Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
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 […]
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 […]
![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 […]
![International Stock Food Co., INTERNATIONAL POULTRY FOOD. Minneapolis, Minn., [ca. 1900].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BRM3626-International-Poultry-Food_lowres-scaled-e1598457098581-150x150.jpg)
A charming chromolithographic poster promoting the virtues of International Poultry Food, an avian superfood that “makes chicks grow rapidly and prevents disease” and is “the greatest known egg producer.” The image features a content and robust hen surrounded by dozens of healthy-looking chicks and a cheerfully-packaged box of the product. International Poultry Food was a […]
![[Joseph Ferdinand] Keppler, THE SIREN SONG OF PARTISANSHIP. THE OLD STUFF DOESN’T GO ANY MORE. New York: Keppler & Schwarzmann, [June, 1, 1910].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BRM3716-Keppler-Siren-Song-of-Partisanship-1910_lowres-scaled-e1612898258121-150x150.jpg)
A striking 1910 chromolithographic political cartoon from Puck magazine, skewering political partisanship by skillfully deploying not one but two metaphors, the “ship of state” and the “Sirens’ song”. “Illustration shows a galley labeled “Government Of, By, and For the People” sailing past rocks labeled “Bossism” where other ships have wrecked, drawn by “Party Solidarity” sung […]
![Knight, Leonard & Co. Panoramic Views Along the Line of the DENVER & RIO GRANDE Railroad. THE SCENIC LINE OF THE WORLD [and on verso:] SCENES OF THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD. [Chicago: Poole Bros., ca. 1893.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BRM4093-Poole-Bros-Denver-and-Rio-Grande-1893_verso_title-panel-150x150.jpg)
A superb 1893 promotional brochure for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, featuring a sequence of nine chromolithographic views of Colorado’s natural wonders, many with trains cutting through the landscape. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was incorporated in 1870, its primary function to connect Denver and Salt Lake City. It also developed several branch […]
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 […]
A mammoth and very rare chromolithographic “Temperance Map” illustrating the baneful effects of alcohol and tobacco, issued near the apogee of the Temperance movement. Most “temperance maps” with which I am familiar are allegorical in nature, depicting a poor sinner’s journey through an imaginary landscape. By contrast, this arresting image is meant to be taken […]
![F.M. Woods, [Set of educational charts focusing on American history, geography, weights and measures, &c.] Chicago: American School Chart Company, 1895.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BRM4108-FM-Woods-School-Charts-1895_lead-image-150x150.jpg)
A spectacular set of four 1895 chromolithographic educational charts, designed to teach students the rudiments of American history, geography, weights and measures, and the Survey of the Public Lands. Together they offer a wonderful window into late 19th-century teaching methods, some of which—sadly—have not been abandoned entirely even today. The four charts are printed recto […]
A most appealing and extremely rare chromolithographic view of Glen Island, a famed late 19th-century theme park on Long Island Sound. Glen Island is located just off New Rochelle, New York, and was originally surrounded by four smaller islands. First occupied by the Algonquin, it was owned from 1847-62 by Lewis Augustus DePau, grandson of […]