Forty years ago Victor Grace and his wife Jackie lived in New Jersey where they built a career and a life around the search for and later sale of beautiful material. Victor from the outset was and to this day is, an art conservator who is equally at home with important paintings and rare engravings. Jackie, following a career in New York, took a hand in the selling of their maps and charts that became, when they moved to Maine twenty years ago, the intensifying focus of their firm - Grace Galleries – selling primarily but not exclusively, maps. “It has been a lovely trade, great fun to make discoveries and exciting to sell.” These days they are shifting focus, this time from old and rare maps to English and European engravings, a soft spot with Jackie who grew up in England and these many years later, still speaks with a London accent. Sages have said you can take the kid out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the kid. For Jackie this is a return to her roots.
Through their now forty year career the common ingredients have been ‘discovery’ and ‘sale.' “We hope to continue to make discoveries although our focus will narrow. To complete this transition they have consigned 300 lots of maps to Old World Auctions of Glen Allen, Virginia. The auction is a seven-day online event that concludes on the 3rd. Jackie describes the material as very good. “We’ve handled this level of material for years, learned the variations of issue and color and are unconditionally guaranteeing, as we have with all our maps over the years, the authenticity of these lots.”
These days Victor and Jackie live in Harpswell on the Maine coast. “When I look out to sea I can’t see England but I know where my heart is.”
For institutions, collectors and dealers the Grace’s decision to close one chapter and start another provides the opportunity to buy appealing maps at attractive prices. “It’s my hope that all material will be sold and our modest reserves should make this possible.”
For Old World Auctions, owned by Jon and Eliane Dotson for the past two years, this is their first foray into single owner auctions, the gold standard of the auction business. “We're proud to partner with Victor and Jackie Grace. They sent high quality and interesting material, which coupled with our extensive condition descriptions and zoomable images, offer something for every collector.”
The following items are some of the high points.
Lot 61: Nova Anglia Septentrionali Americae Implantata Anglorumque Coloniis Florentissima, by Homann, circa 1730, estimate $1500 - $1700
Lot 62: A Map of the Province of New York, with Part of Pensilvania, and New England, by Montresor, dated 1775, estimate $4000 - $5000
Lot 92: Plan de la Baie et du Havre de Casco et des Iles Adjacentes…, by Sartine, dated 1779, estimate $1000 - $1200
Lot 94: Carte de l'Ile de Martha's Vineyard avec ses Dependances…, by Tardieu, published 1787, estimate $1400 - $1700
Lot 152: Paskaart van't Canaal Engelandt Schotlandt en Yrland. Naaukeurig. Opgestelt en Dienstig Voor die Achter Yrland Omkomen…, by Keulen, Johannes van, Circa 1698, estimate $1300 - $1500
Lot 163: Verschiedene Reisen des Auctoris, by Seligmann, circa 1749, estimate $250 - $350
Lot 263: Aethiopia Superior vel Interior; vulgo Abissinorum sive Presbiteri Ioannis Imperium, by Jansson, circa 1646, estimate $600 - $800
Lot 265: Mer de Sud, ou Pacifique, Contenant L'Isle De Californe, les Costes de Mexique, du Perou, Chili, et le Detroit de Magellanique, &c., by Mortier, circa 1693, estimate $3500 - $4250
Lot 269: Carte des Nouvelles Decouvertes au Nord de la Mer du Sud, tant a l'Est de la Siberie et du Kamtchatka, au'a l'Ouest de la Nouvelle France, by Santini, published 1776, estimate $1600 - $1800
Lot 283: Carte de la Nle. Zelande Visitee en 1769 et 1770. Par le Lieutenant J. Cook Commandant de l'Endeavour Vaisseau de la Majeste, by Cook/Benard, published 1774, estimate $1600 - $1800
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