One of the first printed views of Venice in an excellent example. This well-executed, double-page view captures the singular beauty of the city on the lagoon. The work is generally accurate, save for the mountains looming too closely; it was adapted from the superb Breydenbach view (1486), which was based..... More
An excellent example of this early, woodcut world map, rich in the imagery of the Discovery Period with its many sea monsters and surrounding wind heads. The map provides an overview of the known world of the mid-16th century, just after the first great wave of New World discoveries. The..... More
One of the rarest and most attractive La Freri maps of all of Italy, offered here in an unrecorded state. Borri reports that only a few examples of this finely engraved map have surfaced. “Di questa magnifica carta, quasi sconosciuta sino a pochi anni orsono, sono noti pochissimi esemplari …” ..... More
A very fine example of the first edition of this foundational map. "One of the half-dozen most important mother-maps of southeastern North America. This map probably had more influence than any other map in establishing the subsequent conception of Florida as including that part of the present United States from..... More
An excellent example of the second plate (see below) of this important map. It was the "first map of the Americas to appear in a modern atlas," (Schwartz) and one that “had a great influence on the future cartography of the New World” (Burden). When this map was issued, the..... More
A superb example of an early map of eastern Asia that includes all of India, most of China, Indochina, the Philippines, and the Malay Peninsula including Singapore, which is here called “Cingatola.” Characteristic of the earliest European maps of the area, the coast of China is a relatively straight, diagonal..... More
A gorgeous example, in vibrant original color, of the first full folio-size map specifically of North America and the first overall produced in the Netherlands. It was preceded only by the smaller but very rare Forlani map of 1565 and the yet much smaller derivative of it by Porcacchi, published..... More
An impeccable example with vibrant original color of Ortelius' second map (though third plate) of the Americas. It improved upon its predecessor in many important ways, most apparently in the removal of the large bulge on the west coast of South America. However, perhaps the most intriguing change qualifies this..... More
A solid copy in its original binding of Filips Galle’s improved version of the first small-scale version of a folio atlas ever published, and the first edition published by Vrients. Ortelius’ groundbreaking, large-format atlas proved to be such an enormously successful publishing phenomenon that it spawned several editions in a...... More
A fine example of a “map of great importance” (Burden). It was first and only cartographic document reflecting an early plan for the colonization of New England. The map "locates twenty patentees among whom the region extending from Cape Cod to Maine was divided..... More
A very nice example of this rare and fundamentally important map, the earliest English map specifically of North America that is realistically acquirable. The Briggs was also among the very earliest maps to include the key place names associated with early English colonization: Plymouth, New England, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard..... More
A beautiful example of one of the earliest, acquirable maps to focus on what is now the United States. The Jansson-Hondius was also one of the first Dutch atlas maps to show California as an island, preceded only by the Hondius world map of 1630. A note on the map..... More
Brilliant example of a work that epitomized the Golden Age of Cartography. The map’s side borders provide fine miniatures of Native Americans of various regions, while important harbors and cities, including Mexico City, Cusco, and the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia, are illustrated in the top border. Eight fully rigged..... More
One of the most richly decorative, early maps of Italy in vibrant color of the period. The map’s title, in Italian, is flanked by two caryatid-like women. Below the cartouche, the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, are nursed by their adoptive wolf mother. The sea is embellished with..... More
A beautiful example of this landmark in the mapping of South Africa. It appeared in Dudley’s Arcano de Mare, “the first sea atlas in which every chart was based on Mercator’s projection, the first to show prevailing winds and currents in the main harbours and anchorages, the first to give..... More
First state of Robert Dudley’s rare, beautiful chart of the eastern coast of Greenland. It was published in Dudley’s Arcano de Mare, one of the most strikingly beautiful works of maritime cartography ever produced and the first sea atlas by an Englishman. “It was the first sea atlas in which..... More
One of the most beautiful early charts of southern New England and the mid-Atlantic region. Some of the finest artistry of Dutch cartography is found on sea charts. The most successful publisher in this field was Pieter Goos, whose work was popular with both the practicing and armchair sailor. His..... More
A very attractive, near-mint example. Speed's handsomely engraved work is one of the earliest English maps of the area and one of the first to demarcate the borders of colonial Virginia and Maryland. Just three years before the publication of Speed’s map, Augustine Herrman had conducted the first thorough surveys..... More
This was the best, generally available map of its day of Southeast Asia. Dashed lines show the routes of trading vessels throughout the area, including the route that passed through present day Singapore. The much contended Spice Islands are shown in good detail as is the Philippines. The northern coast..... More
Superb original-color example of the Renard edition of one of the most beautiful 17th-century charts of the area. Schilder described the maps of the De Wit firm as being "distinguished by their excellent craftsmanship, exactness and beauty." Romeyn de Hooghe’s intricately etched cartouche shows a European trader accompanied by a...... More
The rare first state (without New Orleans) of the first edition in a superb example. “This map is the mother and main source of all the later maps” (Kohl) of the interior United States and the Mississippi River. It was, in fact, “the first large-scale map accurately showing the lower..... More
A striking city plan of Naples with vibrant original color. There are also seven large vignettes; illustrated in those along the top are the primary landmarks of Naples’ great seaport – the Castel dell’ Ovo, the Molo, and the Castel Nuovo. Along the bottom, the Piazza del Mercato is pictured..... More
A pristine example of this beautifully re-engraved, updated edition of the Nolli's plan of Rome that replicates the beauty of Piranesi's architectural images found on the earlier edition. OCLC lists only five copies in American libraries. Nolli's 1748 plan of Rome, issued in both 12-sheet and single-sheet formats, was a...... More
The very rare, first state (see below) of the first edition of a map called by Schwartz and Ehrenberg "the most ambitious performance of its kind undertaken in America up to that time” and by Stevens, “The Prototype… for the next half century.” Printed by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, Evans..... More
A very rare, separately published and contemporary-bound example of the French edition of what has been called “the most important map in American history” (Martin). It was the map on which the borders of the newly recognized United States were plotted at the conclusion of the War of Independence. The..... More