joseph Panckoucke reused many of his productions to illustrate the works of his catalog.

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1692 Alexis Jaillot Large Antique Map of Great Britain & Ireland

1692 Alexis Jaillot Large Antique Map of Great Britain & Ireland

  • Title : Les Isles Britanniques; qui Contiennent les Royaumes d\'Angleterre, Escosse, et Irlande...Alexis Hubert Jaillot...1692
  • Size: 34 1/2in x 22 1/2in (880m x 570mm)
  • Condition: (B) Good Condition
  • Date : 1692
  • Ref #:  50658

Description:
This large, original hand coloured, antique map of the British Isles & Ireland by Alexis Hubert Jaillot - after Nicolas Sanson - was engraved in 1692 - the date is engraved in the scale cartouche.
There were three plates engraved for this highly prized map between the 1670s and early 1700s. This map is from the 2nd plate, state 4.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 34 1/2in x 22 1/2in (880m x 570mm)
Plate size: - 34 1/2in x 22 1/2in (880m x 570mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (4mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Bottom left corner and border restored. Margins cropped to plate-mark
Plate area: - Light offsetting & creasing.
Verso: - Several tears re-joined without loss

Background: 
English Cartography: When considering the work of English map makers we tend, perhaps, to think too much in terms of county maps, dominated by the names of Saxton and Speed, but we should not underrate the contribution to the sum of geographical knowledge made in other spheres, such as the sea charts of Edward Wright, Robert Dudley and Greenvile Collins, the discoveries of James Cook, the road maps of Ogilby and Cary, the meteorological and magnetic charts compiled by Edmund Halley, to mention only a few.
In 1558 Queen Elizabeth came to the throne in the midst of a fast changing world. In 1563 a nineteen sheet map, copies of which survive only in manuscript form, was completed by Laurence Nowell, and no doubt, the issue of Mercator\'s large-scale map of the British Isles in 1564 had an important influence on the thought of the period. A few years later a national survey was commissioned privately, although probably at the instigation of Lord Burghley, the Lord Treasurer, but subsequently was completed with royal encouragement. The outcome was Christopher Saxton\'s Atlas of EngIand and Wales, started about 1570 and published in 1579 - the first printed set of county maps and the first countrywide atlas on such a splendid scale produced anywhere. A Welsh antiquarian, Humphrey Lhuyd completed a set of surveys that were even more successful than Saxton in which he had produced fine manuscript maps of England and Wales which were used by Ortelius in editions of his Atlas from 1573 onwards.
The earliest maps of the 17th century, attributed to William Smith of the College of Heralds, covered only twelve counties based on Saxton/Norden and were presumably intended to be part of a complete new atlas. They were printed in the Low Countries in 1602-3 and were soon followed by maps for the Latin edition of Camden\'s Britannia dated 1607. In 1610-11 the first edition of John Speed\'s famous county Atlas The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine was published and immediately replaced Saxton\'s in popular appeal. Although Speed assembled much of his material from the earlier works of Saxton, Norden and others, a considerable part of the up-to-date information, especially relating to the inset town plans depicted on his maps, was obtained first hand. The maps undoubtedly owed much of their popularity to the splendid engravings of high quality made in the workshops in Amsterdam of Jodocus Hondius to whom Speed sent his manuscripts, the plates subsequently being returned to London for printing.
In 1645, Volume IV of the famous Blaeu World Atlas covering the counties of England and Wales was published in Amsterdam. These maps have always been esteemed as superb examples of engraving and design, the calligraphy being particularly splendid, but nevertheless they were nearly all based on Saxton and Speed and added little to geographical knowledge.
Not until the latter part of the century do we find an English map maker of originality with the capacity to put new ideas into practice. John Ogilby, one of the more colourful figures associated with cartography, started life as a dancing master and finished as King\'s Cosmographer and Geographic Printer. After publishing a small number of county maps, somewhat on the lines of John Norden he issued in 1675 the Britannia, the first practical series of detailed maps of the post roads of England and Wales on a standard scale of 1,760 yards to the mile. Up to the end of the century and beyond, reprints and revisions of Saxton\'s and Speed\'s atlases continued to appear and the only other noteworthy county maps were Richard Blome\'s Britannia (1673), John Overton\'s Atlas (c. 1670) and Robert Morden\'s maps for an English translation of Camden\'s Britannia published in 1695.
Another noted cartographer of the day was Captain Greenvile Collins, and of his work in surveying the coasts of Great Britain culminating in the issue in 1693 of the Great Britain\'s Coasting Pilot. Apart from these charts, English cartographers published during the century a number of world atlases. Speed was the first Englishman to produce a world atlas with the issue in 1627 of his A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. Other atlases appeared later in the century by Peter Heylin, John Seller, William Berry, Moses Pitt and Richard Blome, whilst Ogilby found time to issue maps of Africa, America and Asia. Far more important, from the purely scientific point of view, was the work of Edmund Halley, Astronomer Royal, who compiled and issued meteorological and magnetic charts in 1688 and 1701 respectively.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Dutch map trade was finally in decline, the French in the ascendant and the English to a great extent still dominated by Saxton and Speed except, as we have shown, in the spheres of sea charts and road maps. There were atlases by John Senex, the Bowles family, Emanuel and Thomas Bowen, Thomas Badeslade and the unique bird\'s-eye perspective views of the counties, The British Monarchy by George Bickham. In 1750-60 Bowen and Kitchin\'s The Large English Atlas containing maps on a rather larger scale than hitherto was published.
In 1759 the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce offered an award of £100 for the best original surveys on this scale and by the end of the century about thirty counties had been re-surveyed. These maps, many of which formed, in later years, the basis for the first issues of county maps by the Ordnance Survey Office were not only decorative but a tremendous improvement geographically on earlier local maps. As a consequence, the skills and expertise of the new-style cartographers soon enabled them to cover the world as well as the domestic market. Thomas Jefferys was such a man; he was responsible for a number of the new 1 in. to 1 mile county surveys and he issued an edition of Saxton\'s much battered 200-year-old plates of the county maps, but he is better known for many fine maps of North America and the West Indies. His work was continued on the same lines by William Faden, trading as Faden and Jefferys. Other publishers such as Sayer and Bennett and their successors Laurie and Whittle published a prodigious range of maps, charts and atlases in the second half of the century. A major influence at this time was John Cary who, apart from organizing the first re-survey of post roads since Ogilby and subsequently printing the noted Travellers\' Companion, was a prolific publisher of atlases and maps of every kind of all parts of the world. After starting work with Cary, and taking part in the new road survey, Aaron Arrowsmith set up in his own business and went on to issue splendid large-scale maps of many parts of the world. Both Cary\'s and Arrowsmith\'s plates were used by other publishers until far into the next century and, in turn, their work was taken up and developed by James Wyld (Elder and Younger) and Tallis and Co.
Later into the 19th century some of the better known cartographers and publishers were by Henry Teesdale (1829-30), Christopher and John Greenwood, surveyors, Thomas Moule, a writer on heraldry and antiques (1830-36) and John Walker (1837) but by about the middle of the century few small-scale publishers survived and their business passed into the hands of large commercial concerns such as Bartholomews of Edinburgh and Philips of London who continue to this day. (Ref: Shirley; Tooley; M&B)

 

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18th century Antique Japanese Map of Shimotsuke-no kuni Province 下野国 - Japan 日本

18th century Antique Japanese Map of Shimotsuke-no kuni Province 下野国 - Japan 日本

  • Title : Shimotsuke Province - 下野国 Shimotsuke-no kuni
  • Size: 21in x 14 1/2in (535mm x 370mm)
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Date : 18th century
  • Ref #:  91306

Description:
A unique opportunity to acquire an original, rare antique wood-block engraved Japanese map.
This beautiful hand coloured map of the Shimotsuke Province - 下野国 Shimotsuke-no kuni - today part of the Tochigi Prefecture - was published in the ca 18th century.
There is a high level of artistry & detail that makes this wood-block engraved map uniquely Japanese.

The is a beautiful birds-eye view map of the province with Lake Chūzenji (中禅寺湖 Chūzenji-ko) and the city of Nikkō (日光市 Nikkō-shi) at the top of the map. A partial translation accompanys the map. This translation explains the following;
Shimtsuke, ancient name for Tochigi, area 6,436sq Kilmometers. Nikko with Lake Chuzenji is shown at the top of the sheet. On the left side top are shown the names of the 9 districts into which Shimotsuke was divided, showing 1,148 villages (on the map). Further the rice crops for the villages given as 506,061 koku, that is 252,000 bushels

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Blue, green, red
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 21in x 14 1/2in (535mm x 370mm)
Plate size: - 21in x 14 1/2in (535mm x 370mm)
Margins: - Min 1/4in (5mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light wear
Plate area: - Folds as issued, light wear along folds, several small worm tracks in 10 places on image
Verso: - Folds as issued, light wear along folds, several small worm tracks in 10 places on image

Background: 
Shimotsuke Province (下野国 Shimotsuke-no kuni) was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture.[1] Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke, Hitachi, Mutsu and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Yashū (野州). Under the Engishiki classification system, Shimotsuke was ranked as one of the 13 \"great countries\" (大国) in terms of importance, and one of the 30 \"far countries\" (遠国) in terms of distance from the capital. The provincial capital is located in what is now the city of Tochigi. The Ichinomiya of the province is the Futarasan jinja located in what is now the city of Utsunomiya.
During the 4th century AD, (Kofun period) the area of modern Gunma and southern Tochigi prefectures were known as Keno or Kenu (毛野). At some unknown point in the 5th century, the area was divided at the Kinugawa River into Kamitsukeno (上毛野) and Shimotsukeno (下毛野). Per the Nara period Taihō Code, these provinces became Kamitsukeno-no-kuni (上毛野国) and Shimotsukeno-no-kuni (下毛野国). In 713, with the standardization of province names into two kanji, these names became Kōzuke (上野) and Shimozuke (下野).
The area of Shimotsuke is mentioned frequently in the Nara period Rikkokushi, including the Nihon Shoki and had strong connections with the Yamato court since the Kofun period. A large Buddhist temple complex, the Shimotsuke Yakushi-ji, located in what is now the city of Tochigi, dates from the Nara period.
From the Heian period, the area was dominated by a number of samurai bands, including the Utsunomiya clan, and the Nasu clan. A branch of the Minamoto clan, the Ashikaga rose to prominence during the Kamakura period from their shōen at what is now Ashikaga, and went on to create the ashikaga shogunate of the Muromachi period.
During the Sengoku period, Shimotsuke was contested between the later Hōjō clan ,the Takeda and the Uesugi clans. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, much of the province was assigned to several feudal domains. Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Iemitsu chose the sacred site of Nikkō to be the location of their tombs, and thus the area prospered as a site of pilgrimage through the end of the Edo period.
The Nikkō Kaidō and the Ōshū Kaidō highways passed through the province, and numerous post stations were established.
Following the Meiji Restoration, the various domains became prefectures with the abolition of the han system in 1871. These various prefectures merged to form Gunma Prefecture in 1873.

Nikkō (日光市 Nikkō-shi) is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Shōdō Shōnin (勝道上人) established the temple of Rinnō-ji in 766, followed by the temple of Chūzen-ji in 784. The village of Nikkō developed around these temples. The shrine of Nikkō Tōshō-gū was completed in 1617 and became a major draw of visitors to the area during the Edo period. It is known as the burial place of the famous Japanese shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. A number of new roads were built during this time to provide easier access to Nikkō from surrounding regions. Nikkō Tōshō-gū, Futarasan Shrine, and Rinnō-ji now form the UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikkō.

Lake Chūzenji (中禅寺湖 Chūzenji-ko) is a scenic lake in Nikkō National Park in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
Chuzenji Lake was discovered in 782 by a priest named Shōdō when his group succeeded in climbing Mt. Nantai. Considered sacred, the mountain was closed to women, horses, and cows until 1872. In the middle of the Meiji period and early Showa period, many European embassies built vacation houses around the lake. The former Italian villa has been renewed and is now open to visitors. Other sites around the lake include Futara Shrine built in 790, Chuzenji Temple, and Kegon Falls.

