Boston Rare Maps

Specializing in rare, important and unusual American maps and prints

Recent acquisitions

Beautiful example of Nicholas Visscher’s “Novi Belgii”

A lovely example of Visscher’s important promotional map of the New Netherlands and New England, composed for the Dutch West India Company. Also sought after for its fine inset prospect of Manhattan, the earliest obtainable view of what became New York City. Background Dutch interest in the region began with the formation of the Dutch […]

“Letters from an American Farmer”… with the earliest separate maps of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

A fascinating outsider’s view of the people, culture and natural attractions of the young United States, as seen through the eyes of a French émigré. Includes folding maps of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, which are the earliest separate maps of the islands. Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur (1735-1813) was born to a minor noble family […]

Schoolboy manuscript map of Kentucky, drawn on the frontier

A schoolboy map of Kentucky, unusual for its size, excellent detail and origins in Kentucky. “School” maps are frequently encountered on the antiquarian market; indeed, we have handled perhaps two dozen in the past decade. However, the vast majority of surviving examples were produced in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, and it is almost […]

[offensive material] [racist caricature] A rare “Bobalition” broadside mocking New York City’s first Emancipation Day

An extremely rare 1827 “Bobalition” broadside featuring a crudely racist parody of New York City’s first Emancipation Day celebration. The only example of the genre known to have originated in New York. The “Bobalition” genre seems to have originated in Boston in or around 1816 and endured there through 1828 or beyond. These broadside texts, […]

A landmark historical atlas by pioneering educator Emma Willard

The first historical atlas of the United States, by pioneering educator Emma Willard, who in the service of her broader mission became America’s first female map maker. Willard’s atlas features twelve single- or double-sheet maps, beginning with an “introductory map” of the “locations and wanderings of the aboriginal tribes.” Though Native American peoples had long been […]

“Game of the Sociable Snake”… an early and unrecorded American game

A striking, whimsical and unrecorded playing board for the roll-and-move Game of Sociable Snake. The board features a large track in the form of a snake divided into 119 segments, of which 25 are illustrated with tiny vignettes and bear special instructions. Square 11, for example, features a large Stars and Stripes and the direction […]

Colton’s map of the United States early in the Civil War, colored to highlight the seceded and border slave states

A striking and scarce 1862 case map of the United States by Joseph Hutchins Colton, one of the country’s most prolific and enduring 19th-century map publishers, with vibrant coloring to highlight the state of the Union early in the Civil War. This appealing map depicts the United States westward to the Great Plains and with […]

Norris’ innovative “Cyclopedic Map and Geographic Games”, rare in such complete condition

A late 19th-century game of unusual design, intended to educate players about the geography of the leading cities of the United States while bypassing the traditional technique of rote memorization. An amazing survival, with all the essential playing pieces present as well as the fragile sheet of instructions. This novel game is an interesting hybrid, […]

Specifications for the fourth USS Franklin… an extremely rare piece of American naval history

An all-but unrecorded pamphlet of specifications for construction of an American first-class (heavy) frigate, heavily revised by a leading naval officer to govern the rebuilding of the fourth USS Franklin. The Franklin was in fact the fourth ship of that name commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Franklin IV, as I’ll refer to her, was a […]

Extremely rare map of Montana and Wyoming, produced for use by the Army at the very end of the decades-long Indian Wars

A fine and extremely rare 1890 U.S. Army map of a huge area encompassing much of Montana and Wyoming as well as parts of North and South Dakota. The map was drafted in July 1890, the very month Wyoming was admitted to the Union and just months after the admission of Montana and the Dakotas. […]

Military map of Sioux reservations in North and South Dakota, issued just weeks before Wounded Knee

An extremely rare map of North and South Dakota lands reserved to the Sioux, printed on muslin and likely rushed into print for use by officers in the field just weeks before the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890. The map was drafted in November 1890, almost precisely a year after the Dakotas were […]

Military map of western North Dakota, produced during the Army’s response to the Ghost Dance ritual and just weeks before Wounded Knee

An extremely rare map of western North Dakota, including lands reserved to the Sioux, Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan peoples, probably rushed into print for use by officers in the field just weeks before the Wounded Knee Massacre of December 29, 1890. Only the second example located. The map was drafted in November 1890, almost precisely […]

Birds-eye view of the Charles River

A lovely bird’s-eye view of the Charles River and Boston’s western suburbs, by the great Boston lithographer—and dairy pioneer!—George H. Walker. The view depicts Boston’s western suburbs looking southwest from an imaginary point high over Waltham, encompassing much of Dedham, Natick, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Wellesley and other towns. Through it all winds the serpentine Charles […]

Spectacular American Red Cross First World War fundraising poster

A mammoth, vibrant and apparently very effective American Red Cross poster exhorting citizens to contribute to its Second War Fund drive in May 1918. The poster features an outline map of northeastern North America, the Atlantic and northern Europe. The continents are linked by a vibrant rainbow originating in an American pot of gold—bearing the […]

Emma Bourne’s America — A Nation of One People From Many Countries

A large, scarce, and eminently-displayable 1940 persuasive map by Emma Bourne with a refreshingly tolerant—and for its time rather novel–message aiming to combat prejudice and unite a nation. Though praised by Hornsby as “one of the most striking maps of the era”, to my mind the map’s noble theme and brilliant execution make it one […]

