Old World Auctions: Maps, Maps, Maps from September 2nd to the 16th
- by Thomas C. McKinney
Old World Auctions, the online-only auction house specializing in cartographic material, is hosting their 154th auction this month, and as is usual for them, the estimates are conservative and the material varied. The 800+ lot sale will run from September 2nd to the 16th, ending at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on the 16th. Registration for bidding can be done on Old World’s website here. As of the time of this writing, lot numbers were not available for specific items so items are referenced by name and author only.
For collectors of world maps, there are many available for sale. Jansson’s Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula from 1637 tops the estimates for the sale at $12,000 – 14,000. Other highlights include Robijn Jacobus’s Nieuw Aerdsch Pleyn, a rare world map on a singular polar projection published in 1700, Pieter Schenk’s Haemisphaeriorum Tabula Carthesiana alsopublished in 1700, Apianus’ Charta Cosmographica, cum Ventorum Propria Natura & Operatione from 1564, and A New General Atlas of the World, by Henry Teesdale published in 1834.
Americana is also available in abundance, with these items of particular interest:
Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768 ... the Third Edition..., by Jonathan Carver, 1781
A Geography for Schools, by Luke Drury, 1822
The History of the Bucaniers of America, by Exquemelin, 1704
A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of North America, by Banastre Tarleton, 1787
The History, Civil and Commercial of the British Colonies in the West Indies, by Bryan Edwards, 1801
Mappa Geographica Americae Septentrionalis, by Leonard von Euler, 1760
Plan of the City of Washington, by John C. Russell, 1795
A Map of Virginia and Maryland, Speed/Lamb, 1676
A Map of Massachusetts Connecticut and Rhodeisland..., by Edward Ruggles, 1825
Map of Oregon and Upper California from the Surveys of John Charles Fremont and Other Authorities, by Fremont/Preuss, 1848
Other material from all over the world is included in the auction, and depending on your focus, whether it be European, Asian, African, or any other locale, there are items that may appeal to you, and with the majority of estimates falling below $1000, the prices are reasonable.
Some of the most interesting inclusions in the auction are two maps depicting the State of Franklin, a short-lived would-be American state and de facto independent republic that attempted to secede from North Carolina after the Revolution. It only existed for approximately four years and now is but a footnote in American History, but in this sale, there are two items confirming its existence: America, by A.J. Stansbury, 1805 and a map in Taschenbuch der Reisen, by Zimmerman, 1805.
The online catalog for Auction 154 will be available by the 2nd of September when the auction goes live online. A link to register for bidding is on Old World Auctions’ homepage.
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli: Jacques Gamelin, Memento homo quia pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, 1779. Starting price 300€
Gonnelli: Giorgio Ghisi, The final Judgement, 1680. Starting price 480€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
Gonnelli: Domenico Peruzzini, Long bearded old man, 1660. Starting price 2200€
Gonnelli: Enea Vico, Leda and the Swan,1542. Starting price 140€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
Gonnelli Auction 59 Antique prints, paintings and maps May 20th 2025
Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
Ketterer Rare Books Auction May 26th
Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
Ketterer, May 26:Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
Ketterer Rare Books Auction May 26th
Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
Ketterer, May 26:PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
Ketterer Rare Books Auction May 26th
Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
Ketterer Rare Books Auction May 26th
Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
Sotheby's Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR