Maps from the Age of Exploration from the Arader Galleries
Waldseemuller's 1513 American map; followed by Munster's of 1540.
Item 69 is a first edition (1597) of Descriptionis Ptolemaicae augmentum, sive Occidentis Notitia... by Cornelius Wyfliet. This was the first atlas devoted entirely to the Americas. It has eight maps of North America, including the first to use the name "Canada," the first map of central Canada, the first map devoted to California (correctly showing it as a peninsula rather than an island), and the second to name "Virginia." Ten maps are devoted to South America, while one depicts Antarctica. $450,000.
Item 72 is Samuel de Champlain's final map of New France (today's eastern Canada, New England, and part of the American Midwest). It is his Carte de la nouvelle France from his voyages to New France, published in 1632. The coastal areas are quite accurate for the time, and Champlain did manage to include four of the five Great Lakes, though their depiction and placement is far less true. An illustration of a church is believe to be a recognition of a Dutch presence and thereby the first depiction of New York on a printed map. However, no such recognition is given to the British in New England, perhaps a consequence of the long rivalry between that nation and France. Champlain's map shows an open passage to the north of the continent, a clear depiction of a Northwest Passage explorers would spend centuries attempting to find. $290,000.
By 1650, Nicolas Sanson would show all five Great Lakes in his map Amerique Septentrionale, originally from the atlas Les Cartes Generales... However, by this time, mapmakers had also severed California from the mainland, showing it as an island. Sanson includes Santa Fe as the capital of New Mexico and adds the words "Apache" and "Navajo" to the map. Item 77. $18,000.
We move to the end of the era of exploration with item 96, a complete set of Captain James Cook's three voyages. Cook would chart much of Australia and New Zeeland, put an end to the myth of a massive southern continent, become the first European to visit Hawaii (where he ultimately was killed), and unsuccessfully attempt to find a Northwest Passage. Offered is the complete nine-volume set in first editions, including the atlas. $67,500.
You may reach the Arader Galleries at 212-628-3668.
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. 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.
![<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.")
