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BEAURAIN, Jean Chevalier de (1696-1772, cartographer) - Georg Friedrich Jonas FRENTZEL (1754-1799, engraver)

Carte von dem Hafen und der Stadt Boston

Leipzig: Johann Carl Müller, 1776. Copper-engraved map, with troop positions highlighted in period colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 22 x 26 7/8 inches.

A very rare and highly decorative work, one of the most important Revolutionary War maps of Boston, that Krieger & Cobb cite as "the only German map of Boston [made] during the Revolutionary period."

The present map is an outstanding work on many levels. Boston and its environs are depicted on the eve of one of the most momentous events in American history, the Siege of Boston, which gave George Washington his first important victory. A great topographical work, the varied nature of the land is expressed with great virtuosity in finely engraved hachures. The superlative mapping of the coastline and the harbor is derived from J.F.W. Des Barres' "Map of the port of Boston."

The map captures the moment when British forces, still in control of Boston, prepare to face George Washington's Continental forces. Boston, on a narrow peninsula is shown to be in an increasingly precarious defensive position. In an improvement over its predecessor, Frentzel's edition makes a clear reference to the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), noting the "Ruinen von Charles=town." Around the city, the placement of the respective forces is depicted with unparalleled accuracy, with the British troop lines highlighted in blue and the Continental troop lines in red. Three divisions of Washington's forces are placed with one at Cambridge, one at Charlestown Neck, and another above Roxbury. The observer will notice that the British commanders elected not to place troops atop Dorchester Heights. Washington later took this ground, giving him an irrepressible advantage over the British in the ensuing siege. The British were compelled to leave the city in March, 1776.

This second version is much rarer than Beaurain's original work which was printed earlier that year with French toponymy. Preserved in the present version, in the upper-right, is a highly decorative and iconographically emblematic title cartouche. Beaurain, in homage to the French sympathies to the rebel cause, depicts an Englishman cruelly trying to depose a banner from the Tree of Liberty, against the will of an indignant American.

Although the conflict inspired considerable interest in Germany, this map is the only German map of Boston printed there during the Revolutionary period. Late in 1776, Leipzig master-engraver G. F. J. Frentzel created a new edition of the map that was faithful to Beaurain's original, and it was printed as part of the Geographisches Belustigungen zur Erläuterung der neuesten Weltgeschichte, an extremely rare German book on the early days of the War of Independence.

Cresswell, The American Revolution in Drawings and Prints, 706; Krieger & Cobb, Mapping Boston, p.181, pl. 27; The Library of Congress Quarterly Journal no.30 (1973), pp.252-253; Nebenzahl, A Bibliography of Printed Battle Plans of the American Revolution, 19; Sellers & Van Ee, Maps & Charts of North America & West Indies, 924

#19226$37,500.00
 
 
British Hydrographic Office

Pemaquid Pt. to Fletchers Neck

London: Published by the Admiralty, 1866. Engraving. Printed on wove paper. In excellent condition. Two joined sheets. Image size: 37 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches. Sheet size: 38 3/4 x 40 inches.

An excellent admiralty chart of Casco Bay, Maine from Pemaquid Point to Fletcher's Neck, produced by the British Hydrographic Office.

The British Hydrographic Office was founded in 1795 by George III, who appointed Alexander Dalrymple as the first Hydrographer to the Admiralty. He immediately set to work but it was not until 1800 that the first Admiralty chart was published of the waters around Quiberon Bay in Brittany. Unlike the U. S. Coast Survey the Hydrographic Office was given permission to sell charts to the public and they produced a great number of sea charts covering every corner of the globe. Most of the Admiralty charts produced by the Hydrographic Office delineated coastline as well as high and low water marks and recorded depth of water as established by soundings. In addition these charts included information on shoals, reefs, and other navigational hazards that plagued mariners across the world. Thanks to the innovations of Sir Francis Beaufort, who developed the Beaufort Scale of wind strength, the British Hydrographic Office became one of the leading producers of sea charts.

This large chart of Casco Bay, Maine, covers the coastline from Pemaquid Point to Fletcher's Neck. Water depths and sand bars are all carefully recorded, as are the various lighthouses along the coastline, which are identified in colour. This is an important sea chart of this area and a wonderful example of the maps produced by the British Hydrographic Office.

#15995$2,500.00
 
 
CAREY, Henry Charles and Isaac LEA (publishers)

Connecticut. Geographical, Historic and Statistical Map of Connecticut

Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1823. Engraving with full period colour. Backed on linen. Split at fold expertly repaired. Occasional creases. Sheet size: 17 1/4 x 21 3/4 inches.

Fascinating and informative map of Connecticut from one of the most innovative American atlases of the 19th century

Carey & Lea's atlas established a style that was widely admired, especially in Europe: placing a fully coloured map as the centerpiece of the page and surrounding it with geographical and historical facts. The texts were well written and intriguing. The immense transformation of continental America: the vast migration, settlement and industrialization really began at about this time, not long after the War of 1812, when expansion and opportunity were American by-words. It was at this time that American atlases began to need semi-annual revisions because the country had changed so rapidly. In fact, the Carey & Lea gazetteer style, most reminiscent of Herman Moll really, was too time consuming for the firms that published atlases of America as the century progressed.

#19787$350.00
 
 
CARLETON, Osgood (fl.1792-1806)

Map of Massachusetts proper compiled from Actual Surveys made by Order of the General Court, and under the inspection of agents of their appointment

[Boston: B. & J. Loring, 1801]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, folded and mounted on linen. Publisher's paper label to verso, in good condition apart from some slight browning. Modern cloth chemise, within a morocco-backed cloth slipcase. Sheet size: 31 3/4 x 46 3/4 inches.

A very rare and highly important early map of Massachusetts.

The revised and much improved first "official" edition of the most important early map of Massachusetts. In three key ways, this edition is a great improvement over Osgood Carleton's 1798 original which was rejected for official sanction by the government of the Commonwealth. Firstly, the coastline and coastal islands have been more correctly rendered, largely due to the incorporation of information from the charts of Joseph Des Barres. Secondly, roads and streams that had been left incomplete in the earlier map were extended. Thirdly, some of the clutter of the 1798 map, engraved by Carleton's partner, John Norman, was removed, and the map is more attractive and informative, with a cleaner and crisper appearance.

The history of the creation and publication of Carleton's map is interesting. There was a movement to create a state-sponsored map of Massachusetts as early as 1791. In 1795, after a failed attempt by the Massachusetts Historical Society, Osgood Carleton and John Norman signed a contract with the Commonwealth to create a state map based on surveys submitted by every town, with the entire map to be endorsed as to its quality by the state government. The map was produced in 1798, but it failed to win approval by the General Court which criticized Norman's engraving. The government asked Norman to redraw the map, although he had already printed 400 copies and went about marketing it without the official seal of approval from the Massachusetts government. Carleton, however, began to recompile the map and the firm of Callendar and Hill was contracted to engrave it. The present version of the map was approved by the General Court in 1801, and 500 copies were ordered to be printed. The map was published by B. & J. Loring in Boston, and offered (along with a companion map of Maine, which was then a constituent part of Massachusetts) at four dollars for a set, seven dollars if mounted on cloth with rollers, and eight dollars folded into cases. This copy of the map retains the publisher's original paper label, which forcefully asserts that this 1801 version of the Carleton map of Massachusetts, approved by the General Court, is "the only accurate one ever published of this state."

The map is drawn on a scale of four miles to the inch, and gives a clear delineation of the boundaries and coastline of Massachusetts, and of the borders of each town in the state. The distance of each town from Boston and from their respective county seat is given, and major roads and streams are shown. Public and private institutions, including academies, meetinghouses, courthouses, etc., are located, as are topographical features such as mountains, ponds, rivers and streams. The cartouche, smaller in size and more attractive than that in the 1798 version, is still quite large, taking up much of the lower left corner of the map. It shows an Indian standing beside trees on a shoreline, with boats in the distant waters, and casks, anchors, nets, and a globe in the foreground.

Danforth, 'The First Official Maps of Maine and Massachusetts,' in Imago Mundi 35 (1983), pp. 37-57; Krieger & Cobb, Mapping Boston, p. 52; Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p. 400; Ristow, American Maps and Mapmakers, pp. 89-92

#17662$35,000.00
 
 
CHACE, J

Map of Rockingham Co. New Hampshire from Practical Surveys...

Philadelphia: Smith & Coffin, 1857. Wall map, 56 x 56 inches, in full period hand colour. Expertly repaired, backed with modern linen, trimmed in red cloth, on contemporary rollers. Lightly tanned, faint old stain along upper edge, but in very good condition.

A large, attractive, detailed wall map of Rockingham County, New Hampshire. Chace evidently received at least some of his training with R. P. Smith and J. H. French's survey of New York, the most ambitious and advanced mapping project for any American state up to its time. Between 1854 and 1860, Chace conducted surveys of more than twenty counties in seven northeastern states.

Rockingham is New Hampshire's only coastal county. Each township is individually coloured. There are two large inset street plans of Portsmouth and Exeter (with accompanying business directories), and seventeen smaller insets for other county towns and villages. The map is ornamented by fifteen finely engraved vignettes that show notable buildings and residences in the county, including the Exeter Court House, Swamscot Machine and South New Market Iron Foundry, and Philips, Kingston, Hampton, and Rockingham academies. There are also tables of distances and statistics. Not in Rumsey who lists only one Chace map, of Cumberland County, Maine. An exemplary New Hampshire county map.