Japanese Cartography
The earliest known term used for maps in Japan is believed to be kata (形, roughly form), which was probably in use until roughly the 8th century. During the Nara period, the term zu(図) came into use, but the term most widely used and associated with maps in pre-modern Japan is ezu (絵図, roughly “picture diagram”). As the term implies, ezu were not necessarily geographically accurate depictions of physical landscape, as is generally associated with maps in modern times, but pictorial images, often including spiritual landscape in addition to physical geography. Ezu often focused on the conveyance of relative information as opposed to adherence to visible contour. For example, an ezu of a temple may include surrounding scenery and clouds to give an impression of nature, human figures to give a sense of how the depicted space is used, and a scale in which more important buildings may appear bigger than less important ones, regardless of actual physical size.
In the late 18th century, translators in Nagasaki translated the Dutch word (land)kaart into Japanese as chizu (地図): today the generally accepted Japanese word for a map.
From 1800 (Kansei 12) through 1821 (Bunsei 4), Ino Tadataka led a government-sponsored topographic surveying and map-making project. This is considered the first modern geographer\\\'s survey of Japan;[1] and the map based on this survey became widely known as the Ino-zu. Later, the Meiji government officially began using the Japanese term chizu in the education system, solidifying the place of the term chizu for \\\"map\\\" in Japanese.
Generally speaking, traditional Japanese maps were quite diverse in style, depiction, and purpose, and were often oriented towards pragmatic use. It was less common for maps to serve literary or decorative purposes as they might in the West, instead being used for purposes such as the differentiation of rice fields on a feudal manor, or orientation within a temple complex. An example might be an Edo era pilgrimage map depicting the route and location of lodges on the road between Kyoto and Edo, including images of people on the road, with distances between stops differentiated not by relative distance, but by numerical markings, as scale as it is recognized in the West today was not generally used. This compression and expansion of space as necessary to emphasize certain qualities of the depicted area is an important characteristic of traditional Japanese maps, as is the regular inclusion of text, as text and image were not separated in Japan nearly to the same degree as in the West. Perspective on traditional Japanese maps can also be confusing to the modern Western viewer, as maps were often designed to be viewed from multiple points of view simultaneously, since maps were often viewed on the floor while the viewers sat around the map in a circle. Accordingly, many maps do not have a unified orientation scheme (such as North as up), with labels sometimes appearing skewed to each other.
Much of the fundamental concepts of space as depicted in Japanese maps can be traced to Chinese geomancy and Buddhist cosmologies, which came to Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries. Buddhist cosmologies depict the world as it was thought to exist within the appropriate religious framework, often including mythical sites such as the navel of the world[citation needed] and lands beyond the sea inhabited by monsters. In this sense, world maps based on Buddhist cosmology often bear little resemblance to the \\\"real world\\\", though many have at least approximately accurate depictions of Japan, Korea, China, and India. Chinese geomancy brought orientation and a regular grid system, as is evidenced in the street plan of Kyoto, which is based on the plan of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang\\\'an. North-South orientation, as in China, is thought to have been evident in the plan of the ancient capital (672–686 AD) of Naniwa (modern Osaka) as well. Hence, although many traditional Japanese maps are characterized by the malleability of space and lack of importance of accurate depiction of physical landscape, direction, distance, and relative orientation were quite important.
Many early Japanese maps were not accurate according to Western standards. Partly, this was the result of Japan being a closed society for many years. They had a long-lasting indifference to exploration as well. And in the feudal society, it was forbidden for ordinary Japanese citizens to travel. \\\"In fact, the Japanese government in Edo (Tokyo), had no interest in accurate map making because maps could be used by enemies to gain military advantage.\\\" Distorting and falsifying maps was known during World War II. Indeed, there was some discussion that captured Japanese maps had been deliberately falsified to confuse the Allied troops. The Army Map Service put out an announcement toward the end of the war that most of the Japanese maps, although sometimes outdated, were truthful and could be used. “In general, native maps of Japan are reliable. Prior to the outbreak of the war, it was alleged that the Japanese falsified certain sheets which they later allowed to fall into our hands. Spot checks against aerial photography have revealed no evidence to substantiate this claim. However, on some of these maps, pertinent military areas were left entirely blank. The US has a basic 1:50,000 coverage for practically all of Japan and 1:25,000 coverage for about a quarter of Japan. These maps, however, do not show the major transformation of man-made features which have taken place in Japan since 1941. Because of this, native Japanese maps are obsolete and their basic reliability is decreased. It is highly important, therefore, that a large-scale map material or trig lists captured from the Japanese be transmitted promptly to the Chief of Engineers in Washington, DC. This is essential also because we possess geographic coordinates for only about a 10th of the estimated 40,000 geodetic stations established in Japan
The oldest known map in Japan is a topographical drawing discovered on a stone wall inside a tomb in the city of Kurayoshi, in Tottori Prefecture, dated to the 6th century AD. Depicting a landscape of houses, bridges, and roads, it is thought to have been made not for practical navigational purposes, but rather as a kind of celestial cartography given to the dead to maintain a connection with the world of the living and allow them to orient themselves when moving on to the other world. Similar maps have been found in other kofun burial tombs as well. There is also evidence that at least rudimentary surveying tools were already in use in this era. One of the oldest written references to maps in a Japanese source is found in the Kojiki, the oldest (albeit largely mythological) history of Japan, in which land records are mentioned. The other major ancient history, the Nihon Shoki of 720 AD, describes a map of the ancient city of Naniwa (modern Osaka). The first map of provincial surveys is thought to be in 738, as described in the Shoku Nihongi. The earliest extant maps in Japan date to the 8th century, and depict the ownership of square rice field plots, oriented to the four cardinal directions. Shinto shrines held maps that they used for agrarian reform, differentiation of property, and land holdings. The system by which these maps were measured was called jōri, measured in units called tan and tsubo.
The Imperial Court of the Emperor Kōtoku (孝徳天皇, 597?–654) put the Handen sei (班田制, lit. ancient land system) into execution in 646 (Taika 2) and asked each province to submit maps of their land holdings, known as denzu (田図, roughly, \\\"picture map of rice fields\\\"). This was considered the first attempt in Japan to draw accurate (as opposed to representational) landscape in picture maps.
During the Shōmu reign (聖武天皇, 701-756), maps known as Gyōki-zu (行基図), named for the high priest Gyōki (高僧, 668–749), were developed. Gyōki himself served as a civil engineer, although there are no explicitly known direct connections between himself and maps per se. The connection between his name and the term Gyōki-zu is thought to be derived from his authority as a priest and perceived connections between maps and geomantic rites to drive away evil spirits. The term Gyōki-zu was widespread and used for maps which illustrated the routes from the Imperial capital to each province in Japan. These maps covered a broader area, and include a much larger portion of what is now known as Japan, giving an idea of the extent of known territory at the time. Maps from these early surveys (conducted in 646, 738, and 796), show the northeasternly extent of Japan to be near the island of Sado, the westerly extent as Kyūshū and the southerly extent as the tip of Shikoku, indicating a relative relationship of orientation, but lack of knowledge of the true cardinal directions, as Kyūshū stretches much further south than Shikoku, and Sado is closer to north than northeast. More important was relative position, especially in terms of the relationship between the capital in Yamashiro Province (modern Nara Prefecture), and as long as the maps accurately depicted this relationship, they were considered useful. The style and orientation of the Gyōki-zu is much in line with the general overview of Japanese maps as described above, and it was this style that formed the dominant framework in Japanese cartography until the late medieval and Edo periods.
\\\"The earliest Japanese maps, attributed to a Buddhist priest called Gyōki Bosatsu (668–749), shows a curious affinity with modern notice boards in public parks. A scheme of outline loops showing land ownership and boundaries, with south generally at the top, characterized this form of mapmaking, a response to the government\\\'s need for feudal information. Examples of such estate surveys surviving from the Nara period in the eighth century (named after the ancient Japanese capital city). They are legible and informative, but unrelated to other aspects of accuracy. Although none of Gogyi\\\'s own maps survive today, cadastral maps in his style still exist in the Shosoin, an imperial archive from that time, and are shown occasionally in the city of Nara. The Gyogi style represented loyalty to a valid tradition. These schematic loops of information, rather than realistic shapes, continued well into the nineteenth century, as did the complex Buddhist world maps, which were also unrelated to knowledge of the world\\\'s shapes of land and sea, but rather, maps of a spiritual landscape.\\\"
During the period of Handen sei, major Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and loyal families bought fields and expand their shōen (荘園, lit. manors). Following the manner of denzu, they draw maps of their shōen. The oldest known shōen map is called Sanukikoku yamadagun gufuku jiryo denzu (讃岐国山田郡弘福寺領田図). These denzu were often drawn on linen cloths. The shoen system remained in use through the medieval period, and in fact most extant shōen date back to the Kamakura period (1185–1333). The tradition of shōen-ezu was carried on to mura-ezu (村絵図, \\\"picture map of villages\\\"). Mura-ezu were planar picture maps of individual villages. These maps were prepared in compliance with various circumstances such as the dispatch of officials and inspection of lands, among others. Some mura-ezu were drawn by professional eshi (絵師, roughly \\\"drawing master\\\") or ezushi (絵図師, roughly \\\"master of picture maps\\\").
During the latter half of the 16th century and beyond, traditional Japanese mapmaking became influenced by Western techniques for the first time with the arrival of Dutch and Portuguese knowledge through the trade port of Nagasaki. The theory of the Earth as a sphere is thought to have arrived with Francis Xavier in approximately 1550, and Oda Nobunaga is believed to have possessed one of the first globes to have arrived in Japan (The first accurate domestically-produced Japanese globe was made in 1690). Japan thus saw full world maps for the first time, changing notions of a Buddhist cosmology matched with physical geography. The first known printed European-style map was made in Nagasaki in 1645, however, the name of the map\\\'s creator is unknown. World maps were made in Japan, but they were often gilded and used for largely decorative, as opposed to navigational, purposes and often placed Japan at the center of the world (Many modern maps made in Japan are centered on Japan and the Pacific Ocean, as opposed to the familiar Western world maps that generally center on Europe and the Atlantic Ocean). Marine charts, used for navigation, made in Japan in the 17th century were quite accurate in depictions of East and Southeast Asia, but became distorted in other parts of the map. Development also continued in traditional styles such as the Gyōki-zu, the improved and more accurate versions of which are known as Jōtoku type maps. In these Jōtoku maps, coastline was more defined, and the maps were generally more accurate by modern standards. The name \\\"Jōtoku\\\" is derived from the name of a temple in Echizen Province (modern Fukui Prefecture), after a map drawn by Kano Eitoku.
The first attempts to create a map encompassing all of Japan were undertaken by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591, late in the Sengoku period. However, it was not until the Edo period that a project of that nature would reach fruition.
The Tokugawa government initiated a multi-year map-making project. Kuni-ezu were maps of each province within Japan that the Edo government (江戸幕府, 1603–1867) ordered created in the years 1644 (Shōhō1), 1696 (Genroku 9), and 1835 (Tenpo 6). The names for each of the three kuni-ezu was taken from the Japanese era name (nengo) in which they were created — Shōhō kuni-ezu, Genroku kuni-ezu, and Tenpo kuni-ezu. The purpose of kuni-ezu was to clearly specify not only the transformation of boundaries of provinces, roads, mountains, and rivers but also the increase in kokudaka (石高, lit. rice output) following the development of new field. Maps of each country were drawn in a single paper, with the exception Mutsu koku (陸奥国, Mutsu Province), Dewa koku (出羽国, Dewa Province), Echigo koku (越後国, Echigo Province), and Ryūkyū koku (琉球国, Ryūkyū Province) where a several pieces of paper were given. The Genroku kuni-ezu depicted the territorial extent of Japan as reaching from southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the north to the Ryūkyū and Yonaguni Islands in the south. A major flaw in these maps, however was the unreliability of surveying techniques, which often involved lengths of rope that easily became distorted, resulting in distortions in the map based on the survey as well. This was largely seen as an unavoidable flaw however. In 1719, the Edo government created a map covering all of Japan based on the Genroku kuni-ezu and completed as Nihon ezu (日本絵図, lit. Picture map of Japan). Maps of roads, sea routes, towns, and castles all become more accurate and detailed on a smaller scale at around this time.
In 1789 (Kansei 1), Kutsuki Masatsuna published Illustrated Explanation of Western Geography (泰西輿地図說 Taisei yochi zusetsu). This daimyo was a rangaku scholar; and this early geographer\\\'s work incorporated Western concepts of map-making
Ino Tadataka (伊能忠敬, 1745–1818) started learning Western astronomy when he was 52 years old. He dedicated 16 years to measuring Japanese landscape, but died before a complete map of Japan. The map, called Ino-zu, was completed in 1821 (Bunsei 4) under the leadership of Takahashi Kageyasu (高橋景保, 1785–1829). In 1863, the Hydrographic Department of British Royal Navy published the map of the Shelf Sea around the Japanese islands based on the Ino-zu and the accurate geographic location of Japan became widely known. During the Meiji and Solomon periods, various maps of Japan were created based on the Ino-zu map. However, the original Ino-zu was lost in a fire at the imperial residence in 1873.
During the Meiji Chiso kaisei (地租改正, lit. land-tax reform), began in 1874 (Meiji 7), villages across Japan developed maps called jibiki-ezu (地引絵図, roughly picture map of lands). Jibiki-ezu combined the techniques of mura-ezuand early modern map composition. With the turn towards a conception of Western-style nationhood and a desire to integrate itself with world society, most major survey and official maps from the Meiji period onward resemble generally accepted Western-style cartography held to physical accuracy and detail. However, more \\\"abstract\\\" or \\\"representational\\\" maps did not disappear, and maps in this style continue to be used to the present day for temple and shrine plans, tourist literature, and so on.
\\\"Between Meiji era and the end of World War II, map production in Japan was conducted by the Land Survey Department of the General Staff Headquarters, the former Japanese army. Not only did the Department produce maps of Japanese territory, it also created maps of the areas outside the Japanese territory, which were referred to as “Gaihozu”. Presently, “Gaihozu” include the maps of the former Japanese territories, and are predominantly in scales ranging from 1:25,000 to 1:500,000. Their geographical coverage stretches to Alaska northward, covering areas of U.S. mainland eastward, Australia southward, and westward to parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Madagascar. The methods of the map production varied from surveys by the Japanese survey squads, reproducing maps produced abroad and secret surveys by sealed order. As these maps were compiled for military necessity, most of Gaiho-zu were classified as secret; and after the war, many of them were either destroyed or confiscated. Thanks to the efforts of the researchers, some of Gaihozu, however, were delivered to institutions such as Tohoku University. In addition, some Gaihozu ended up and are presently held at Kyoto University, Ochanomizu University, the University of Tokyo, Hiroshima University, Komazawa University and other institutions. Despite the fact that these maps were prepared for military purpose, they have high value as they are the accurate records of earth scientific landscapes between the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.

