Boston Rare Maps

Specializing in antique American maps & prints

Recent acquisitions

Unrecorded Mammoth Cave broadside, with a map!

An unrecorded broadside bringing news of Mammoth Cave to the British public, illustrated by a woodcut plan of the cave complex. Mammoth Cave was discovered in the late 18th century, but only became a national sensation after Nahum Ward (1785-1860) published an account of his 1816 visit. A Shrewsbury, Mass. native and grandson of Revolutionary […]

“German-American Fantasy in Two Hemispheres”

A fantastical and light-hearted vision of a world divided between American and Russian spheres of influence. The cartoon appeared in the Paris magazine La Vie Parisienne on March 9, 1872, in the aftermath of the Union triumph in the Civil War and the crushing loss of Alsace-Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Its publication […]

Rare plan for a coastal development near Mount Desert Island

The Maine Central Railroad was chartered in 1881 and completed in mid-1884, running nearly 50 miles from Penobscot Switch to the Mount Desert Ferry in Hancock, Maine. This created the only all-rail connection between Mount Desert, Portland, Boston and beyond. “Since the opening of the Mount Desert Branch of the Maine Central Railroad a new […]

“The Conflict between Man & Alcohol” rages in New York City

Interesting 1887 thematic map of New York City by a leading Prohibition advocate, demonstrating the prevalence of alcohol throughout the city. America in its early years was awash in alcohol. Indeed, when one reads some of the statistics and anecdotes, it is difficult not to believe that the Pilgrims had a more or less continuous […]

Italian political satire on the looming Spanish-American War

A striking political cartoon from the Bolognese journal La Rana, probably issued in early 1898 as tensions between Spain and the United States were coming to a head. Spain, astride a bull and holding her “little king” in her left arm, charges at America, in the guise of a beautiful young woman wearing a liberty […]

Unrecorded plan of the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago

A very rare 1902 Czech-language plan of the Bohemian National Cemetery on the North Side of Chicago. The Cemetery, located at 5255 North Pulaski, was established to serve the Czech community in 1877. Apparently this community was outraged when a Czech Catholic woman named Marie Silhanek was denied burial at several Catholic cemeteries in town because […]

A magnificent Boston pictorial map: Blake and Olsen’s 1926 “ Colour of an Old City ”

For its size, vibrant color, and rich supply of both information and wit, arguably the finest pictorial map of Boston. This charming map was the product of the collaboration of Blake Everett Clark (1900-1979) and Edwin Birger Olsen (1902-1996), two young American draftsmen & architects. In the mid-1920s, they came together to this map and similar pictorial maps […]

1927 map of American radio stations

An unrecorded thematic map of the United States listing the locations and call letters of American radio stations in 1927. Each circle on the map bears call letters identifying a single station, and insets are used for urban areas with a high density of broadcasters, as for example in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. […]

A must-have for the caffeine addict

A detailed thematic map of coffee cultivation in Colombia, issued in 1933 by the National Federation of Coffee Growers. The map uses red dots to indicate the “coffee districts,” concentrated primarily in the Andean highlands. Flanking it to the right are tables listing distances from growing districts to oceanic ports, steamship companies engaged in the […]

Celebrating ” Old Ironsides “

A rare and interesting historical print of the USS Constitution, aka Old Ironsides, featuring drawings, extensive text accounts, a world map indicating the locations of her major engagements, and diagrams of the engagements. Last but not least is a map of North America showing every port of call during her 1931-34 cruise, which celebrated her […]

Vibrant pictorial map of Cape Cod

A delightful pictorial map of Cape Cod featuring bold design and vibrant color. It highlights the Cape’s fundamental virtues as a vacation destination, including “500 miles of shoreline[,] 300 miles of beaches[,] 1000 miles of highway[,] as many miles of byways[, and] 300 lakes.” The details identify towns and villages; sightseeing destinations; and, by means […]

Dramatic map of the Berlin Blockade

A rare and quite striking 1948 map of Germany during the Berlin Blockade issued by a left-leaning British agency. The map features a large central map of Germany, clearly delineating the occupation zones held by Americans, British, French and Russians (Note that the border of the Russian zone are presciently depicted as a wall winding […]

Ben Nason poster promoting travel to Nantucket

A lovely travel poster promoting tourism to the island of Nantucket, eminently displayable for its generous size, vivid color and evocative graphic design. The image features the Pacific Club on Main Street, originally built in 1772 as the warehouse of merchant William Rotch. This is one of several travel posters commissioned by the New Haven Railroad […]

The United Steelworkers fight the Election of 1972

A rare and somewhat enigmatic political map of the United States, issued by the United Steelworkers in advance of the Election of 1972 and just a year after the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18. This brought some 11.5 million new potential voters into the electorate, whom the union no doubt wanted to […]

Thematic map protesting the transport of nuclear weapons and material across the United States

A compelling 1988 persuasive map protesting the variety and volume of dangerous nuclear weapons and material being transported across the United States. The map depicts the United States covered with lines and symbols delineating routes for “truck and rail transportation of nuclear materials among the primary nuclear weapons production facilities, laboratories, and waste sites.” The […]

Timothy Edward Downs maps the World Wide Web

A rare and striking map of the World Wide Web capturing the excitement of the earliest days of the new technology. Designed by legendary technical artist Timothy Edward Downs as a bonus for purchasers of PC Computing magazine. PC Computing and Timothy Edward Downs Back in the early nineties PC Magazine, PC World and PC […]