Phillips, America, p.751; Ristow, pp. 387-88.

#6273$3,500.00
 
 
CLARK, Richard.

Clark's Map of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Philadelphia: Richard Clark, 1856. Lithographic wall map, with full period hand-colour. Expertly repaired, backed with modern linen, edged with silk, on contemporary rollers. Very nice condition. Sheet size: 60 1/2 x 52 3/4 inches.

An extremely elaborate and detailed wall map of Fairfield County, Connecticut, the only 19th-century map of the county listed in Phillips America.

Fairfield is the site of some of New York City's most prestigious suburbs. Each township is separately coloured, with the properties of numerous individual landowners located. The map is flanked by sixteen inset views of important Fairfield sites, including numerous private residences, and the Court House in Bridgeport. The views are separated by ornamental Victorian scrollwork. There are twenty-four inset plans of Fairfield towns and villages, including Greenwich, Stamford, Ridgefield, New Canaan, Westport, Danbury, Bridgeport, Southport, Sharon, Bethel, Fairfield, Norwalk, South Norwalk, Newtown, New Fairfield, Brookfield, and Cos Cob. The map was drawn from a survey by J. Chace, W. J. Barker, and N. Hector, and lithographed by Wagner & McGuigan in Philadelphia.

Not in Rumsey; Thompson, Maps of Connecticut, 176; Phillips, America, p. 276.

#15532$3,950.00
 
 
COLTON, George W. (1827-1901) & Charles B. (1832-1916)

Maine

New York: Published [by Colton] for Hoyt, Fogg, & Breed, Portland, Maine, 1871. Full period color, 12¼ x 15¾ inches. Minor repairs.

A folding sheet map with time tables for various Maine railroads printed on the verso. An interesting example of a Colton map that has been adapted for a special purpose. The map originally appeared in 1855 in Colton's Atlas of the World. This revised edition was especially prepared for railroad use through the addition of the railroad time tables on the back. Not in Phillips, who lists an 1876 edition in this format published for "Hoyt, Fogg & Donham." Not in Rumsey.

#3066$350.00
 
 
COLTON, George W. (1827-1901) & Charles B. (1832-1916)

Map of Long Island, and the Southern Part of Connecticut

New York: Colton & Co., 1866. Engraved map, with full original colour, folding into gilt-stamped brown cloth covers. . Sheet size: 22 x 49½ inches.

An excellent nineteenth-century map of Long Island and coastal Connecticut

A detailed large-scale map of Long Island contemporary with the close of the Civil War. Most noticeable is the almost entirely rural character of the island. Just one railroad runs its entire length, from Hunter's Point to Greenpoint on the northern peninsula. Little development as of yet in Queens. The map also includes an untitled inset of New York Harbor and an advertisement for Colton & Co. laid down inside the front cover.

Rumsey (5073) lists only an 1863 edition, published by J.H. Colton. Not in Phillips.

#3224$5,250.00
 
 
DANCKERTS, Justus (1635-1701)

Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ nec non Pennsylvaniæ et partis Virginiæ tabula multis in locis emendata

[Amsterdam: circa 1684]. Engraved map. Minor expert repairs. Sheet size: 19 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches.

A fine example of the second state of Danckerts' important map.

This important map is derived from the Visscher map of about 1655, which is itself drawn from the Janssonius map of 1651. Philip Burden lists three states of this map: the first which was probably published in about 1673 and is easily recognized as it does not include Philadelphia and there is no mention of Pennsylvania in the title. Burden writes of the present second state: "Following the founding of Philadelphia a revised state was produced ... Danckerts updated the map in a significant manner. The Delaware River is completely revised so that it no longer connects with the Hudson River ... Pennsylvania is named, its boundary is marked, and many largely domestic animals are engraved within the region. Recognition of the English hold over New Amsterdam is seen in the addition to the title of the view of [the words]Nieuw Yorck, eetÿs Genaemt above. ... Along with the addition to the view title ... the main [title] ... has had [the words] Pennsylvaniæ, et partis added as the third line." (Burden, II pp.39-40).

Manhattan in Maps, p. 32-33; Burden II, 434; McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps, 680.2 ; Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island vol. 1, pp. 148-151; Tooley, The Mapping of America, p. 285, pl. 150; Burden, 434; Campbell (1965) pp. 285-6 nos. 8-9a; Deak, 67.

