Item 14 is the interesting Spanish collection of sea charts, Portulano de la America Setentrional, published in 1809. While described as covering America, the 121 charts are all from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, giving rise to the belief that the Spanish planned to follow this up with charts of America's west coast. That was not to be. In the next decade, Spain's control over territories in the Americas would slip away, and the need to continue this project would disappear with those colonies. £12,000 (US $23,625).

Item 3 is The London Atlas of Universal Geography...by John Arrowsmith. Don't be fooled by the London title. It is an international atlas, and its timing (dated 1842 though published in 1844) coincides with the independence of the Texas Republic. It includes a map of the Republic of Texas, and it is a map of the expansive state (including much of current New Mexico, Colorado, and even a slice of Wyoming) that its founders claimed. Those boundaries would later be reduced by the Compromise of 1850. £25,000 (US $49,220).

Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books may be visited online at www.shapero.com, telephone +44 (0)20 7493 0876.