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1930 Commercial Press Large Antique Map of Hangzhou, West Lake China - Very Rare

1930 Commercial Press Large Antique Map of Hangzhou, West Lake China - Very Rare

  • TitleMap of Hangchow and West Lake and Environs... Commercial Press Ltd
  • Date : 1924
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Ref:  40172
  • Size: 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)

Description:
This very large, rare original antique folding map of the Chinese city of Hangzhou, West Lake & the Qiantang River was published by the Chinese publishing house Commercial Press LTD in the 13th Year of the Chinese Republic, October 1924.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)
Plate size: - 43in x 31in (1.090m x 790mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued, slight loss in corner folds
Verso: - Folds re-enforced with archival tape

Background: 
Hangzhou is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang Province in East China. It sits at the head of Hangzhou Bay, which separates Shanghai and Ningbo. Hangzhou grew to prominence as the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and has been one of the most renowned and prosperous cities in China for much of the last millennium.
The city remained an important port until the middle of the Ming dynasty era, when its harbor slowly silted up. Under the Qing, it was the site of an imperial army garrison.
In 1856 and 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Hangzhou. The city was heavily damaged during its conquest, occupation, and eventual reconquest by the Qing army.
Hangzhou was ruled by the Republic of China government under the Kuomintang from 1927 to 1937 and 1945 to 1949. On May 3, 1949, the Peoples Liberation Army entered Hangzhou and the city came under Communist control. After Deng Xiaopings reformist policies began in the end of 1978, Hangzhou took advantage of being situated in the Yangtze River Delta to bolster its development. It is now one of Chinas most prosperous major cities.

West Lake is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.
The earliest recorded name for West Lake was the Wu Forest River (Wǔlín Shuǐ). The Book of Hans Geography Column says, Qiantang, affiliated to the western governor general. Wu Forest Mountain (Wǔlínshān) is the origin of the Wu Forest River. Running east into the sea, it covers 830 li (roughly, 350 km or 220 mi). Other former names include the Qian River, Qiantang Lake, Mingsheng Lake, Jinniu Lake, Shihan Lake, Shang Lake, Lianyan Lake, Fangsheng Pond, Xizi Lake, Gaoshi Lake, Xiling Lake, Meiren Lake, Xianzhe Lake, and Mingyue Lake. But only two names were widely accepted in history and recorded in historical documents. One is Qiantang Lake, due to the fact that Hangzhou was called Qiantang in ancient times. The other name is West Lake, due to the lake being west of the city. The name West Lake first appeared in two poems of Bai Juyi, Bestowed on guests as returning from West Lake in the evening and looking back to Gushan Temple (西湖晚歸回望孤山寺贈諸客) and On the returning boat to Hangzhou (杭州回舫). Since the Northern Song dynasty, most poems and articles of scholars used the name West Lake, while the name Qiantang Lake was gradually deprecated. The request of dredging West Lake written by Su Shi was the first time that West Lake appeared in an official document.

The Commercial Press 1897 - Present
The Commercial Press is the first modern publishing organisation in China. In 1897, 26-year-old Xia Ruifang and three of his friends founded The Commercial Press in Shanghai. The group soon received financial backing and began publishing books.[1] In 1914, Xia attempted to buy out a Japanese company that had invested in the Commercial Press. Four days later he was assassinated. There was much speculation as to who was behind the assassination; no one was ever arrested for the crime.
Commercial Press was bombed by the Imperial Japanese Army during the January 28 Incident. The bombing destroyed its headquarters in Zhabei, Shanghai, as well as the attached East Library and its collection of tens of thousands of rare books.
At the turn of the century Commercial Press became a major publisher of textbooks. Today it is headquartered in Beijing and continues as an active publishing house of Chinese language learning materials including dictionaries, textbooks, pedagogical texts, and a cultural magazine called The World of Chinese.
Timeline:
1902 it was set up with a forward attitude toward both Chinese and Western studies.
1903 it became Chinas first primary education textbook publisher. It later produced 2,550 secondary school textbooks that became popular in the country.
1904 it launched the Eastern Miscellany (東方雜誌) with editor-in-chief (杜亞泉).
1907 the press moved to an 80-acre (320,000 m2) new plant.
1909 it launched the Education Magazine (教育雜誌).
1910 it launched The Short Story Magazine (小說月報).
1911 it launched the Youth Magazine (少年雜誌).
January 1914, the founder of Commercial Press, Xia Ruifang, was stabbed to death.
1914 it set up a branch in Hong Kong Museum of the same year. It also launched the Students Magazine (學生雜誌).
1915 it printed the first dictionary.
1916 it set up a branch in Singapore.
1921 with Hu Shihs recommendation, Wang Yunwu (王雲五) became the general manager modernising it into a business. The first edition of Zhongguo renming dacidian was published.
1924 it opened the Commercial Press Oriental Library.
28 January 1932, the January 28 Incident occurred. The Japanese aircraft bombed the Commercial Press in conjunction with the Oriental Library. Imperial Japanese army would occupy Shanghai the next day. TCP resumed operation in 1932.
1949, TCPs operation was relocated away from China after Liberation Army had entered Shanghai.
1954, the TCPs headquarter was moved from Shanghai to Beijing shifting the focus to academic works published in the West.
1993, the separate Commercial Press companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia established a joint venture to become The Commercial Press International Limited.
2011, the Beijing office was changed into limited liability company (商务印书馆有限公司).
When China publishing and Media Holdings Co.,Ltd. (中国出版传媒股份有限公司) was founded in 2011-12-19, the newly founded company became the parent company.

