NEW YORK – Maps are beautiful, and their details make them so. Good maps make a landscape pleasing and intelligible; great ones turn information into art. Maps that are designed to be pictorial offer more opportunities for artistic beauty, as do maps of cities, because cities provide more data points to style and convey.

On August 17, starting at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will host a sale of Antiquarian Pictorial Maps & City Views. The 105-lot sale is curated by maps expert Steve Kovacs. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

First among the highlights is a map that is antique, but not by much. Created in 1901, this map of Portland, Oregon was evidently drawn to attract real estate developers and would-be homeowners. The reverse side of the map touts the area as “LITERALLY A COMMUNITY IN MOTION” due to the more than 650 cars moving through it daily. It also promises the following: “Strictly a Dwelling Tract / We will Help you Build / Reasonable Building Limit / No Shacks  No Shanties”. The map carries an estimate of $700-$800.

Next up is a slightly older map that depicts a much older city. Dating to circa 1895, it carries a blessedly straightforward title that basically translates to “plan of the city of Rome and its surroundings.” At the bottom of the color lithograph map you will find an image of a sculpture of Romulus and Remus, the mythical twin founders of Rome, suckling from the teats of a she-wolf. The map of Rome is estimated at $200-$250.

Also of note is a centuries-old European map that depicts another centuries-old city. Created in 1651 by a cartographer who signed himself J Mejer, it depicts Ribe, the oldest city in what is now Denmark. Located on an island, the main features of the Danish city are represented, including Ribe Cathedral, which was formally completed in 1496. The map is estimated at $200-$250.

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