![[Broadside] Manasseh Cutler et al. / Printed by S. Hall, State-Street, Boston, IN forming the annexed catalogue of diseases, particular pains have been taken to render it intelligible. Boston, Nov. 10, 1785.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/BRM3298-American-Academy-morbidity-survey-1785_lowres-e1559340089256-150x150.jpg)
A remarkable 18th-century American demographic and mortality survey
A remarkable and extremely rare broadside developed in 1785 by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for a remarkably ambitious demographic and mortality survey of Massachusetts towns. Background The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was (and is) an honorary society chartered in 1780 by the Massachusetts General Court with the broad mission, “to […]
![Anonymous, VIOLENT STORM. Boston, October 15, 1804. Boston, [late October] 1804.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BRM2131-Violent-Storm-in-Boston-1804-2-scaled-e1585253629539-150x150.jpg)
The Snow Hurricane of 1804
An unrecorded variant of an extremely rare broadside recounting the remarkable snow hurricane of 1804. The 1804 storm raged in Boston from Tuesday, October 9-Thursday, October 11, and observers were shocked by both its high winds and early-season snow: “The 1804 Snow hurricane was the first tropical cyclone in recorded history known to produce snowfall. An […]
![P. Russell / H.C. Southwick, THE LINES ON THIS SHEET, Were composed by P. RUSSELL, while lying in IRONS, in the Moro Castle, who has been prevented from obtaining a LIVELIHOOD in the ordinary pursuits of Life, by WOUNDS received in BATTLE. New York, [1808-1820?]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/brm1210-the-lines-on-this-sheet-ca-1810-e1585253825513-150x150.jpg)
A sailor’s woeful tale on a striking illustrated broadside
A remarkable and unrecorded record of an American sailor’s adventures during the Napoleonic Wars. The broadside tells the tale of one P. Russell, a sailor from Merrimac, New Hampshire who-if his tale is to be believed-suffered an incredible run of bad luck while in the merchant service. Within the space of a few years he was […]
![JOHNNY WITH HIS FRONT AND REAR GUARD. A Dialogue on the subject of the present War… [on sheet with:] BONA AND HIS LIFE GUARD. Father Abaddon… delivering a council of war to Napoleon… NP, ND, but American ca. 1808-1812.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BRM3255-Johnny-with-His-Rear-Guard_lowres-150x150.jpg)
A bizarre and spectacular broadside from the run-up to the War of 1812
A spectacular rarity from the run-up to the War of 1812, being two broadsides printed on a single sheet, one attacking Britain and the other Napoleon. Both surmounted with large, bizarre and crudely-powerful woodcuts. During these years American relations with Britain and France were fraught in the extreme. Locked in conflict, the two European powers sought […]
A death struggle between a “tyger” and a serpent
A remarkable, vivid and unrecorded broadside, in the form of a letter to Boston from an American missionary in India, giving an eyewitness account of a death struggle between a tiger and a massive snake, probably a python. With a dramatic illustration of the battle by Abel Bowen. The broadside consists of a large wood engraving […]
Humphrey Phelps offers the World at One View
An appealing, richly pictorial broadside map designed to impart to its American viewers, in a single, composite image, a sense of the wider world and by implication, their country’s place in it. World at One View is centered on a double-hemisphere world map, whose most interesting feature is a projected trans-continental railroad from New York […]
1863 propaganda broadside with map of Progress of the Union Armies
A powerful 1863 broadside marshaling recent events, statistics and a striking persuasive map to demonstrate recent progress of the Union armies in the field and forcefully rebut Copperhead attacks on the Union war effort. This broadside was probably issued at a high point for the Union in the late Summer of 1863, following among other […]
![OUR COUNTRY! THE WHOLE COUNTRY!! NOTHING BUT OUR WHOLE COUNTRY! The Memorable Day is to be Celebrated as usual, on the 4th of July, IN ELMIRA! [Elmira or vicinity, 1867.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BRM3452-Our-Country-Our-Country-1867_lowres-scaled-e1584993146235-150x150.jpg)
An unrecorded, off-the-wall broadside for the 1867 July 4th celebration in Elmira, New York
A wonderful and extremely rare broadside advertisement, carried off with great panache, for the Elmira, New York 1867 horribles parade, a quintessential (though obscure) American ritual that traces its origins to the early national period and to a robust American appetite for irreverent humor. Horribles Parades, so named because they began as parodies of the […]
![George S. Harris, Land Commissioner, H. & St. Jo. R. R., Hannibal, Mo. / Matthews & Warren, Commercial Advertiser Printing House, Buffalo, MISSOURI IS FREE! FARMS AND HOMES IN NORTHERN MISSOURI! Hannibal AND St. Joseph R.R. OFFERS FOR SALE NEARLY 500,000 ACRES OF THE BEST PRAIRIE, TIMBER AND COAL LANDS IN THE WEST! NP, ND [but ca. 1866-68].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/BRM3214-Hannibal-St-Joseph_lowres-e1547676757544-150x150.jpg)
Spectacular chromolithographic broadside promoting the Northern Missouri lands of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad
A rare, vibrantly-colored, and frankly, spectacular broadside promoting the sale of Missouri lands owned by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad was formed in 1846, at a meeting in the Hannibal, Missouri law office of Mark Twain’s father John Marshall Clemens. Construction began in 1851, and when completed in […]
![Know Thyself! Lectures on Phrenology by Dr. J. P. M’Lean at [blank] on the Evening of [blank.] Subjects: How to Read Character Scientifically; Including the Physical, Social, Moral, and Intellectual Development of the Race. Public Examinations at the Close of Each Lecture. [New York]: Office of the “Phrenological Journal,” 389 Broadway. S. R. Wells, Publisher, [c. 1870].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/BRM-Know-Thyself-ca-1870_KB-consignment_lowres-scaled-e1584994800953-150x150.jpg)
Mammoth phrenology broadside
A large and impressive illustrated broadside issued by one of the leading publishers of phrenological material, designed for the use of those organizing public lectures on the subject of phrenology and likely part of the publisher’s campaign to sell copies of a book on the subject. Appearing at the top of the broadside is the […]
Dramatic James Blaine Presidential campaign poster
A dramatic and very rare poster for the 1884 presidential campaign of Republican James Blaine against Democrat Grover Cleveland. James Blaine (1830-1893) had a long and distinguished career as a Maine congressman and senator, Secretary of State to three Presidents, and the 1884 Republican presidential nominee. This poster emphasizes his and fellow Republicans’ embrace of […]
The Tandem Party … a rare and appealingly surreal party game
A nineteenth-century variant on “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”, named after the then-common pastime of the Tandem Party, a large group taking an excursion on tandem bicycles. The game “board” at top left features a young man pedaling a tandem bicycle with an empty seat in front of him. Printed across the rest of […]
![WET AND DRY MAP OF THE UNITED STATES / SOME OF THE SPEAKERS FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS RALLY FOR NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL PROHIBITION SEPTEMBER 21-27. [Boston? 1914.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/BRM3240-Wet_Dry-Map-United-States_lowres-e1567512673366-150x150.jpg)
Prohibition Week in Massachusetts
An imposing and unrecorded 1914 poster promoting Massachusetts’ Prohibition Week and using persuasive cartography to suggest the movement’s march across the national landscape. 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 […]
Vivid poster announcing the Boston Oil Party of Dec. 16, 1973
A wonderful and extremely rare Fall 1973 political poster exhorting viewers to attend the Boston Oil Party and “impeach big business too.” Issued just as the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon were accelerating. This poster is the rallying promotional for the December 16, 1973 protest known as the Boston Oil Party, which called for both Nixon’s […]