Rare Book Monthly

Articles - August - 2023 Issue

OldMaps.com: We have exciting news!

More information soon n a single search

More information soon n a single search

By Curt and Marti Griggs

 

We are retiring!  We began our love affair with antique maps nearly forty years ago.  Starting out as collectors, we transitioned into gallery owners, then acquired an auction company specializing in cartography, wrote a book on map collecting, and compiled the data you all know as the Antique Map Price Record (AMPR) at Oldmaps.com.  While we will always love antique maps, it is time to spend our time traveling to many of the places on our favorite maps. 

The Antique Map Price Record has a long and distinguished history.  It was first published in a small hard-bound volume titled Antique Maps, Sea Charts, City Views, Celestial Charts & Battle Plans - Price Guide and Collectors' Handbook.  David C. Jolly started with sales data from just twenty-five dealer catalogs. The annual publication became known simply as Jolly’s in the trade and became an essential reference tool for map collectors, dealers, and libraries.  

In 1992 Jon Rosenthal (Kimmel Publications) succeeded Jolly and the AMPR continued in printed form until 2000.  Bringing it into the 21st Century, Jeremy Poole, of MapRecord Publications, converted to a CD-ROM format in 2002. This format allowed for the creation of a cumulative database bringing all the data from the 1983-2000 books into a searchable, computer-based format.  He published annual CD-ROM editions until 2011, compiling a total of 138,323 data records.

In 1999 we started Oldmaps.com to provide collectors with pricing data on the nascent Internet.  In 2012, we took over the AMPR database and combined the data with our database at OldMaps.com.  This freed users from being tethered to a physical device so pricing records were available anytime and from anywhere with an Internet connection.  Over the years we expanded the information. Improved searching and added numerous services.  The OldMaps database has grown to include information on the antique map market from hundreds of dealers and auctions across the globe. 

It is time once again to pass the torch.  Oldmaps.com has been acquired by Bruce McKinney’s RareBookHub.com.  We believe this is a great development for our subscribers.  RBH has the depth and expertise to improve your online experience with over 13.2 million pricing records. Thank you for your support and business over the years.

With best regards,

Curt and Marti Griggs


Posted On: 2023-08-01 12:55
User Name: quaggabooks

So does this mean that subscribers to this platform will have access to the Oldmaps database?


Posted On: 2023-08-04 00:28
User Name: cgault

I too would like to know if Rare Book Hub subscribers will have access to the Oldmaps database and, if so, when?
Charles Bartman, Appraiser, Books, Maps, Archives, Documents, and Ephemera


Posted On: 2023-08-09 18:10
User Name: adminb

We expect to make OB available to our paid services members relatively soon.

Yes. Our software team is on it.


Rare Book Monthly

  • Heritage Auctions
    Rare Books Signature Auction
    December 15, 2025
    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Bram Stoker. Dracula. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1897.
    Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.

Article Search

Archived Articles