Boston Rare Maps

Specializing in antique American maps & prints

Recent acquisitions

A spectacular full-color example of the finest 18th-century map of New England

A spectacular full-color example, almost never seen as such, of the 1774 edition of Thomas Jefferys’ Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England, the pre-eminent 18th-century map of the region. First issued in 1755, Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England served the largest-scale, most detailed, and most accurate portrait of […]

A superb map of Boston during the Revolution, from surveys by officers on the spot

A superb plan of the 1775-76 siege of Boston, drawn by important British military engineers and published by the greatest British map publisher of the American Revolution. Following the April 19, 1775 battles at Lexington and Concord, the British retreated to Boston. There they were besieged by thousands of New England militia who encamped in […]

Phinehas Merrill map of Exeter New Hampshire

An early, rare and delightful plan of this important New Hampshire town, with an important connection to the “Carrigain” map of the state. Merrill’s plan depicts the center of the ancient town of Exeter situated at the head of the Exeter River in southeastern New Hampshire. The town has a distinguished history as one […]

Willem Blaeu’s landmark “upside-down” map of New England and the mid-Atlantic

A lovely example of a most important map by Willem Blaeu, the 1635 Nova Belgica is a cartographic summation of European settlement and geographic knowledge of New England and the mid-Atlantic in the first quarter of the 17th century. This map is based largely on the seminal 1614 manuscript map by the Dutch trader Adrien […]

Iconic map of New York and New England by Homann

A most decorative and geographically intriguing map of New England, issued by Nuremburg mapmaker Johann Baptist Homann in or around 1730. Propelled by economic hardship, religious persecution and repeated warfare, in the late 17th century waves of German settlers began the first of many waves of immigration to America. Through the end of the 18th […]

New England chart from the rare George Grierson edition of The English Pilot

A rare chart of the New England coast published by George Grierson in his pirated edition of the English Pilot. The Fourth Book. The chart depicts the northeast coastline and nearby waters from New York City to Mount Desert Island. Designed for use at sea, it provides considerable information on soundings, banks and shoals, and […]

Important Revolutionary War-era map of Lake Champlain and Lake George

An excellent 18th-century map of Lake Champlain and Lake George, published early in the American Revolution. Examples of the map were almost certainly used by General Burgoyne and his officers in the Fall 1777 campaign, which ended disastrously at Saratoga and catalyzed the French into supporting the Revolutionary cause. The map depicts much of “The […]

The Ebeling – Sotzmann map of Vermont

The finest 18th–century map of Vermont, compiled by D.F. Sotzmann and Christoph Ebeling, two German geographers who never visited America. This lovely map depicts considerable detail of the state’s natural geography, including lakes, rivers, streams, and even waterfalls, as well as the Green Mountains and lesser areas of elevation. Political boundaries are shown, with state, […]

First printed map of Dorchester and Milton Massachusetts

A fine and very rare 1831 map depicting the human and natural geography of Dorchester and Milton, Massachusetts. Dorchester was founded just before Boston in 1630, was annexed to its northern neighbor in 1870, and is now an intensely diverse neighborhood of perhaps 100,000 residents. Milton was founded in 1662 on land ceded by Dorchester, has […]

Rare 1833 map of Worcester Massachusetts

A fine and rare map depicting the human and natural geography of Worcester, Massachusetts. First settled by the English in 1674 the area was twice abandoned during King Phillip’s and Queen Anne’s Wars before being permanently resettled in 1713, incorporated in 1722 and named seat of the newly-created Worcester County in 1731. Taking advantage of […]

Mammoth 1836 map of Provincetown and Outer Cape Cod

A remarkably detailed chart of the waters around Truro and Provincetown on the outer reaches of Cape Cod, by one of America’s great topographical engineers of the 19th century. This mammoth chart is based on extensive surveys conducted by the Topographical Engineers in 1833-35, “to aid in the projection of the works for the military […]

1850 wall map of New London, Connecticut

An attractive, informative and very rare 1850 plan of New London, Connecticut, situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Thames River. First settled in 1646, its excellent deep water harbor made it a natural hub of commerce and, during wartime, a base for naval operations, and by the early 19th century it […]

Lovely 1854 map of New Hampshire by Jacob Richards Dodge

A large and most attractive 1854 wall map of New Hampshire depicting the state in a period of intense economic development, by eminent journalist and statistician Jacob Richards Dodge. Drawn at a scale of 1”:6 miles, the map depicts town and county boundaries, roads and railroads, and major topographical features such as the White Mountains. […]

E.M. Woodford wall map of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1855)

A rare, lovely and informative 1855 wall map of the towns of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge in the heart of the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts. The format is typical of the many town maps issued in Philadelphia by collaborators E.M. Woodford and Richard Clark in the mid-1850s: At top is a map of the […]

Henry F. Walling map of Berkshire County Massachusetts

A monumental and richly informative wall map of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, known today as a beauty spot and cultural destination for the profusion of museums and performing arts venues in Great Barrington, Lenox, Stockbridge, Williamstown and surrounding towns. Published in 1858, this is by far the largest and most detailed map of Berkshire […]

Henry F. Walling map of the White Mountains and Coos County, New Hampshire

A monumental and richly informative map of Coos County, New Hampshire, including the northern ranges of the White Mountains. By Henry F. Walling, one of the preeminent American mapmakers of the latter half of the 19th century. Published in 1861, this is by far the largest and most detailed map of Coos County and the […]