Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2009 Issue
Exceptional Antique Maps and Related Material from Martayan Lan
Rare Drake broadside.
Item 24 is a 1769 French map of the Americas, headed L'Amerique. It might better be called wishful thinking. It is a gorgeous map, surrounded by 30 vignettes depicting such events as the colonization of Florida and Virginia, the discovery of the Mississippi, and the migration of America's natives from Asia via Alaska. However, what is most noticeable is how mapmaker Nicholas Bailleul has divided up North America. With the exception of a narrow east coast band of British colonies, all of Canada and today's United States, up to Spain's western possessions, are shown as French lands. This picture was optimistic even during the best of times, but after the French and Indian War, concluded in 1763, France had been driven from virtually the entire mainland of North America. This depicted a continent as it was no more. $28,000.
Item 43 is a rare D.H. Burr Map of the City of New York, published in 1857. This map includes 14 insets of important structures of the time, including the Astor Library, New York University, the old St. Patrick's Cathedral, a synagogue, and the long-gone Crystal Palace (burned to the ground the following year). $3,500. Crossing the ocean, item 121 is a large panorama of London, circa the 1770s. Seventy structures are listed, with St. Paul's Cathedral in the distance dominating the scene. In the foreground is the river Thames and the London Bridge. $10,500.
Martayan Lan may be reached at 212-308-0018 or info@martayanlan.com. Their website is found at www.martayanlan.com.
