Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in rare, important and unusual American maps and prints
![J[oseph] N[icholas] Nicollet / Assisted by J[ohn] C[harles] Fremont / W.J. Stone Sc[ulpsit], MAP OF THE HYDROGRAPHICAL BASIN OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER From Astronomical and Barometrical Observations, Surveys and Information. BY J. N. NICOLLET. MADE IN THE YEARS 1836, 37, 38, 39 & 40, ASSISTED IN 1838, 39 & 40, BY LIEUT. J. C. FREMONT OF THE CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS Under the Superintendence of the Bureau of the Corps of Topographical Engineers and authorized by THE WAR DEPARTMENT. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Senate, 1942.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BRM3340-Nicollet-Hydrographic-Basin-Mississippi_composite_lowres-scaled-e1617663377885-150x150.jpg)
The exceptionally rare six-sheet Nicollet & Fremont map of the upper Mississippi River, considered the foundation of modern mapping of the Upper Midwest and Great Plains and “One of the most important contributions ever made to American geography.” (Gouverneur Kemble Warren). Nicollet’s map depicts the Mississippi Basin from just below the mouth of the Missouri […]
A landmark map compiled by French diplomat and spy Eugène Duflot de Mofras during the contest for control of the American West, complete with exciting period annotations by French prospectors. In the early 1840s the American West Coast was very much up for grabs: Mexico had already lost Texas, and its administration of California was shambolic; […]
![PONY EXPRESS. No place, no date [but 1860-61].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/BRM4425-Pony-Express-1861_lowres-150x150.jpg)
A very large and vivid xylographic Pony Express promotional broadside, its size and visual impact unmatched by any other Pony Express image with which we are acquainted. Only the second example known. The broadside features a proud upright rider, his bearing and posture remarkably calm considering that the horse under him is in full gallop. […]
Scarce and significant 1870 pocket map of California and Nevada, compiled by Leander Ransom and published in San Francisco by Warren Holt. Described by Wheat as “a Nevada map of first importance” and Streeter as “a first rate map of California as it was in 1863 and… especially good for the mining districts in Nevada […]
![Knight, Leonard & Co. Panoramic Views Along the Line of the DENVER & RIO GRANDE Railroad. THE SCENIC LINE OF THE WORLD [and on verso:] SCENES OF THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. [Chicago: Poole Bros., ca. 1893.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BRM4093-Poole-Bros-Denver-and-Rio-Grande-1893_verso_title-panel-150x150.jpg)
A superb 1893 promotional brochure for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, featuring a sequence of nine chromolithographic views of Colorado’s natural wonders, many with trains cutting through the landscape. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was incorporated in 1870, its primary function to connect Denver and Salt Lake City. It also developed several branch […]