Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - June - 2003 Issue

July Catalogue Review

Map offered from Martayan Lan

Map offered from Martayan Lan

In the catalogue addendum: Civil War / Tennessee / Kentucky. Swann, Charles E. [Cincinnati, 1863] Military Map of the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, within eleven miles of the 35th parallel of latitude or southern boundary of Tennessee; compiled from the best authentic original maps... 50 ¼ x 84 ½ inches. Period outline color, linen backed, dissected, and folding. Minor signs of aging, but a very nice example of a rare map. $6,750

First edition (of two.) This mammouth map of Kentucky and Tennessee, published by the Department of the Ohio of the United States Army, was the definitive map of the area during the Civil War. As the contemporary ms. notation on the map states, the map was distributed directly to Union officers.

On the eve of the war, few good maps existed of areas in which fighting was likely to occur. It fell to the Corps of Engineers of both the Union and Confederate armies to attempt to fill the void. Drawn on a scale of 5 ½ miles to the inch, this map was the largest and most detailed for Kentucky and Tennessee produced by either side. It locates iron works and forges, salt works, mills, post offices, railroads, proposed railroads, improved turnpikes and stage roads, common roads, coal fields, and a wealth of other detail of military interest. The compilation was a massive project undertaken over several years under three successive Departmental commanders –Buell, Wright, and Burnside—and three Chief Engineers – Michler, Sitgreaves, and Simpson. Each of these engineers has already distinguished themselves in the field of army mapping. Michler had worked for the Mexican Boundary Survey, and both Sitgreaves and Simpson had been instrumental in the exploration and mapping of the American Southwest (See, for example, James Harvey Simpson, Report and Map of the Route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1850; Lorenzo Sitgreaves, Report of an Expedition Down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers, 1853.)

Copies of the map were distributed to high-ranking officers of the Department of the Ohio. The value in which it was held is forcefully indicated by the notation in the lower margin, in which these officers are admonished to “hold them (the maps) useful for the public service & [to] be careful to transmit them to their successors in command.” This particular copy was presented to “Acting Master Geo. J. Groves by LeRoy Fitch Lt. Commander 10th District Miss[issippi] Squadron.

Stephenson, Civil War Maps An Annotated List of Maps and Atlases in the Library of Congress, 216.7

Such a map as this is itself a roadmap to collecting either Civil War material or books and ephemera relating to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Martayan Lan is located in New York City at 48 East 57th Street, New York, New York 10022. They have a toll-free line (800) 423-3741 and local lines (212) 308-0018. Their website is www.martayanlan.com and their email address info@martayanlan.com

Michael Brown Rare Books
Catalogue 31
Americana

Certain kinds of catalogues simply work better with the Æ Database. These are the catalogues that detail the underpinnings of Americana. Such catalogues assume that everything in the Americana field is collectible and worth describing in detail. Our Æ Database works very well with well described material and finds logical ways to connect material no matter how diverse so long as they are thoroughly detailed. Every item in Catalogue 31 Americana fits into hundreds if not thousands of potential collections. Some catalogues are bouillon. These catalogues are bouillabaisse.

#33. Reid, Arthur, Reminiscences of the Revolution, or, Le Loup’s Bloody Trail from Salem to Fort Edward. Utica: Roberts, Book & Job Printer, 1859, octavo, 31 page pamphlet, original printed wraps, some minor chipping to fore-edge of front wrapper, otherwise a good clean copy. Howes R-164. $85

In the years following the Revolution accounts were printed of various events, often those with some local connection. Local printers undertook these projects. They are an interesting category of collecting and this is an inexpensive, and certainly very rare, piece.

#36. Tucker, Josiah, Four Tracts, Together with Two Sermons, on Political and Commercial Subjects. Glocester: Printed by R. Raikes, and Sold by J. Rivington, 1774, first edition, octavo, (2), xv, 9-216, 35, 1 pp., bound in recent ¼ blue polished calf, leather label, marbles boards, text clean, a very good clean copy. Contains the following tracts: A Solution of the Important Question, Whether a Poor Country...can supplant the Trade of a rich manufacturing Country (written in 1758, but here first printed); The Case of going to War for the Sake of Trade; A Letter from a Merchant in London, to his Nephew in America, concerning the late and present Disturbances in the Colonies; The True Interest of Great-Britain set forth in regard to the Colonies...Adams American Controversy 74-80a, Howes T-384, Sabin 97346 $500

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 9, 2025
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
    Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
  • Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
  • 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…

Review Search

Archived Reviews