Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in rare, important and unusual American maps and prints
![J[ames] H[amilton] Young, A NEW MAP OF TEXAS WITH THE CONTIGUOUS AMERICAN & MEXICAN STATES. Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1836 [copyright 1835].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/BRM4228-Mitchell_Young-Texas-1836_lowres-scaled-e1661859002962-150x150.jpg)
The first Republic-era edition (and second overall) of this important map of Texas, published in May 1836 just weeks after it declared its independence from Mexico. The map clearly reflects current events by depicting the Republic as a distinct political entity, much shaped by the land grants to and improvements made by its American settlers. In the […]
![MAP OF MEXICO, INCLUDING YUCATAN & UPPER CALIFORNIA… [on sheet with:] George Stealey, Civil Engineer, MAP of the PRINCIPAL ROADS from VERA CRUZ and ALVARADO to the CITY of MEXICO… Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1847.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BRM4100-Mitchell-Mexico-1847_lowres-scaled-e1646348439888-150x150.jpg)
Fine example of the Samuel Augustus Mitchell’s impressive 1847 map of Mexico and the Southwest, published to take advantage of public interest in the ongoing war between that country and the United States. The Mexican-American War was catalyzed by the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and an ongoing dispute over whether the new […]
The first edition of a remarkable, separately-issued military map of Texas and the eastern part of New Mexico. This is one of several regional maps of the Western United States prepared by the Bureau of Topographical Engineers prior to the Civil War. They were not published per se but rather printed in very small numbers […]
An interesting and most decorative survey of lands in Lamar County, Texas by the hand of the patriarch of a family, in which land bequests to various family members are laid out and precisely described. Best as I can glean from census records, John Onstott (1802-1874) of North Carolina and Mary Polly Wood (1806-1879) of South […]
A very rare 1898 promotional map of Jefferson County, Texas. Published by Pattillo Higgins, the Father of Texas Oil, a few short years before the gusher at Spindletop transformed the global oil industry. Background Higgins (1863-1955) was born in Sabine Pass, Texas but spent most of his life in nearby Beaumont. His unpromising early years were marked among other things […]
![N[icholas] L[loyd] Taliaferro and F[rank] S[amuel] Hudson, Geologic Map of the Marathon Basin. Field notes in Sept. and Oct. 1919.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BRM3464-Taliaferro_Hudson-Marathon-Basin-1919_lowres-scaled-e1581520669352-150x150.jpg)
A finely-rendered geological map of the Marathon Basin in Brewster County, Texas, from the early years of West Texas oil exploration. Oil exploration in West Texas was at a feverish pitch during the years 1919-21, particularly in the Permian Basin and the adjoining Marathon Basin. Exploratory drilling in both areas began in 1920, but with […]