Results from Swann's Maps & Atlases Sale
New York—An impressive selection of American maps led to active bidding by dealers and collectors alike in Swann Galleries’ December 8 auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Historical Prints, Ephemera—and a few records were set along the way.
The sale’s top-selling map was a lovely copy of Fry-Jefferson, A Map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland, four sheets, London, 1775, which brought a record $28,800. Also setting auction records were Morden / Berry, A New Map of the English Plantations in America, both Continent and Islands, London, circa 1673, $13,200; and David M. Burr, Map of New Jersey and Pennsylvania Exhibiting the Post Offices, Post Roads, Canals, Rail Roads, &c, hand-colored, Washington, 1839, $4,080.
Other significant maps of American subjects included an early manuscript plat map of Rhode Island’s Conanicut Island, circa 1723, $14,400; Herman Moll, A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britian on ye Continent of North America, London, circa 1735, $12,000; and William Faden, The Province of New Jersey, Divided into East and West, commonly called The Jerseys, folding map, London, 1777, $14,400.
Atlases and groups of maps also performed well, with a copy of Carey’s American Atlas: Containing Twenty Maps and One Chart, the first American atlas published in America, Philadelphia, 1795, selling for $24,000; and a group of over 22 maps concerning the growth of California during the 1920s and 1930s, achieving a surprising price of $16,800 against an estimate of just $400 to $600.
A beautiful but incomplete copy of David Roberts’s six-volume illustrated masterpiece The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, London, 1842-49, was the highest priced item in the auction, bringing $33,600.
Other notable books with plates included Florence H. Woodward, The Genus Masdevallia, with 87 hand-colored lithographed plates of orchids, London, 1896, $4,800, and a partial copy of Thomas and William Daniell, Oriental Scenery . . . of Hindoostan, with 92 plates, London, 1816, $2,400.
There were several individual hand-colored Audubon plates, among them Barnacle Goose, Plate CCXCVI, from Birds of America, London, 1836, $5,040; in addition to a hand-colored Nathaniel Currier print after Louis Maurer’s Deer Shooting “on the Shattagee,” New York, 1855, $3,690; Edward Sachse’s hand-colored View of Washington City, Baltimore, 1870, $3,600; and a circa 1873 Bird’s Eye View of the City of Houston, Texas, $3,840.
The top-selling item from a small selection of ephemera was a deck of 77 18th century French playing cards in their original box, $2,280.
For complete results, an illustrated color catalogue, with prices realized on request, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, and may be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to propose consignments to upcoming auctions of Maps & Atlases, Natural History and Historical Prints, please contact Gary Garland at (212) 254-4710, ext. 17, or via email at ggarland@swanngalleries.com.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
The sale’s top-selling map was a lovely copy of Fry-Jefferson, A Map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland, four sheets, London, 1775, which brought a record $28,800. Also setting auction records were Morden / Berry, A New Map of the English Plantations in America, both Continent and Islands, London, circa 1673, $13,200; and David M. Burr, Map of New Jersey and Pennsylvania Exhibiting the Post Offices, Post Roads, Canals, Rail Roads, &c, hand-colored, Washington, 1839, $4,080.
Other significant maps of American subjects included an early manuscript plat map of Rhode Island’s Conanicut Island, circa 1723, $14,400; Herman Moll, A New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britian on ye Continent of North America, London, circa 1735, $12,000; and William Faden, The Province of New Jersey, Divided into East and West, commonly called The Jerseys, folding map, London, 1777, $14,400.
Atlases and groups of maps also performed well, with a copy of Carey’s American Atlas: Containing Twenty Maps and One Chart, the first American atlas published in America, Philadelphia, 1795, selling for $24,000; and a group of over 22 maps concerning the growth of California during the 1920s and 1930s, achieving a surprising price of $16,800 against an estimate of just $400 to $600.
A beautiful but incomplete copy of David Roberts’s six-volume illustrated masterpiece The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, London, 1842-49, was the highest priced item in the auction, bringing $33,600.
Other notable books with plates included Florence H. Woodward, The Genus Masdevallia, with 87 hand-colored lithographed plates of orchids, London, 1896, $4,800, and a partial copy of Thomas and William Daniell, Oriental Scenery . . . of Hindoostan, with 92 plates, London, 1816, $2,400.
There were several individual hand-colored Audubon plates, among them Barnacle Goose, Plate CCXCVI, from Birds of America, London, 1836, $5,040; in addition to a hand-colored Nathaniel Currier print after Louis Maurer’s Deer Shooting “on the Shattagee,” New York, 1855, $3,690; Edward Sachse’s hand-colored View of Washington City, Baltimore, 1870, $3,600; and a circa 1873 Bird’s Eye View of the City of Houston, Texas, $3,840.
The top-selling item from a small selection of ephemera was a deck of 77 18th century French playing cards in their original box, $2,280.
For complete results, an illustrated color catalogue, with prices realized on request, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, and may be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com.
For further information, and to propose consignments to upcoming auctions of Maps & Atlases, Natural History and Historical Prints, please contact Gary Garland at (212) 254-4710, ext. 17, or via email at ggarland@swanngalleries.com.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
