Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
An exceedingly rare, separately-issued map of the Kennebec River region of Maine from the early months of the French and Indian War, illustrating the multi-tiered contest for control between the British and French, between the British and the indigenous tribes, and between competing land interests. Offered in partnership with High Ridge Books. The map shows a […]
![Lewis Evans / Benjamin Franklin (printer) / James Turner (engraver), A general MAP of the MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES, in AMERICA; Viz VIRGINIA, MARILAND, DELAWARE, PENSILVANIA, NEW-JERSEY, NEW-YORK, CONNECTICUT, and RHODE ISLAND: Of AQUANISHUONÎGY, the Country of the Confederate Indians; … By Lewis Evans. 1755. [Bound in:] Geographical, Historical, Political, Philosophical and Mechanical ESSAYS. The FIRST, Containing An ANALYSIS Of a General MAP of the MIDDLE BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA; And of the Country of the Confederate Indians; A Description of the Face of the Country;…By LEWIS EVANS. The second EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: Printed by B. FRANKLIN, and D. HALL. MDCCLV. And sold by J. and R. DODSLEY, in Pall-Mall, London.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BRM-3427-Evans-Essays-1755_map_lowres-150x150.jpg)
A superb example in full original color of the rare first state of the Lewis Evans Map of the Middle British Colonies, called by Schwartz and Ehrenberg “the most ambitious performance of its kind undertaken in America up to that time.” Bound in, as issued, to Evans’ Analysis of a General Map of the Middle […]
![Color printing. [Jacques-Fabien] Gautier [D’Agoty] / Gautier fils (engraver), CARTE ABR[E]GEE du CANADA levee sur les lieux par M.*** resident a Quebec année 1754. Paris: [Gautier], 1755.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/BRM3127-Gautier-Canada_lowres-e1537367250157-150x150.jpg)
A rare and fascinating thematic map of northeastern North America by a French artist, printer, anatomist and crackpot geologist, remarkable also as an early example of color printing. A former pupil of Jacob Christoph Le Blon, and a pioneer in color-printing, Jacques Fabien Gautier D’Agoty (1717-1785) improved on the methods of his teacher by developing […]
This extraordinary document is a working draft of a parliamentary speech articulating Great Britain’s global strategy for prosecuting the Seven Years’ War. The writer argues for massive financial support for Frederick II of Prussia, that he might occupy French attention, manpower and treasure on the Continent. This would enable the British to exploit their advantages in […]
The first comprehensive history of Great Britain’s American colonies written by an American, with a scarce propaganda map promoting British imperial claims in America. The Summary is a fascinating, sprawling collection addressing the geography, natural history and human history of the British colonies in North America, assembled immediately prior to the French and Indian War. […]
![Mary Ann Rocque, PLAN of Fort Frederick, at ALBANY. [London, 1765.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BRM1700-Rocque-Fort-Frederick_Albany-1765-1-150x150.jpg)
Fort Frederick was first constructed in 1676, almost immediately after the English takeover of the New Netherlands from the Dutch. Situated on a hill to the west side of the town, the fort’s location gave it command of both the river approaches and protection from incursions by the Iroquois. Rebuilt as a masonry structure in […]
![Governor [Thomas] Pownall (artist) / John Bowles et al. (publishers), A View of the City of Boston the Capital of NEW ENGLAND, in North America. London, ca. 1760 (first issued separately) / ca. 1768 (present issue).](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BRM0849-Pownal-Boston-view-ca.-1768_lowres-scaled-e1578430070836-150x150.jpg)
An important early view of Boston, taken from the vantage point of Castle William across the Harbor to the southeast. From left to right one makes out South Cove, South Battery, Fort Hill, a line of vessels docked along Long Wharf, and the mouth of the Charles River. Behind Long Wharf are visible the three […]
A spectacular, clever and very rare textile commemorating the eventful half-century reign of George III of England. Owned in partnership with HS Rare Books of Buenos Aires. This remarkable image consists of a central portrait of George III, from which emanate two spiraling chronologies for the years 1760-1812. The inner spiral documents the terms in […]
A small archive of material related to the 1842 donation to the Library of Congress of two interesting French and Indian War-era maps of North America. In 1842 Doctor Andrew Nichols (1785-1853), a distinguished citizen of Danvers, Massachusetts, enquired of his Congressman, Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), whether the Library of Congress would welcome a gift from […]