SEDONA, ARIZ. – Old World Auctions recently completed Auction 96 that featured 614 lots of original rare antique maps, atlases, globes and related material. Bidding was by mail, phone and via their website.
Ville de Manathe ou Nouvelle-Yorc is a French map of colonial New York City. It shows the southern portion of Manhattan and includes the present day financial districts and the site of the former World Trade Center. Drawn by J.B.L. Franquelin, it details the streets, buildings and fortifications that existed in 1693. This small map (6.3 by 8.1 inches) realized $930.
Maps that depict Belgium and Holland in the shape of a lion were done by several cartographers during the 1600s. Titled “Leo Belgicus” or Lion of Belgium and bringing $930 was a title page from a 1643 atlas by Famiano Strada. Leo Belgicus was drawn in several forms and this five by five-inch version was based on the original Aitsinger form with the lion standing facing right with the raised right paw and holding a shield. Maps of this type map are referred to as “Curiosities,” a popular area of map collecting.
An uncommon and famous Dutch sea chart that shows the New England coast from Nantucket to Nova Scotia was rendered with considerable detail and includes both Plymouth and Boston harbors. It is from the fourth part of Van Keulen’s important and popular sea atlas, which was devoted to the Americas. The large and beautifully engraved chart embellished with a decorative cartouche, sailing ship, compass roses and rhumb lines, realized $4,400.
Based on Visscher’s Bible map of 1663, a double hemisphere world map from a Dutch Bible published by Pieter Keur showed the hemispheres surrounded by superb engravings, which include nu-merous exotic animals and four female allegorical representations of the continents. At top and bottom are two diagrams depicting the Copernican and Ptolemaic theories of the solar system. California is shown as an island, a common misconception of European cartographers of the day. This fine folio-sized map sold for $2,640.
“The results from Sale 96 were strong despite the unfortunate timing of our close,” says Marti Griggs, the auction owner and a recognized expert in the field of antique maps. “We have enjoyed a phenomenal growth in the number of consignors working with us. The quality and rarity of material they bring to auction is unsurpassed.”
