Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
A lovely chromolithographic view of the so-called New England Fair, the exhibition building of the New England Manufacturers and Mechanics Institute. Extremely rare in any form, but particularly unusual for being a publisher’s mockup, with extensive material in manuscript. In 1881 the building was the site of the first exhibition of the Institute, which organization […]
A striking and extremely rare 1913 chromolithographic view of the Great Dayton Flood during which water and fire laid waste to much of downtown Dayton, Ohio. The worst natural disaster in Ohio history, the Great Dayton Flood was caused by a series of heavy rainstorms in March 1913. After several days of rain, on March […]
![Bruno / Imp. Paul Dupont, LIRE LA BASTILLE Journal Hebdomadaire Illustré ANTIMAÇONNIQUE [“Read La Bastille, the Illustrated Weekly Anti-Masonic Newspaper”]. Paris: [Paul] Copin-Albancelli, ND [but ca. 1906].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/BRM3157-Bruno-La-Bastille-ca-1906_lowres-e1538741005186-150x150.jpg)
A spectacular albeit noxious French persuasive map using the octopus motif to promote anti-Semitism and anti-Freemasonry. As in other European nations, French anti-Semitism has a long history, most famously manifesting itself in the Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s and collaboration with Nazi deportation of Jews during the Second World War. In the public mind, Jews were […]
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 […]
An early and spectacular example of American pictorial mapping, Rambles through Our Country is a simple educational game requiring players to complete a “grand tour” of the United States. The game is played on a board featuring a spectacular chromolithographic map of the United States. The map bears 200 numbered stations beginning with Hartford—where 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)
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 […]
![Drawn, printed and published by C.S. Hammond & Co., BIRDS EYE VIEW MAP OF New York and Vicinity [title on wraps: BIRD’S EYE VIEW MAP OF East an North Rivers and Long Island Sound.] New York City, 1909.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BRM1859-Hammond-New-York-City-150x150.jpg)
A scarce and colorful chromolithographic bird’s-eye view of New York City, as seen from an imaginary viewpoint high above New York Bay. This lovely little view depicts nearly the entire city, with the exception of the southern reaches of Brooklyn, as well as surrounding parts of Westchester, Nassau County, and New Jersey. Built-up areas are highlighted in […]
![John H. Renshawe / United States Geological Survey, PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING-MONTANA-IDAHO. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, [ca. 1913-1920.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BRM3594-USGS-Yellowstone-National-Park_lowres-scaled-e1595802340728-150x150.jpg)
A spectacular bird’s-eye view of Yellowstone National Park, prepared by John H. Renshawe (1852-1934) from topographic sheets of the United States Geological Survey. Established in 1872 on more than 2.2 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park was the first of its kind in the United States and is thought by many […]
![Geo[rge] H. Walker & Co., Birds-Eye View from Summit of Mt. Washington; White Mountains, New Hampshire. Boston: Passenger Department of Boston & Maine R.R., 1902.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/BRM3142-Walker-Mount-Washington_lowres-150x150.jpg)
A spectacular promotional bird’s-eye view of Mount Washington and the White Mountains, issued by the Boston & Maine Railroad. By the early 20th century the Lakes and White Mountain regions of New Hampshire were major tourist destinations, with a well-developed network of hotels and resort towns and villages. With the proliferation of the automobile some […]
With their focus on the epic process of filling in Boston’s many coves and inlets, most discussions of the history of the city’s topographical history are, literally speaking, two dimensional. Often neglected is the tale of the city’s vertical diminishment through the cutting down of the three-peaked ridge (the “Tremontane”) that once bisected the Shawmut […]