Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books

At Auction June 6

Complete Catalogue

John Carte, The Frontispiece of the Cosmographical Clock, hand-colored broadside, London, circa 1699. $2,000 to $3,000.

Exhibition Open June 1 – June 6

The exhibition is free to attend and open to the public. We welcome special and educational groups with advance notice–send an inquiry to rsvp@swanngalleries.com

Exhibition Hours

Saturday, June 1 – 12 pm to 5 pm

Monday, June 3 – 10 am to 6 pm

Tuesday, June 4 – 10 am to 6 pm

Wednesday, June 5 – 10 am to 6 pm

Thursday, June 6 – 10 am to 12 pm


Maps

Among maps is Lewis Evans’ 1755 General Map of the Middle British Colonies in America in its proof state, annotated, signed and dated two months before the map’s official publication, and another eighteenth-century American rarity, A.P. Folie’s 1792 Plan of the Town of Baltimore, never before seen at auction.

Several truly scarce sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Dutch imprints will be on offer, including a map of southern Africa by Petrus Plancius with an inset view of a shipwrecked crew being accosted by giant lobsters, and a run of maps by obscure publisher Pieter Verbiest. Pocket maps include James Turnbull’s 1828 map of Ohio, and a notable example of late-nineteenth century mapmaker Emil Fischer’s Map of Southwestern Colorado.

Dutch Imprints

Abraham Ortelius, Islandia, Antwerp, 1598. $5,000 to $7,500.
Pieter Verbiest, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica, Antwerp, 1636. $10,000 to $15,000.

American

Emil B. Fischer, Map of Southwestern Colorado, lithograph, 1893. $2,000 to $3,000.
James Turnbull, Ohio, hand-colored pocket map, 1828. $2,000 to $3,000.
William Faden, A Plan of New York Island, first issue, first state, London, 1776. $6,000 to $9,000.
Antoinne Pierre Folie, Plan of the Town of Baltimore and its Environs, Philadelphia, 1792. $7,000 to $10,000.
Lewis Evans, A General Map of the Middle British Colonies, proof copy, annotated, signed & dated by Evans, Philadelphia, 1755. $30,000 to $50,000.

Atlases

Jacob Robyn, after Arent Roggeveen, The First Part of the Burning Fen, with English text, Amsterdam, circa 1680. $20,000 to $30,000.
Edward Wells, A New Sett of Maps Both of Antient and Present Geography, Oxford, 1700. $5,000 to $7,500.

Natural History & Color Plate Books

Plate books are represented by George Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio; an exquisite copy of John Fisk Allen and William Sharp’s chromolithographs of giant water lilies, Victoria Regia; and a complete run of the first 54 volumes of William Curtis’s lovely hand-colored Botanical Magazine.

William Curtis, The Botanical Magazine, complete run of 54 volumes, London, 1787-1827. $7,000 to $10,000.
John Fisk Allen & William Sharp, Victoria Regia, Boston, 1854. $15,000 to $20,000.
George Catlin, North American Indian Portfolio, London, 1844. $30,000 to $50,000.

Other Highlights

Other highlights include a massive stack of marine sketches by Oswald Walters Brierly, nearly all of the 200 chromolithographs of religious Renaissance master paintings published by the Arundel Society, and a spectacular hand-painted Art Deco-period aerial photograph of New York City.

Large bird’s-eye view of New York City, hand-painted photograph mounted to canvas, circa 1933. $2,000 to $3,000.
Genêt & Michon, Art Deco table lamp, Paris, circa 1930. $2,000 to $3,000.
Oswald Walters Brierly, group of approximately 275 marine sketches, mid-nineteenth century. $8,000 to $12,000.
Arundel Society, group of approximately 185 chromolithographed Renaissance master paintings, London, late-nineteenth century. $6,000 to $9,000.

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