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1770 Tobias Lotter Very Large Antique Map of Russia & Siberia

1770 Tobias Lotter Very Large Antique Map of Russia & Siberia

Description: 
This scarce, very large beautifully hand coloured original antique map of Russia and Siberia with parts of China was published by Tobias Conrad Lotter in 1770.

Background: Rare, highly detailed map of Russia & Siberia that is subdivided into provinces, namely Tobolsk, Jenissejesk, Irkutsk, and outer parts of the Tartary. In upper right corner inset-map of the Chukchi (Chukotsk) Peninsula. On the left side sheet is a large title cartouche set in a steppe landscape with reindeer sledge, whale and polar bears. Scale ca. 1 : 13,000,000 and engraved by Matthäus Albrecht Lotter for Tobias Conrad Lotter. 

In about 1770 a map of Russia & Siberia by Ivan Fomic Truscot (1721-1786, comp. BMC XXII, 353) was published, that comprised the West Siberian states Tobolsk and Yeniseiesk only, but may have been quite available to Lotter, just as also the German edition of the third Russian general map by Truscot and Jacob F. Schmidt of 1776 was published by Lotter in 1784.
The comparison of the Asian north-eastern coast from Japan up to Cape Szalaginskoi (Cape Shelagskiy) together with the offshore islands there results in an astonishing similarity with representation and designation on Rigobert Bonne’s maps of Russia and the Chinese Tartary published by Lattré in Paris in 1771. Especially striking the form of Sakhalin that hitherto – but also still on the Truscot map of 1776 – appears far more stocky, here though shows a slimmer shape considerably closer to reality. Cape Patience known at least since the 1743 Utrecht edition of the map of Russia by Johann Matthias Haas (Augsburg 1684 – Wittenberg/Augsburg 1742) – Kaert van Het geheele Russische Keizerryk – already published by Homann Heirs in Nuremberg in 1730 + 39 here supposedly for the first time shown in unity with Sakhalin and, as the long-stretched southern half beginning west of the cape already recognizable there is missing here, together forming its southern tip.
Of great similarity, too, the still completely bulky representation of Jeso (= Hokkaido), filling up large parts of the Sea of Japan as known sufficiently from numerous, though by far not all maps of the 18th century. The Kurile Islands adjacent in northeastern direction – with rich detail designation, but without the denomination as chain of islands appearing at least in the 1784 edition of Truscot’s general map – with the obscure islands Terre des Etat (Iturup) and Terre de la Compagnie. Both, as also the often furthermore adjacent da Gama Land, had been supposedly finally left by Truscot to the memory of the great time of sometimes only vague discoveries.
Interestingly both islands are designated with hints to Russian maps in question marks. This probably to be seen as a sign for an independent work of Lotter who obviously drew his knowledge from different sources and not just copied a map he had got into his hands for a German edition. Further clue to the dating is, too, the taking over of the Chukchi (Chukotsk) Peninsula in the farest northeast of Asia in the shape practically unchanged since Ivan Kirilov’s (1695 – Samara 1737) general map of 1734 – the first Russian one at all. For at the latest since publishing the Truscot map of 1776 in 1784 Lotter would have known the new shape valid till today.
Likewise Novaya Zemlya here still figuring as undivided island, thus without the Matochkin Strait supposedly recorded by Truscot for the first time. With respect to the independence of his work a recourse to older forms of representation appears not very likely in both cases.
Designed in cone projection, the null meridian runs about 020degrees western longitude of Greenwich through the centre of Iceland. In the west reaching till Novaya Zemlya – Ural Mountains – Kazan – Sea of Azov, the map comprises in the far east still northern Japan , the Kurile Islands and Kamchatka including the offshore Bering Island . Southerly still with at the Caspian Sea , Lake Aral , the headwaters of the Yenisey , the Dalai nuur (Hulun Lake) in northern Mongolia near to the wall of Genghis Chan , the region of today’s Vladivostok and the Tsugari Street . In the Arctic Ocean up to 78 degrees northern latitude.  (Ref: Tooley, M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color: - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Pink, green, yellow
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 44in x 20 1/2in (1.15m x 520mm)
Plate size: - 42in x 19 1/2in (1.0mm x 500mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Repair to top adjacent to centerfold, no loss
Verso: - Repair as mentioned

$725.00 USD
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1730 Georg Mattraus Seutter Large Antique Map of Africa

1730 Georg Mattraus Seutter Large Antique Map of Africa

  • TitleAfrica Iuxta Navigationes..Matth. Seuttero S Caes Maj Geographo Aug.
  • Date : 1730
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition
  • Ref:  35011
  • Size: 23in x 20in (585mm x 510mm)

Description:
This large beautifully hand coloured original copper-plate antique map of Africa was engraved by Tobais Lotter and published by Georg Mattraus Seutter in 1730 edition of Geographical Atlas or an Accurate Depiction of the Whole World

This striking map of Africa is based largely on Homanns 1715 map. Typical of the period, it presents largely fictitious information in southern Africa, and enormous lakes depicted in central Africa. The Nile is shown originating in the south at lakes Zaire and Zaflan and also continuing further south through a twisted river system with its headwaters in Bed Lac. The splendid decorative cartouche (uncolored) features indigenous people, pyramids and exotic animals, with a fierce dragon perched atop the title.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 23in x 20in (585mm x 510mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 20in (585mm x 510mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Small restoration to top & bottom margin centerfold. 4 small rejoins to margins, no loss
Plate area: - Restoration to bottom 2in of centerfold
Verso: - Light soiling

Background: 
The first separately printed map of Africa (as with the other known continents) appeared in Munster\'s Geographia from 1540 onwards and the first atlas devoted to Africa only was published in 1588 in Venice by Livio Sanuto, but the finest individual map of the century was that engraved on 8 sheets by Gastaldi, published in Venice in 1564. Apart from maps in sixteenth-century atlases generally there were also magnificent marine maps of 1596 by Jan van Linschoten (engraved by van Langrens) of the southern half of the continent with highly imaginative and decorative detail in the interior. In the next century there were many attractive maps including those of Mercator/Hondius (1606), Speed (1627), Blaeu (1 630), Visscher (1636), de Wit (c. 1670), all embellished with vignettes of harbours and principal towns and bordered with elaborate and colourful figures of their inhabitants, but the interior remained uncharted with the exception of that part of the continent known as Ethiopia, the name which was applied to a wide area including present-day Abyssinia. Here the legends of Prester John lingered on and, as so often happened in other remote parts of the world, the only certain knowledge of the region was provided by Jesuit missionaries. Among these was Father Geronimo Lobo (1595-1678), whose work A Voyage to Abyssinia was used as the basis for a remarkably accurate map published by a German scholar, Hiob Ludolf in 1683. Despite the formidable problems which faced them, the French cartographers G. Delisle (c. 1700-22), J. B. B. d\'Anville (1727-49) and N. Bellin (1754) greatly improved the standards of mapping of the continent, improvements which were usually, although not always, maintained by Homann, Seutter, de Ia Rochette, Bowen, Faden and many others in the later years of the century. (M&B; Tooley)

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1756 J B D Anville Large Antique Bottom Map Texas, Mexico, Central America - 93518

1756 J B D Anville Large Antique Bottom Map Texas, Mexico, Central America - 93518

  • Title : (Amerique Septentrionale Publiee sous les Auspices de Monseigneur le Duc d Orleans.. Par Le Snr. D Anville MDCCXLVI)
  • Date : 1756
  • Size: 36in x 22in (915mm x 560mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Ref:  93518

Description:
This large important original copper plate engraved antique map, bottom sheets of 4 sheets, of North America was engraved in 1746 and was published by Jean-Baptiste Bourguinon D Anville in his Elephant Folio Atlas Generale. (I have included an image of the map of the map when it is complete)
This map was instrumental in instructing the European Colonial powers of the time, England France & Spain the importance of dominating the New World, that ultimately led to the French and Indian War of 1754–63. This conflict determined the political direction of North America leading to the American War of Independence in 1775 and ultimately the formation of The United States of America.

