Old World Auctions - Maps of Rivers, Islands, and Cities
- by Thomas C. McKinney
As fall approaches this month, Old World Auctions is doing its part to usher in the new season for map collectors with the third of its four annual online-only sales. With the house’s focus on cartographic material, OWA’s Sale #150 includes 750 lots of maps and atlases, as well as old and rare books with maps, geography books, globes, prints, illuminated manuscripts, and reference books. The sale will go online September 3rd and close September 17th at 10PM eastern.
In terms of subject matter, Old World Auctions bills this sale as having a particularly high quality of maps of rivers, islands, and cities around the world. North American rivers including the St. Lawrence, Hudson, Ohio and the fictitious Longue River, as well as European like the Danube, Volga, and Dnieper are all part of Sale #150. Islands found within every ocean are mapped and available for sale—Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Iceland, Cyprus, Cuba, Jamaica, New Zealand, Tierra del Fuego, the British Isles, and Nantucket. And finally plans and views of dozens of cities around the world will be available in the sale; a rare and spectacular bird’s-eye view of Naples, Italy published by Antonio Lafreri being one of the standouts.
Individual rarities are also being featured in the sale. They include the first state of Pedro de Medina’s map of the North Atlantic Ocean, Nuevo Mundo, being the first to depict the Papal Line of Demarcation. Another is John Ogilby’s rare First Lords Proprietors map, A New Discription of Carolina by Order of the Lords Proprietors, which was employed as a promotional tool encouraging expansion and settlement in Maryland and the Carolinas in the late 1600s. Several rare and important maps of Canada including Blaeu’s only map of Canada, Extrema Americae Versus Boream, ubi Terra Nova Nova Francia, and Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan’s map of Canada and the Great Lakes, Carte Generale de Canada.
The following are ten highlights of the September sale:
Pitt's Rare Carte-a-Figures Map in Full Original Color. Moses Pitt, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula, 1680. Estimate $11000 - $13000
Extremely Rare First State of Medina's Map. Pedro de Medina, Nuevo Mundo, 1545. Estimate $10000 - $15000
Rare Edition of Ptolemy's Map of Sri Lanka. Ptolemy/Germanus, Duodecima Asie Tabula, 1486. Estimate $6000 - $7500
Cellarius' Chart of an Earth-Centric Solar System. Cellarius/Schenk & Valck, Orbium Planetarum Terram Complectentium Scenographia, 1708. Estimate $1600 - $1900
Stunning and Scarce View of Naples. Antonio Lafreri, Quale e di Quanta Importanza, e Bellezza sia la Nobile Cita di Napole in Italia, 1566. Estimate $7000 - $9000
Blaeu's Only Map of Canada, Showing the Canadian Maritimes. Johannes Blaeu, Extrema Americae Versus Boream, ubi Terra Nova Nova Francia, Adjacentiaq, 1670. Estimate $2000 - $2300
One of the Most Decorative and Influential Maps of Southeast Asia. Linschoten/Langren, Exacta & Accurata Delineatio cum Orarum Maritimarum tum Etiam Locorum Terrestrium quae in Regionibus China..., 1596. Estimate $13000 - $15000
Lahontan's Map of Canada and the Great Lakes. Louis Armand, Baron de Lahontan, Carte Generale de Canada..., 1705. Estimate $2000 - $2400
Blaeu's Strip-Map of the Dnieper River. Blaeu, Lectori S. Hunc Borysthenis Tractum ut ad Nostrum Geographiae Tabulam..., 1640. Estimate $1600 - $2000
Ogilby's Scarce and Influential First Lords Proprietors Map. Moxon/Ogilby, A New Discription of Carolina by Order of the Lords Proprietors, 1673. Estimate $12000 - $15000
Old World Auctions offers a 100% money back guarantee on the authenticity and condition of every item in the auction. They feature a 10-minute rule at the close of the auction, which keeps lots with active bidding open for an additional 10 minutes, until there are no bids on the lot for a full 10 minutes. All of their packaging and shipping is done in-house, and they ship to over 70 countries each year.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Medical Incunabula: Petit (Jean)publisher & Kerver (Thielman)printer. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, sm. 8vo, Paris [1498]
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Hugo (Victor) [Wraxall (Lascelles)]. Les Miserable, 3 vols., 8vo, L. (Hurst & Blackett) 1862, First Authorized English Translation (copyright).
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft). Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus, 8vo, 2 vols. in one, L. (G. & W.B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria-Lane) 1823.
June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Cuisine: Anon. Cookery, Pastry, and Sweet Meats in three Books, Alphabetically Digested, 8vo 1710.
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Lambert (Aylmer Bourke). A Description of the Genus Pinus, with Directions Relative to the Cultivation…, 2 vols. Sm. folio L. (Messrs. Weddell) 1832.
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Botany: Curtis (William). Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London, 2 vols. folio, London (B. White) 1777 – 1798.
June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Le Moire (J.M.) Maple Leaves, Canadian History and Quebec Scenery (Third Series) 8vo Quebec (Hunter, Rose & Co.) 1865. First Edn.
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: The Earliest Extant Printed House Contents Sale Catalogue in Ireland: Baillie, Auctioneer, Abby Street. A Catalogue of the Goods and Stock of the late Edward Wingfield…
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: William III King of England. Autograph Letter Signed ("William R") to an unnamed correspondent [possibly Charles-Henri de Lorraine] discussing his strategy against the French forces during the siege of Namur.
June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: [Austen (Jane) (1785-1817]. Pride and Prejudice, 3 vols. sm. 8vo, L. (T. Egerton) 1813.
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Heaney (Seamus). Ugolino, sm. folio D. (Dolmen) 1979, Limited Edn. No. 78/125 Copies, Signed by Seamus Heaney, Louis le Brocquy, Liam Miller and Andrew Carpenter.
Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Voltaire (F.M. Avouet de). Petits Ouvrages, attribues a M. de Voltaire, sm. folio manuscript, dated 1776, containing 9 works.
Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
June 25, 2026
Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