#20880$6,500.00
 
 
DES BARRES, J. F. W. (1721-1824, publisher) - Samuel HOLLAND (1728-1801) and George CALLENDAR (fl. around 1769), surveyors

[Chart of the Harbour of Boston. Composed from different Surveys; but principally from that taken in 1769, by Mr. George Callendar, Late Master of His Majesty's Ship the Romney]

London: Published by J.F.W. Des Barres in 'The Atlantic Neptune', August 5th, 1775. Copper-engraved and etched map, with aquatint, on two joined sheets. Printed on laid paper with `J Bates' watermark and `JB' countermark, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 30 1/4 x 42 5/8 inches.

The finest and most celebrated sea chart of Boston Harbor ever produced, and a highly important Revolutionary War map depicting details relating to the Siege of Boston

This is one the most important maps contained in Des Barres' The Atlantic Neptune, and one of the most significant large-scale maps of the Revolutionary War. It provides an invaluable record of Boston at the beginning of the war, covering the area from the environs of the city out into the open waters of Massachusetts Bay. A particularly striking feature is the use of boldly etched and subtly aquatinted details to capture the diverse topography of the region, including the numerous hills, islands, and river estuaries. It is important to remember that this was issued as a working sea-chart, and as such the cartographer has naturally concentrated on features such as depth soundings, indicated by detailed lines and based on surveys by Samuel Holland and George Callendar, and the navigable channels between the harbor's numerous shoals, which are delicately outlined in stipple-engraving. Holland's original manuscript map is today preserved in the British Hydrographic Library at Taunton, Somerset. The present map shows the city of Boston, with its streets carefully outlined, occupying a pear-shaped peninsula, a position that would soon prove precarious to its British defenders in the escalating conflict.

This is the second state (of five) of Des Barres' chart, and is identical to the Henry Stevens Collection, variant 96D, in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. This state shows a number of notable changes when compared with the original, and was evidently altered to take particular account of the Siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776). Henry Stevens noted that this state depicted the addition of "Numerous Forts, Batteries, Redoubts, &c. [which] have been inserted in many places, notably on the Charles Town peninsula, and on the mainland between 'Willis Creek' and 'Mystic River,' also on the east and north side of 'Charles River' below 'Cambridge'...[also] to the south of 'Boston Neck' and 'Dorchester Neck'...[This state] is almost as rare as the first state. It is found in some copies of the earliest edition of the Neptune." The accuracy, scope and artistic virtue of Des Barres's Chart of the Harbour of Boston was apparent to his contemporaries and it became the main source map of the area for decades to come.

Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres was born in Switzerland, where his Huguenot ancestors had fled following the repeal of the Edict of Nantes. He studied under the great mathematician Daniel Bernoulli at the University of Basel, before immigrating to Britain where he trained at the Royal Military College, Woolwich. Upon the outbreak of hostilities with France in 1756, he joined the British Royal American Regiment as a military engineer. He came to the attention of General James Wolfe, who appointed him to join his personal detail. During this period he also worked with the legendary future explorer James Cook on a monumental chart of the St. Lawrence River. Upon the conclusion of the Seven Years War, Britain's empire in North America was greatly expanded, and this required the creation of a master atlas featuring new and accurate sea charts for use by the Royal Navy. Des Barres was enlisted to survey the coastlines of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. With these extremely accurate surveys in hand, Des Barres returned to London in 1774, where the Royal Navy charged him with the Herculean task of producing the atlas. He was gradually forwarded the manuscripts of numerous advanced surveys conducted by British cartographers in the American Colonies, Jamaica and Cuba, of which the present map is based on the work of Samuel Holland, conducted in the 1760s. The result was The Atlantic Neptune, which became the most celebrated sea atlas of its era, containing the first systematic survey of the east coast of North America. Des Barres's synergy of great empirical accuracy with the peerless artistic virtue of his aquatint views, created a work that "has been described as the most splendid collection of charts, plates and views ever published" (National Maritime Museum Catalogue). The Neptune eventually consisted of four volumes and Des Barres's dedication to the project was so strong that often at his own expense he continually updated and added new charts and views to various editions up until 1784, producing over 250 charts and views, many appearing in several variations. All of these charts were immensely detailed, featuring both hydrographical and topographical information, such that in many cases they remained the most authoritative maps of the regions covered for several decades. Following the completion of The Neptune, Des Barres returned to Canada, where he remained for a further forty years, becoming a senior political figure and a wealthy land owner, living to the advanced age of 103.

Cf. Guthorn,British Maps of the American Revolution, (referring to Holland's original manuscript) 59/3; Krieger & Cobb p.107 (1781 issue); Lingel, Atlantic Neptune N91.2; National Maritime Museum, Henry Stevens Collection K0713 HNS 96D; National Maritime Museum, Catalogue, 78-83; Nebenzahl Bibliography 3; Stevens, Bibliography of the Atlantic Neptune (unpublished) pp.211-216; Sellers & Van Ee, 945.

#17671$35,000.00
 
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