To illustrate the importance of cartography in the mid eighteenth century, especially that of North America, a J B D Anville map is essential. D Anville dominated 18th century European cartography with many of his cartographical achievements, especially in North America, copied by many of his contemporaries such as Kitchen, Sayer, Homann, Seutter, Mitchell and others .
He was one of the first to leave blank spaces in his maps, where knowledge was scant or insufficient. His representation of the great lakes is superior to that of his contemporary John Mitchell, responsible for publishing one of the most famous mid 18th century maps of North America, A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America on 8 sheets in 1755 and remained the standard map of North America up until the end of the 18th century. (Ref: Tooley, Printed maps of America, 104; The Mapping of America 316)

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 36in x 22in (915mm x 560mm)
Plate size: - 34 1/2in x 17in (880mm x 430mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Small right side of margin & border restored
Plate area: - Folds as issued, small dis-colouration to bottom centerfold
Verso: - Folds as issued, several small repairs not affecting image

Background:
The French and Indian War (1754–63) comprised the North American theatre of the worldwide Seven Years War of 1756–63. It pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France. Both sides were supported by military units from their parent countries, as well as by American Indian allies. At the start of the war, the French North American colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British North American colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians. The European nations declared war on one another in 1756 following months of localized conflict, escalating the war from a regional affair into an intercontinental conflict.
The name French and Indian War is used mainly in the United States. It refers to the two enemies of the British colonists, the royal French forces and their various American Indian allies. The British colonists were supported at various times by the Iroquois, Catawba, and Cherokee, and the French colonists were supported by Wabanaki Confederacy members Abenaki and Mikmaq, and Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot.
British and other European historians use the term the Seven Years War, as do English-speaking Canadians. French Canadians call it La guerre de la Conquête (the War of the Conquest) or (rarely) the Fourth Intercolonial War.
Fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.
In 1755, six colonial governors in North America met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, and the main effort by Braddock proved a disaster; he lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755 and died a few days later. British operations failed in the frontier areas of Pennsylvania and New York during 1755–57 due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, effective Canadian scouts, French regular forces, and Indian warrior allies. In 1755, the British captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia, and they ordered the expulsion of the Acadians (1755–64) soon afterwards. Orders for the deportation were given by William Shirley, Commander-in-Chief, North America, without direction from Great Britain. The Acadians were expelled, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to His Britannic Majesty. Indians likewise were driven off the land to make way for settlers from New England.
The British colonial government fell in the region of modern Nova Scotia after several disastrous campaigns in 1757, including a failed expedition against Louisbourg and the Siege of Fort William Henry; this last was followed by Indians torturing and massacring their British victims. William Pitt came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces that they had in New France, preferring to concentrate their forces against Prussia and its allies in the European theater of the war. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture the Colony of Canada (part of New France). They succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec (1759). The British later lost the Battle of Sainte-Foy west of Quebec (1760), but the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1763).
The outcome was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict. France ceded to Great Britain its territory east of the Mississippi. It ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River (including New Orleans) to its ally Spain in compensation for Spains loss to Britain of Florida. (Spain had ceded Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba.) Frances colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Great Britains position as the dominant colonial power in eastern North America.

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1628 Henricus Hondius Antique Map Ottoman Empire Saudi Arabia to Southern Europe

1628 Henricus Hondius Antique Map Ottoman Empire Saudi Arabia to Southern Europe

Antique Map

Description:
This beautifully engraved hand coloured original antique map of The Ottoman Empire in the mid 17th century from Saudi Arabia to southern Europe was published in the 1628 French edition of Mercator's atlas by Jan Jansson and Henricus Hondius.
These maps, published in the later editions of Mercators atlas, are derived from the original maps drawn and engraved by Gerald Mercator in the mid to late 16th century, published by his son Rumold as an atlas, after his death, in 1595. After two editions the plates were purchased by Jodocus Hondius in 1604 and continued to be published until the mid 1630's when the plates were re-engraved and updated by Jan Jansson and Henricus Hondius.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original & later
Colors used: - Yellow, green, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 22 3/4in x 19 3/4in (580mm x 500mm)
Plate size: - 20in x 13 3/4in (500mm x 350mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light soiling, small wormhole, light creasing
Plate area: - Small loss and creasing along centerfold
Verso: - Light soiling and creasing

Background:
The Ottoman Empire also historically known in Western Europe as the Turkish Empire or simply Turkey, was a state that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire was a multinational, multilingual empire controlling most of Southeast Europe, parts of Central Europe, Western Asia, parts of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. At the beginning of the 17th century, the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.
With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. While the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society and military throughout the 17th and much of the 18th century. However, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian empires. The Ottomans consequently suffered severe military defeats in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which prompted them to initiate a comprehensive process of reform and modernisation known as the Tanzimat. Thus, over the course of the 19th century, the Ottoman state became vastly more powerful and organised, despite suffering further territorial losses, especially in the Balkans, where a number of new states emerged. The empire allied with Germany in the early 20th century, hoping to escape from the diplomatic isolation which had contributed to its recent territorial losses, and thus joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers. While the Empire was able to largely hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent, especially with the Arab Revolt in its Arabian holdings. During this time, atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks.
The Empire\'s defeat and the occupation of part of its territory by the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I resulted in its partitioning and the loss of its Middle Eastern territories, which were divided between the United Kingdom and France. The successful Turkish War of Independence against the occupying Allies led to the emergence of the Republic of Turkey in the Anatolian heartland and the abolition of the Ottoman monarchy.

$675.00 USD
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1856 A H Dufour Very Large Antique World Map on Mercators Projection - Scarce

1856 A H Dufour Very Large Antique World Map on Mercators Projection - Scarce

  • Title : Mappe-Monde Planispherique Physique et Hydrographique. CH Dyonnet..1856
  • Ref #:  61019
  • Size: 33in x 24in (840mm x 610mm)
  • Date : 1856
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition

Description:
This very large, magnificent hand coloured original copper plate antique World Map on Mercators Projection -adorned with scientific data - by Adolphe Hippolyte Dufour was engraved by Charles Dyonnet in 1857 - dated in the title - for Dufours 1860 edition of his monumental elephant folio Atlas Physique, Historique et Politique Geographie Modernepublished by Pauline Et La Chevalier, Paris.

