Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
A complete and uncut sheet of 17th-century geographic playing cards published in Paris by Pierre du Val likely for educational use. The game includes 52 cards arranged in the usual four suits, each dedicated to a continent: hearts to Europe, diamonds to Asia, spades to Africa, and clubs to the Americas. Each card features a […]
![Zacharias Landteck, ZACHARIAS LANDTECKS Neu inventierte GEOGRAPHISHE UNIVERSAL-ZEIG UND SCHLAG-UHR[:] ZACHARIAS LANDTECKS Nieuw Uytgevonde WEERELD-BEELDIGH WYS EN SLAG WERK. [Nüremburg: Johann Baptist Homann, ca. 1705?]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BRM3118-Landteck-Schlag-Uhr_lowres-150x150.jpg)
An interesting, attractive and very rare print depicting a remarkable universal clock purportedly developed by Nuremburg clock- and watchmaker Zacharias Landteck (1670-1740). Not to be confused with the vastly more common version attributing the clock to map- and instrument maker Johann Baptist Homann. The print depicts one face of Landteck’s clock, flanked left and right […]
![J[oseph] Priestley, L.L.D. F.R.S., A NEW CHART OF HISTORY. London: Engraved and published by J. Johnson in Pater-noster Row, J. Bowles No. 13 Cornhill, C. Bowles No. 69 St. Pauls Church Yard, R. Sayer No. 53 Fleet Street and T. Jefferys the corner of St. Martins Lane Charing Cross, April 11th 1769.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/BRM3253-Priestley-Chart-History-e1554298611866-150x150.jpg)
Joseph Priestley’s very rare New Chart of History, a “masterpiece of visual economy” (Rosenberg and Grafton) and a landmark in the display of information. The polymathic Joseph Priestly (1733-1804) was a British clergyman, theologian, scientist, political theorist, educator and prolific author with more than 150 works to his credit. Best known as a chemist, he […]
A scarce and charming miniature atlas of the world published by Matthew Carey in Philadelphia in 1798. The small (“pocket”) format, and presumably its corresponding affordability, suggest both the increasing mobility of Americans and a growing thirst for geographical knowledge among the middle classes. Carey’s work is based closely on the atlas of the same […]
An attractive linen printing of an unrecorded map of the Western Hemisphere, likely dating to the end of the 18th century. The map depicts the Western Hemisphere on a stereographic projection, centered on a point in the Pacific just south of Guadalajara, Mexico. National and colonial boundaries are indicated, as are the tracks of voyages by […]
![Francis Hoskins, A NEW AND CORRECT MAP of the WORLD According to the latest Discoveries. [with:] W.G. Krebs, A NEW AND CORRECT MAP of the WORLD According to the latest Discoveries. [Maryland or Virginia?]: Washington Academy, Oct. 13, 1814.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/BRM3102_3-Hoskins-and-Krebs-composite-1813-copy-e1555451429774-150x150.jpg)
Two nearly-identical schoolboy maps of the world, large in size, detailed in content and refined in execution. Remarkable for having been produced at the same school on the same date. Aside from the intrinsic appeal, these schoolboy maps are significant in having been drawn essentially simultaneously by two young men at the “Washington Academy.” The […]
The “Samling af 50 smaae Landkort,” a charming 1829 Danish-language school atlas compiled and published by a troubled educator. The atlas includes a double-sheet map of the world and 49 single-sheet maps of the continents; European countries, Russia and Turkey; and Danish regions, all in early outline color (The title calls for 50 maps, counting […]
A lovely Josiah Loring terrestrial globe produced in Boston in or around 1833. In beautiful condition, with none of the craquelure that often mars early American globes. Josiah Loring (1775-ca. 1840) was the first commercial globe maker active in Boston and one of the first American makers to follow pioneer James Wilson (According to Bedini’s Thinkers […]
A lovely and accomplished schoolboy map with delicately rendered patriotic imagery. In the 18th and 19th centuries map drawing was an important method of geographic education at the primary level, and “schoolboy” and “schoolgirl” maps are frequently encountered on the market. The great majority are unadorned and relatively pedestrian, but this example by George A. Knight […]
A mammoth and colorful 1878 missionary map of the world printed on linen, highlighting the global reach of the Protestant missionary movement. This enormous banner features a double-hemisphere map of the world, with national boundaries delineated by dashed lines and major cities identified. Areas served by Protestant missions are underlined in green for American […]