Antique Map Dealer Publishes Catalogue Of The World's Printed Antique Maps

Trying to find information on printed antique maps can be frustrating.  Collectors like reference works to list maps of a particular region and parts of that region in publication date order. Such a work exists for antique maps of North America ... but it only goes up to the year 1700. What about the period 1701 to 1850? Other regions may not have reference works at all, or if they do, they may not include maps of parts of the region concerned, or may be selective in other ways. Antique map information is full of black holes, which is why some potential collectors may decide to give antique maps a miss. However, Map World’s new catalogue in CD format contains 25000 maps of all parts of the world, which are listed by region and sub-region and in date order to the year 1850. Included are titles, sizes and some illustrations.

Map World’s new catalogue is important in another way. Virtually no reference works give current replacement values. Most antique maps can be replaced because more than one map was printed, and sometimes a few thousand were printed … although around 80 per cent of all antique maps have been destroyed. Map World’s catalogue lets you see what the replacement costs of individual antique maps are likely to be in 2010 and hopefully future editions will keep the collector up to date. 

The catalogue costs £45 ($70). Map World’s website is www.map-world.com. Map World was established in 1982, had a shop in the famous Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly, London, UK for 17 years until 2009, when the owner decided to trade in cyberspace.