The 19th century French cartographer Auguste-Henri Dufour began publishing the dramatic elephant folio Atlas Universel, also occasionally titled Grand Atlas Universal, around 1855. Several editions appeared between its initial publication in the 1850s and a final run c. 1870. The 1863 and 1864 editions in particular are highly desirable among collectors because the United States and North America maps illustrate the proposed, but unrealized, state of Corona (roughly modern day Utah). The atlas contained roughly 40 maps, most of which were engraved by Louis Antoine (the maps) and Deletre (typography) under the supervision of Charles Dyonnet, official engraver of the Depot de la Marine. The Atlas Universal was published in Paris and edited by the firm of Paulin et le Chevalier, 60 Rue Richelieu.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: - Yellow, green, blue, pink
General color appearance: - Authentic
Paper size: - 33in x 24in (840mm x 610mm)
Plate size: - 33in x 24in (840mm x 610mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning in margins
Plate area: - None
Verso: - None

Background: 
Charles Dyonnet 1822 - 1880 was an extremely active Paris based engraver working in the mid to late 19th century. From his offices at 220 Rue St. Jacques, Paris, Dyonnet engraved numerous maps for many of the most prominent 19th French cartographic publishers including Vuillemin, Dufour, Fremin and Duvotenay. From 1850-1861, he held the coveted position of Graveur du Dépot de la Marine, and in this position engraved numerous French naval and military maps. Dyonnet had a detail oriented and aesthetically minded hand and is responsible from some of the most beautiful French maps to emerge during the 19th century. (Ref: M&B; Tooley)

$650.00 USD
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1857 A D Bache Large Antique Map Beaufort Harbor North Carolina - Extremely Rare

1857 A D Bache Large Antique Map Beaufort Harbor North Carolina - Extremely Rare

  • Title : Beaufort Harbor North Carolina From a Trigonomitrical Survey under the Direction of A D Buache Superintendant of the Survey of the Coast of the United States...1857
  • Size: 30 1/2in x 24in (770mm x 610mm)
  • Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
  • Date : 1857
  • Ref #:  93041

Description:
This large rare, original lithograph early antique map of Beaufort Harbor North Carolina, just prior to the America Civil War, by Alexander Dallas Bache (great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin) in 1857 - dated - was published by the official chart-maker of the United States, the office of The US Coast Survey.

The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the Survey of the Coast, as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation\'s coasts and harbors.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 30 1/2in x 24in (770mm x 610mm)
Plate size: - 30 1/2in x 24in (770mm x 610mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued, light age toning
Verso: - Some folds re-enforced with archival tape

Background: 
This is a very scarce 1857 U.S.C.S. maritime map or nautical chart of Beaufort Harbor, North Carolina. The chart depicts the North Carolina coast from Carolina City westward through Beaufort as far as Lenoxville Point. It features superb inland detail of the region as well as innumerable depth soundings, indications of various shoals and breakers, and detailed sailing instructions. An inset map in the lower left quadrant shows Lookout Bight or Cape Lookout. In 1718 Blackbeard the pirate ran his flagship, the Queen Annes Revenge and his sloop Adventure, aground near present-day Beaufort Inlet, bringing fame to the region.
This map was prepared under the direction of A.D. Bache for the 1857 edition of the Annual Report of the Coast Survey. The triangulation was accomplished by C. P. Bolles and A. S. Wadsworth. The topography is the work of H. L. Whiting and A.S. Wadsworth. The hydrography was assembled by various parties under the Command of Lieutenant Commander J. N. Maffitt and C. R. P. Rodgers. Although Coast Survey maps in general can be somewhat common, this chart, was published in only one edition of the report and is extremely scarce

U.S. Coast Survey (Office of Coast Survey)
The Office of Coast Survey is the official chart-maker of the United States. Set up in 1807, it is one of the U.S. governments oldest scientific organizations. In 1878 it was given the name of Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS). In 1970 it became part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The agency was established in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson signed the document entitled An act to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States. While the bills objective was specific—to produce nautical charts—it reflected larger issues of concern to the new nation: national boundaries, commerce, and defence.
The early years were difficult. Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, who was eventually to become the agencys first superintendent, went to England to collect scientific instruments but was unable to return through the duration of the War of 1812. After his return, he worked on a survey of the New York Harbor in 1817, but Congress stepped in to suspend the work because of tensions between civilian and military control of the agency. After several years under the control of the U.S. Army, the Survey of the Coast was reestablished in 1832, and President Andrew Jackson appointed Hassler as superintendent.
The U.S. Coast Survey was a civilian agency but, from the beginning, members of the Navy and Army were detailed to service with the Survey, and Navy ships were also detailed to its use. In general, army officers worked on topographic surveys on the land and maps based on the surveys, while navy officers worked on hydrographic surveys in coastal waters.
Alexander Dallas Bache, great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was the second Coast Survey superintendent. Bache was a physicist, scientist, and surveyor who established the first magnetic observatory and served as the first president of the National Academy of Sciences. Under Bache, Coast Survey quickly applied its resources to the Union cause during the Civil War. In addition to setting up additional lithographic presses to produce the thousands of charts required by the Navy and other vessels, Bache made a critical decision to send Coast Survey parties to work with blockading squadrons and armies in the field, producing hundreds of maps and charts. Bache detailed these activities in his annual reports to Congress.
Coast Survey cartographer Edwin Hergesheimer created the map showing the density of the slave population in the Southern states.
Bache was also one of four members of the governments Blockade Strategy Board, planning strategy to essentially strangle the South, economically and militarily. On April 16, 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the blockade of ports from South Carolina to Texas. Baches Notes on the Coast provided valuable information for Union naval forces.
Maps were of paramount importance in wartime:
It is certain that accurate maps must form the basis of well-conducted military operations, and that the best time to procure them is not when an attack is impending, or when the army waits, but when there is no hindrance to, or pressure upon, the surveyors. That no coast can be effectively attacked, defended, or blockaded without accurate maps and charts, has been fully proved by the events of the last two years, if, indeed, such a proposition required practical proof.
— Alexander Dallas Bache, 1862 report.
Coast Survey attracted some of the best and brightest scientists and naturalists. It commissioned the naturalist Louis Agassiz to conduct the first scientific study of the Florida reef system. James McNeill Whistler, who went on to paint the iconic Whistlers Mother, was a Coast Survey engraver. The naturalist John Muir was a guide and artist on Survey of the 39th Parallel across the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah.
The agencys men and women (women professionals were hired as early as 1845) led scientific and engineering activities through the decades. In 1926, they started production of aeronautical charts. During the height of the Great Depression, Coast and Geodetic Survey organized surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers.
In World War II, C&GS sent over 1,000 civilian members and more than half of its commissioned officers to serve as hydrographers, artillery surveyors, cartographers, army engineers, intelligence officers, and geophysicists in all theaters of the war. Civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the Allied Forces. Eleven members of the C&GS gave their lives during the war.

Alexander Dallas Bache 1806 – 1867 was an American physicist, scientist, and surveyor who erected coastal fortifications and conducted a detailed survey to map the mid-eastern United States coastline. Originally an army engineer, he later became Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, and built it into the foremost scientific institution in the country before the Civil War.
Alexander Bache was born in Philadelphia, the son of Richard Bache, Jr., and Sophia Burrell Dallas Bache. He came from a prominent family as he was the nephew of Vice-President George M. Dallas and naval hero Alexander J. Dallas. He was the grandson of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Dallas and was the great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin.
Bache was a professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania from 1828 to 1841 and again from 1842 to 1843. He spent 1836–1838 in Europe on behalf of the trustees of what became Girard College; he was named president of the college after his return. Abroad, he examined European education systems, and on his return he published a valuable report. From 1839 to 1842, he served as the first president of Central High School of Philadelphia, one of the oldest public high schools in the United States.
In 1843, on the death of Professor Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. He convinced the United States Congress of the value of this work and, by means of the liberal aid it granted, he completed the mapping of the whole coast by a skillful division of labor and the erection of numerous observing stations. In addition, magnetic and meteorological data were collected. Bache served as head of the Coast Survey for 24 years (until his death).

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1868 Wrigley Rare Antique Oilfield Map of Petroleum Centre Area, NW Pennsylvania

1868 Wrigley Rare Antique Oilfield Map of Petroleum Centre Area, NW Pennsylvania

  • Title : Map of the Oil Belt Southwest from Shamburg and Petroleum Center to Charley Run. Henry E Wrigley Civil Engineer & Surveyor Titusville PA Oct 1868
  • Ref #:  93523
  • Size: 29 1/2in x 19 1/2in (740mm x 485mm)
  • Date : 1868
  • Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This large original rare lithograph antique oilfield map, one of the first ever published, of the area of Titusville, Oil Creek, Petroleum Centre and Cherrytree in NW Pennsylvania, by Henry Wrigley in 1868 - dated - was published by P S Duval & Sons, Philadelphia.
The map illustrates and names the farms and leases of the area directly related to oil exploration & production.

