NEW YORK – A scarce view of the United States showing important places during the War of 1812 is one of many fascinating antique maps offered in a Jasper52 online auction on Tuesday, March 20. Absentee and Internet bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
Published by Edward Baines, Leeds, England, on Aug. 5, 1816, cartographer R. Walker’s hand-colored map (above) is titled the United States of America Exhibiting the Seat of War on the Canadian Frontier from 1812 to 1815. The map, which covers the eastern United States, shows many forts, early settlements, Indian tribal areas and villages. An inset map in the lower right, “Chart of Lakes Erie & Ontario on an Enlarged Scale,” shows the main theater of war, including several forts. In the War of 1812, the United States took on Great Britain, the greatest naval power in the world, and won in great part to the pivotal Battle of Lake Erie. The map has a $500-$600 estimate.
Another attractive and sought-after map is J.H. Colton’s 1876 Map of the Western United States (below). This pocket folding map spans Chicago and New Orleans west to the Pacific Ocean. Much topographical detail is given to towns, cities, proposed and existing railroads (the Pacific Railroad being complete from Iowa to San Francisco), wagon roads, the Pony Express route and John C. Fremont’s exploration routes and dates. The map is decorated with an elaborate border, which is customary for Colton.
A map printed in 1720 Johann Baptiste Homann shows the East Coast of Colonial America from Virginia to Florida. Despite its small size, much detail is given to mountains, rivers, roads/trails, forts and Indians villages.
Cartographer Guillaume De L’Isle’s 1730 map of North America is a hand-colored copperplate engraving based on French exploration of the present-day U.S. Midwest. The 21-by-25-inch map is remarkable for its accuracy for the Great Lakes and the mouth of the Mississippi, while most of the West is unknown.
The auction also features a fascinating early 19th-century reissue by the French firm of J.B. Nolin of the 1787 Clouet map of the Americas, revised and updated to a degree to take into account the later voyages of England’s Capt. James Cook. A slightly more up-to-date inset map focuses on northern North America and the explorations of Cook, Clark and the Russians. The highly decorative title cartouche features America riding a fierce alligator and gazing upon a cornucopia.
A cartouche supported by seven Indians is the highlight of Ogilby’s 1680 map of eastern South America. The 11 ¼-by-14 ¼-inch map is titled Paraqvaria Vulgo Paragvay Cum Adjacentibus and covers Rio de la Plata to Rio de Janeiro.
The Jasper52 auction will be Tuesday, March 20, at 8 p.m.
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