Boston Rare MapsSpecializing in antique American maps & prints
A rare chart of the New England coast published by George Grierson in his pirated edition of the English Pilot. The Fourth Book. The chart depicts the northeast coastline and nearby waters from New York City to Mount Desert Island. Designed for use at sea, it provides considerable information on soundings, banks and shoals, and […]
![[English Pilot] VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, PENNSILVANIA, East & West NEW JERSEY. London: Sold by Jno. Mount & Thos. Page Tower Hill, [1689/ca. 1773].](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BRM1767I3-English-Pilot-Chesapeake-ca-1773-e1550173339819-150x150.jpg)
An important early chart of the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay regions from The English Pilot. The Fourth Book, based upon the seminal work of Augustine Hermann. The chart depicts the coast from Staten Island as far south as modern-day Virginia Beach. The geography is based largely on that of Augustine Hermann’s monumental 1673 map Virginia and […]
This important work provides crucial information on eastern New York and southern New England. The main chart depicts the coast from Rensselaer Hook in New Jersey to roughly the “elbow” of Cape Cod, with extensive soundings and notations of shoals and other hazards. Much detail is given for Long Island Sound, Narragansett Bay and the waters […]
Spectacular Revolutionary-era chart of the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, likely compiled from Colonial-era surveys and British reconnaissance just before the 1776 Battle of Sullivan’s Island. Published in the Atlantic Neptune, it was for its time by far the finest printed chart of the area. Blessed by a large, sheltered harbor and proximity to the […]
![[Samuel Holland et al.] / “Lieutenant Knight of the Navy and Pilots,” THE COAST OF NEW ENGLAND. [London:] J.F.W. Des Barres, APRIL 24, 1776.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BRM3432-Holland_Des-Barres-Coast-New-England_lowres-e1573140367628-150x150.jpg)
By far the finest 18th-century depiction of the Coast of New England issued in The Atlantic Neptune to meet the needs of British navigators during the American Revolution. Description This monumental chart depicts the complex coast of New England from Passamaquoddy Bay south and west to Narragansett Bay. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of depth soundings are given, […]
![John Norman, THE AMERICAN PILOT CONTAINING THE NAVIGATION of the Sea Coast of NORTH AMERICA, from the Streights of Belle-Isle to Cayenne. Including the Island and Banks of Newfoundland, the West-India Islands, and all the islands on the coast. Boston: Printed and Sold by Wm. Norman at his office No. 75 Newbury Street[,] MDCCXCIIII.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/BRM2788-Norman-American-Pilot_3-e1562353527949-150x150.jpg)
The 1794 edition of John and William Norman’s famed American Pilot, including important charts of Nantucket by Pinkham and of the Carolinas by Dunbibin. One of the first atlases to be published in the United States, and only the third complete copy on the market since the Streeter sale in the mid 1960s. Background Good […]
A very fine chart of Massachusetts Bay from the Atlantic Neptune, issued for use of British navigators early in the Revolutionary War. The Atlantic Neptune is arguably the finest atlas of North American waters ever produced, achieving in its more complete states full coverage of the East and Gulf Coasts. The Neptune’s great strength was […]
![Fielding Lucas, Jr. / Engraved by John and William W. Warr / [Sold by] Hagger & Brother, A Chart of the CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE Bays. Baltimore: Fielding Lucas, Jr., [1832] / copyright 1852 / 1862.](https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BRM2015H-Lucas-Chesapeake-and-Delaware-Bays-1852_lowres-scaled-e1592944756734-150x150.jpg)
A scarce and very appealing chart of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, with coverage upstream to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and well up the Rappahanock, York and James Rivers. Soundings extend along the eastern shore into the lower Chester River, Eastern Bay, the mouth of the Choptank, and Tangier Sound, and the entrances to both […]
A nice example of what was for its time the finest chart of the coasts of New Hampshire and southern Maine. It was issued in 1776 in The Atlantic Neptune, an atlas of the East Coast used by British captains during the Revolution. The charts were so respected that they remained in use for decades, often […]
A landmark in Maine mapping, being the first large-scale navigation chart of Portland Harbor and environs. The chart centers on the environs of Falmouth, Maine, including present-day Portland, the Cape Elizabeth peninsula, and the inner reaches of Casco Bay. Falmouth was at the time the largest town in Maine and an important center of the […]