Petroleum Center is located in Cornplanter Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, United States.
As the name implies, Petroleum Center was developed during the Pennsylvanian oil rush of the mid-19th century. The first well was drilled on the George Washington McClintock Farm in 1860. Soon a small community grew about half way between Oil City and Titusville. George Henry Bissell, James Bishop and others formed the Central Petroleum Company which owned the farm in the beginning of 1866 when daily production topped 1,000 barrels per day. By the summer of 1866, over 3,000 people called the Centre home with a bank, two churches, a theater, a half-dozen hotels/boarding houses, and stores serving all the needs of the growing community. Bissel & Co. Banking House stimulated economic growth with its direct ties to financial institutions in New York City. President Ulysses S. Grant visited the town in 1871. When a fire devastated the nearby town of Pithole, Pennsylvania, that town's newspaper, the Pithole Daily Record, was relocated to Petroleum Center. The town was founded in 1866 and was essentially abandoned after 1873.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Light and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: - Original
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 29 1/2in x 19 1/2in (740mm x 485mm)
Plate size: - 29 1/2in x 19 1/2in (740mm x 485mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Folds as issued
Plate area: - Folds as issued, creasing along folds
Verso: - Folds as issued, several folds re-enforced with archival transparent tape.

Background:
The oil rush in America started in Titusville, Pennsylvania, in the Oil Creek Valley when Edwin L. Drake struck rock oil there in 1859. Titusville and other towns on the shores of Oil Creek expanded rapidly as oil wells and refineries shot up across the region. Oil quickly became one of the most valuable commodities in the United States and railroads expanded into Western Pennsylvania to ship petroleum to the rest of the country.
By the mid-1870s, the oil industry was well established, and the rush to drill wells and control production was over. Pennsylvania oil production peaked in 1891, and was later surpassed by western states such as Texas and California, but some oil industry remains in Pennsylvania.
With petroleum seeps popping up across western Pennsylvania, it became difficult for other extractive industries, especially for salt water wells to extract salt. This business was popular in the area at the time but with oil from the seeps spilling into the wells, it became much more difficult. In 1849 Samuel Kier began extracting oil from the saltwater wells on his property. Upon further examination, Kier recognized that the medicinal oil being prescribed to his wife was the same in chemistry as the oil found in his wells. Kier sold his oil as a remedy and grew wealthy. Other uses for Kiers oil were explored.
In the 1850s Kier began to drill for crude oil rather than separating it from salt water. After extracting the oil from drilling, Kier joined up with John T. Kirkpatrick to build the first refinery. Soon Kier and Kirkpatrick distilled oil that could be used for lighting. For years after, Kier improved the crude oil refining process to produce the cleanest and most efficient lighting oil. He called his oil carbon oil. To accompany his refined oil, Kier invented an oil-burning lamp that burned his oil with little bad odor or smoke. This could have been profitable to Kier, but he never patented his lamp.
News of Kiers experiments spread, and George Bissell, a lawyer from New York, learned of Kiers success. In 1854, Bissell commissioned a study from Yale chemist Benjamin Silliman, Jr. to assess the viability of harvesting oil in western Pennsylvania. After Sillimans results confirmed that the petroleum in the Oil Creek Valley could profitably be distilled into lamp oil, Bissell founded the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company. The company was funded by businessmen and bankers from New Haven, Connecticut. Among the stockholders was banker James Townsend.
In 1857 Bissell and Townsend hired Edwin Drake to travel to Titusville and drill for crude oil. Drake was an unemployed railroad conductor whose sole qualification for this job seems to have been a free railroad pass that allowed travel to Titusville. Drake secured some land and reported back that he believed the land was oil rich and the oil industry could be extremely profitable. In 1858, the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company became the Seneca Oil Company with Drake as president.
Soon Drake began drilling for oil in Titusville, near the shores of Oil Creek, but at first met with little success. He used an old steam engine to drill. Many of his drilling sites only yielded trace amounts of oil. He and his assistant, blacksmith Billy Smith, endured fires, financial setbacks, and the ridicule of the local inhabitants. When the Seneca Oil Company gave up and decided to withdraw its funding, Drake obtained a personal line of credit to continue digging. On August 27, 1859, Drake struck oil at 69 feet (21 m) below ground, just before his funds ran out. This marked the beginning of drastic change for the people of Western Pennsylvania. His drilling is considered the first large-scale commercial extraction of petroleum.
Unfortunately for Drake, his success would not last. He had not purchased much land in the region, and the oil industry exploded around him outside of his control. His first well yielded only modest returns and he was fired by Seneca. He never patented the drilling method he pioneered, and lost his modest earnings from the oil business speculating on Wall Street. He would eventually die a poor pensioner in 1880.
Soon the area had many wells drilled by Seneca Oil Company and others. The oil boom in Pennsylvania paralleled in many ways the gold rush in California ten years earlier. It is reported that in the first year (1859), these wells produced 4,500 barrels (720 m3) . Boomtowns such as Titusville, Oil City and Pithole sprang up within years and an early chronicler of the region, Reverend S. J. M. Eaton, observed in 1866 that the Oil Creek Valley was so densely packed it was impossible to distinguish the borders where one town ended and another began. The Titusville population exploded from 250 residents to over 10,000 in little more than five years and in 1866 it incorporated as a city. Ironworks were erected to supply drilling tools and eight oil refineries were built between 1862 and 1868. Pithole expanded from four log-cabin farmhouses to a bustling city with over 50 hotels over the span of five months in 1865.
Annual domestic output of crude swelled from 2,000 barrels (320 m3) in 1859, the year of Drakes discovery, to 4,000,000 barrels (640,000 m3) in 1869 and 10,000,000 barrels (1,600,000 m3) in 1873. The ongoing industrial development of Europe spurred this rapid expansion. European, and especially British, factories began importing large quantities of cheap American oil during the 1860s. By 1866, US petroleum exports far surpassed petroleum distributed to domestic markets and the value of these exports nearly doubled from $16 million in 1865 to $30 million in 1869. Petroleum jumped from the sixth most valuable US export to the second most valuable during this period. At the peak of the oil boom, Pennsylvania wells were producing one third of the worlds oil.
The rush to Pennsylvania created violent swings in the petroleum market for the first decade of the oil boom. In 1861, the proliferation of wells across the Oil Creek Valley pushed the price of oil down from $10 a barrel to 10 cents a barrel. In response, producers in the region formed the Oil Creek Association to restrict output and maintain a minimum price of $4 a barrel. Despite efforts such as this to control the petroleum market, the volatile boom-bust cycle continued into the early 1870s. By 1871, refining capacity had grown to over 12 million barrels per year, more than twice the amount of oil that was actually processed in that year. The first oil exchange in the US was established in Titusville in January 1872 in response to rumors that a conspiratorial ring of crude oil traders in New York City had cornered the market. As the decade progressed, larger producers, such as John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil, began to consolidate their holdings over the wells and refineries in the region, and the oil rush began to settle down.
Pennsylvania oil production peaked in 1891, when the state produced 31 million barrels of oil, 58% of the nations oil that year. But 1892 was the last year that Pennsylvania wells provided a majority of the oil produced in the US, and in 1895, Ohio surpassed Pennsylvania as an oil producer. By 1907, the decline of the Pennsylvania fields and the great discoveries made in Texas, California, and Oklahoma, left Pennsylvania with less than 10% of the nations oil production.
By 1901, the Pennsylvania oil boom was over. The formation of the Standard Oil Trust in 1882 effectively established a monopoly over the industry in Pennsylvania, and the discovery of oil in Texas, California and Wyoming shifted the nations attention elsewhere. Pennsylvania continued to be a significant producer of petroleum for much of the 20th century, but the Oil Creek Valley had been permanently eclipsed.

Please note all items auctioned are genuine, we do not sell reproductions. A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) can be issued on request.

$650.00 USD
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