Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in rare, important and unusual American maps and prints
Adz Gayzette, which ran under variant titles from 1970-1972, was a free newspaper targeting the San Francisco gay community. In addition to occasional news reporting, it provided a weekly calendar of events, classifieds and personals, an advice column and more. Despite the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and the newly-emergent Gay Pride movement, one source describes […]
![[Title of recto translating to “Vietnam in Battle” / title of verso translating to “The Power of People’s War is Incomparable; The Tet Offensive Victory is Earth-Shaking.”]. Beijing: Ditu chubanshe (Cartographic Publishing House), distributed by Xinhua shudian, February 1968.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BRM3612-Fighting-Vietnam-1968_lowres-150x150.jpg)
A Communist Chinese propaganda poster featuring two persuasive maps of Vietnam and touting the supposed success of the Tet Offensive. Published in February 1968 during or just after the Offensive. Launched on January 30, 1968 by the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) acting in coordination, the Tet Offensive was a massive surprise […]
A justly-iconic product of the late-60s, Humbead’s Revised Map distills the world to its essentials, or at least to the places and people most “top of mind” for the American counterculture. The map depicts the world as consolidated in a single, psychedelic Pangaea comprising Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, New York City and Cambridge, with […]
A spectacular full-color edition of the marvelous Dymaxion Map of the world, R. Buckminster Fuller’s innovative attempt to overcome the distortion endemic to two-dimensional projections of the Earth’s surface. The dymaxion world view of R. Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was a distinctly American figure, whose lifelong commitment to identifying problems and develop interesting […]
![[ Containment Policy ] Draper Hill, [Two versions of an untitled Vietnam War-era political cartoon featuring Lyndon Johson, Dean Rusk and Robert McNamara.] Probably Worcester, Mass., ca. 1865-68.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BRM2941-Draper-Hill-LBJ-cartoon_2-150x150.jpg)
A rare political cartoon by Draper Hill satirizing the United States’ Cold War-era Containment Policy, which sought to limit the expansion of Soviet communism but ended up precipitating the catastrophe of the Vietnam War. Present here in both working manuscript and printed form, enabling one to see changes from conception to the final copy. The […]
![[ Bathymetric chart ] Made Available by A. B. Rechnitzer and R. D. Terry Deep Submergence Systems / Staff Artist, Ken Hodges, BATHYMETRY OF THE PACIFIC BASIN. Anaheim, CA: North American Aviation/Autonetics, 1965.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/BRM3902-Bathymetry-of-the-Pacific-Basin-1965_lowres-150x150.jpg)
Put simply, a bathymetric chart is a form of thematic map depicting submerged topography, just as topographic maps depict terrestrial topography. This is usually accomplished by means of contour lines, often augmented by differential shading or coloring to highlight variations in depth. The earliest bathymetric charts were based on compilations of hundreds or thousands of […]
![Prof. Dr. G. Fochler-Hauke, [on cover panel:] BERLIN JRO-SONDERKARTE [and on main map:] BERLIN. Berlin Presse- under Informationsdienst des Landes Berlin, [1962 or later?]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BRM4299-Berlin_recto_lowres-scaled-e1680019272907-150x150.jpg)
A fascinating cartographic artifact of the Cold War, using persuasive mapping techniques to highlight the Berlin Wall, while suggesting that it would never sever the deep connections between West Berlin and West Germany. In the 1950s millions of East Germans fled to the West in search of greater freedom and opportunity. Their government’s 1956 restriction […]
Suite of maps from a landmark study of the Moon by the U. S. Geological Survey, from the early years of the space race. The race to the Moon began in August, 1958, with the launch from Cape Canaveral of the Able 1 lunar orbiter. The rocket exploded soon after takeoff, as did numerous succeeding […]
A monumental photographic atlas of the Moon, with contributions from some of the world’s leading observatories and edited by legendary astronomer Gerard Kuiper. The Atlas was produced on commission from the U.S. Air Force, with the goal of “present[ing] the surface record of the moon as shown on the best photographs now available.” Offered here […]
A monumental and extremely rare poster for a Japanese film celebrating the War in the Pacific. This mammoth poster and map of East Asia and the Pacific was issued to promote the Italian release of the 1958 Japanese film Battaglia del Pacifico. Produced by the Shin Toho Company and directed by Toshio Shimura, the film was […]