Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
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 […]
![Frederic M. Thrasher, CHICAGO’S GANGLAND PREPARED BY FREDERIC M. THRASHER 1923-26. [Chicago, 1927 or later.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BRM3499-Chicago-Gangland_lowres-scaled-e1596228085819-150x150.jpg)
A remarkable thematic map documenting the distribution of gang activity in Chicago, compiled by groundbreaking sociologist Frederic Thrasher. Chicago’s Gangland was originally issued to illustrate Frederic Thrasher’s seminal 1926 study The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago. Thrasher’s concern was not primarily with “The Mob” of Al Capone, but rather second-generation immigrant children who evolved from “play […]
A spectacular and very rare display broadside, touting the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific line and its connections with the newly-completed transcontinental railroad. The Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was formed in 1866 through the merger of the Chicago & Rock Island and Mississippi & Missouri Railroads. Just three years later the Union Pacific and […]
A large, spectacular, minutely-detailed, and very rare view of Downtown Chicago as seen looking westward from an imaginary point over Lake Michigan. The view extends as far north as Erie Street, south to 16th, and west to Halsted and depicts Chicago in minute detail: Every window, arch, skylight, chimney and other significant feature of […]
![[Broadside] A. B. Lindsley, U. S. Agent & G. M’Dougall, Auctioneer, $13,000 INDIAN GOODS At Auction. WILL be sold at Auction at the Council-House in the city of Detroit…. Detroit, Dec. 11, 1822.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/BRM3338-13000-Indian-Goods-at-Auction-1822-e1559329146853-150x150.jpg)
Unrecorded broadside, printed in Detroit, announcing the sale at auction of trade goods remaining from the Federal Government-operated factory stores at Chicago and Green Bay. The sale took place in Detroit on December 18, 1822, following the termination by the United States Congress of the factory system for trading with the Native Americans. The end […]
![[Columbian Exposition ] Knight, Leonard & Co, eng., Wabash Line, via Detroit, to Chicago. SHORTEST ROUTE TO THE WORLD’S FAIR CITY. Chicago: Knight, Leonard & Co., 1892.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BRM3044-Wabash-Line-1892_lowres-e1541158441299-150x150.jpg)
An attractive and unrecorded lithographic bird’s-eye view of the Columbian Exposition, issued to promote Wabash Line rail service from Detroit to Chicago. The view depicts the Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, as seen looking westward from an imaginary viewpoint above Lake Michigan. If this image is any guide the Exposition was spectacular, […]
![Frederic M. Thrasher, THE GANG[:] A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927 (3rd impression, 1929).](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BRM3262-The-Gang_book-and-map_lowres-150x150.jpg)
Sociologist Frederic Thrasher’s remarkable work documenting the distribution of youth gangs in Chicago, with a striking thematic map of the city. Thrasher’s concern in The Gang was not primarily with “The Mob” of Al Capone, but rather aggregations of second-generation immigrant children who evolved from “play groups” into youth gangs on the order of the […]
A charming and extremely rare broadside advertisement for Frazer’s Grease, touting its superiority to petroleum-based products. The ad depicts two horse-drawn buggies, one with a collapsed front axle and its driver complaining “Here I am broke down ! ! Axle completely worn out, and my Wagon in use only Six Months. If I EVER USE […]
A rare and unusual cane and map prepared in 1893 for the Chicago World`s Fair or, as it is better known, the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This is the earliest known example of a cane map. The genre was invented by the Columbian Novelty Company and, as the map itself notes, the patent was still pending when […]
An unusual and unrecorded railroad promotional, probably separately issued. This unusual promotional features three maps “stacked” one above the other, each depicting a different rail line linking Chicago with the Union Pacific Railroad at Council Bluffs. To the right of the maps are engraved portraits of Union generals Grant, Sherman and Sheridan. The verso bears several […]