Martyan Lan has released its 34th catalogue, featuring "Fine Antique Maps, Atlases and Globes." Maps, atlases and globes are much more difficult to write about than books. Books are, essentially, text, while maps are visual. How do you describe the Mona Lisa in words? You don't, at least not adequately. So what follows is a few very inadequate descriptions of the material available. Map collectors will need the catalogue to begin to appreciate what is being offered.
Starting right from the top, item 1 is a 1632 Champlain map, Carte de la Nouvelle France... Champlain, of course, was more than a mapmaker. He was an explorer who had the personal experience to design his maps of the New World. This map of "New France" covers much of what is today Canada, New England, and the northeastern United States. It is also the first to show the Great Lakes as a network of lakes. Champlain depicted five separate lakes at a time when others still showed one large one. It isn't perfect, and he didn't get Lake Champlain right, but it was far ahead for its day. Priced at $120,000.
Item 34 is a three-map sheet by Ortelius from 1584. One map is of La Florida. What is remarkable about this map is how accurately Florida is depicted. Later maps would be far less true, some almost unrecognizable. Martyan Lan notes that some maps as late as the mid-18th century were less accurate. $3,000.
An example of deterioration in mapping is the 1600 Quad map Novi Orbis pars Borealis, America Scilicet, complectens Floridam... By this time, Florida had evolved into two peninsulas. There is much else that's highly inaccurate, including a straight, clear Northwest Passage that so many vainly sought. Item 21. $4,500. By 1636, Dutch mapmakers Jansson and Hondius were generating a more accurate North America in America Septentrionalis. They had the good sense to leave most of the northwestern part of the continent blank, rather than invent something. However, they did adopt one inaccuracy that developed at the time: they show California as an island. Maybe after the next major earthquake it will be, but not yet. Item 22. $8,500.
Speaking of California, it was still attached to the mainland in 1598. This rare Metellus map, Granata Nova Et California, is based primarily on Spanish sources. It predates the 17th century island myth and is thereby more accurate than some of the maps that succeeded it. Item 53. $5,500.
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…
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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.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
