Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in rare, important and unusual American maps and prints
A rare and intriguing folding hand fan, made in Japan to celebrate the recent success of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld’s 1878-79 Vega Expedition, the first expedition to navigate through the Northeast Passage. One of only two examples located. The Vega, a three-masted barque built in Bremerhaven in 1872, sailed from Karlskrona, Sweden, on June 22, 1878, accompanied […]
![[Untitled hand fan with map of Europe and cartouche of Napoleon mounted on a seaborne chariot.] [Probably Paris, ca. 1800.]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BRM4062-Napoleon-hand-fan_recto-1-150x150.jpg)
A lovely and very rare hand fan celebrating Napoleon’s call for “Freedom of the Seas”. Likely issued ca. 1800, following the catastrophic French defeat at the Battle of the Nile (August 1, 1798) and just after his rise to power as First Consul of France following the Coup of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9-10, 1799). The […]
An extremely rare 18th-century hand fan featuring an allegorical map. The map depicts the route of a voyage beginning at “Dark Bay,” crossing “The Great Ocean of Experience,” and terminating at the “Land of Knowledge.” Along the way the voyager passes, among other obstacles, the “Rocks of Obstinacy and Idleness,” the “Coast of Ignorance,” “Dissipation Island,” […]
![[ Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association ] Keep Cool! There will be nothing to worry about after we get Votes for Women Election Day November 2. [Boston, Summer 1915?]](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BRM3739-Keep-Cool_Womans-Suffrage-1915_verso_lowres-scaled-e1612213378266-150x150.jpg)
An extremely rare hand fan produced in support of the 1915 campaign for woman suffrage in Massachusetts, with an example of the iconic persuasive map first developed by Bertha Knobe. The front of the fan features a punning exhortation to “Keep Cool! There will be nothing to worry about after we get Votes for Women”. […]
![[Untitled hand fan with scenes celebrating La Salle’s expedition and attempted settlement in Texas, including a map of the area between the Trinity and Colorado Rivers.] England or France, ca. 1718-1750.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BRM4056-Texas_LaSalle-hand-fan_recto_lowres-scaled-e1637030851290-150x150.jpg)
A remarkably lovely 18th-century hand fan bearing many illustrations and a curious map of Texas, all celebrating the final, fateful expedition of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643 – 1687). A stylized chronology of La Salle’s final expedition The front of the fan features a dramatic scene that can be divided into three chronologically […]