Rare “BIGOT”-rated planning map for the landing at Omaha Beach

A scarce map depicting the Normandy coast at Vierville-sur-Mer, better known today simply as Omaha Beach, issued just weeks before D-Day and bearing the ultra-secret “BIGOT” classification. “But nothing was more secret—or more vital to Operation Neptune—than the mosaic of Allied intelligence reports that cartographers and artists transformed into the multihued and multilayered BIGOT maps.” […]

World War II anti-malaria poster by Doctor Seuss

A clever, striking and rather rare pairing of anti-malaria poster and pamphlet produced for members of the American military during World War II, illustrated by Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. The Japanese conquest of Indonesia and the Philippines in early 1942 cut the Allies off from their supply of cinchona bark, which provides the […]

Significant archive from the American occupation of Bavaria, 1945-1950

An extensive and rich archive of material assembled by Augustus B. Hill an American officer serving in the Office of Military Government for Bavaria (OMGB) during the American occupation following the Second World War. Hill served in the OMGB from at least 1945 through 1949 and was primarily involved in matters relating to the reconstruction […]

Archive of James Oglethorpe documents addressing the Georgia-Florida boundary dispute, with much on the roles of Tomochichi and the Creeks

A remarkable gathering of letters and other documents, submitted in 1736 by James Oglethorpe to the Duke of Newcastle and addressing the festering boundary dispute between the Colony of Georgia and Spanish Florida. Copied in a secretarial hand for transmission to King George II, with a signed cover letter by Newcastle. In all, a rich […]

An ambitious 1772 plan for a British settlement on the Mississippi

The Gentleman’s Magazine for February 1772, complete with the original front wrap and the interesting folding map of West Florida to accompany the text “Proposal for a new Settlement on the Borders of the Missisippi in West Florida”. The map depicts most of the Province of West Florida, acquired by the British from Spain through […]

1794 manuscript promotional map for a huge (and fraudulently acquired) parcel in northeast Georgia

A rare and remarkable 18th-century manuscript map and text promoting a vast tract of frontier land in Franklin County, northeast Georgia (now virtually the entire area of present-day Banks County.) Per the Headright and Bounty Land Records of Georgia, Daniel Beall received these lands in 1793-1794, in hundreds of individual grants of 1000 acres each […]

Large and appealing schoolgirl map of the world

A large and appealing schoolgirl map of the world with delicately rendered patriotic imagery, signed by the artist,. The map is projected on a double hemisphere, with the continents and national boundaries rendered in outline color and hundreds of cities and geographic features identified. The map is dated 1828, but the occasionally crude geography, particularly […]

Samuel Augustus Mitchell’s map of Mexico, published during the Mexican-American War

Fine example of the Samuel Augustus Mitchell’s impressive 1847 map of Mexico and the Southwest, published to take advantage of public interest in the ongoing war between that country and the United States. The Mexican-American War was catalyzed by the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and an ongoing dispute over whether the new […]

Original drawing of the Wall Street Ferry signed by famed artist Alfred Waud

A refined antebellum drawing of New York City’s Wall Street Ferry by Alfred R. Waud, who went on to become one of the most accomplished and best-known journalist-illustrators of the Civil War. The view depicts the eastern end of Wall Street as seen from the West, with the artist possibly standing near the intersection with […]

Mammoth “track chart” of the world, recording no fewer than 13 voyages by an American mariner

A very rare chart of the world on the Mercator projection, heavily annotated by an American mariner to record a nearly quarter-century at sea. The title and scale of the chart indicate that it was designed as a “track-chart”, on which mariners could plot their long-distance voyages. For this purpose, the publisher has included engraved […]

Rare illustrated brochure for a French fireworks manufacturer

A most attractive illustrated price list for Monteux, France fireworks manufacturer Aulagne & Cie. One side of the brochure lists a great range of individual pyrotechnics, including rockets, a striking variety of ground-mounted pinwheels, and ground-based illuminations. Not surprisingly there is much patriotic content, such as a 4-meter-high “statue république” (30 francs) and an even […]

Vibrant government poster promoting the New Deal and the Public Works Administration

A delightful Depression-era propaganda map issued by Federal Government to promote the contributions of the Public Works Administration, one of the major programs in FDR’s New Deal. The PWA was established by the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act and was tasked with spending billions on major public construction projects to generate employment and help stabilize […]

Map of United States nuclear power plants in 1985

An interesting look at the state of the nuclear power industry in the United States, just six years after the disaster at Three Mile Island. This outline map of the country uses four distinct symbols to show the locations of nuclear power plants in operation, under construction, on order, or “postponed indefinitely” as of August […]

Gordon-Michael Scallion predicts The Great Tribulation, the Blue-Ray Children, and more

A 1996 imaginary map of the Earth after “The Tribulation”, as predicted by futurist, spiritualist and self-styled prophet Gordon-Michael Scallion (1942-?) This mammoth world map summarizes Scallion’s predictions and depicts their impact cartographically. The anticipated mayhem is predicted to begin with three “shifts” in the magnetic poles, each of six to eight degrees, expected to […]