NEW ACQUISITIONS

This monumental 1855 lithographed panorama captures the view from the summit of Santa Lucia, or Huelén Hill, at the center of Santiago, Chile. It was executed based on photographs taken on the hilltop by Captain's Clerk E. R. Smith during the United States' Naval Astronomical Expedition of the Southern Hemisphere. (more details)

This evocative map of Greece and the Greek Islands was added to Münster's Cosmographia in 1588 as part of Sebastian Petri's extensive update of the work, presenting a state-of-the-art mapping of the region. (more details)

This is a woodcut view of Florence, Italy, included in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographei of 1614. A hub of medieval European trade and finance, Florence was among the wealthiest cities of the fifteenth century and is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. An architectural and artistic treasure, Florence has been since 1982 a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Consequently, the 16th century city presented here is quite recognizable: the medieval walled city is bisected by the Arno, with four bridges spanning the flood. The Duomo, the baptistery of San Giovanni, and the Campanile are all easily found.

Despite the late date of this example, it was one of the earliest printed views of the city. At the time of its addition to the work in 1572, it was preceded in print only by the view from Hartmann Schedel's 1493 Liber chronicarum and the 1550 view in Münster's Cosmographia which the present work replaced. The same year of 1572 saw the publication of Braun and Hogenberg's city book, which also included a view of Florence - but the two have no resemblance, and one is not a copy of the other. Münster's publishers and heirs, Heinrich and Sebastian Petri, appear to have used the author's original map as the model for this woodcut. The main changes to that view are decorative elements: the ornate border woodcuts, the two winged Victories presenting the city with laurels, and (top and center,) the city coat of arms, flanked by two women with palm branches: also avatars of triumph. (more details)

This is a 1904 map of the groundwater table and water supply infrastructure on western Long Island produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. Part of the effort to map Long Island's water resources, it addressed a critical need for information as the water demands of the rapidly growing New York City increased. (more details)

This is a rare, separately-issued 1851 nautical map or chart of the Mississippi River Delta. It is among the earliest detailed surveys of this portion of the notoriously tricky and vitally important waterway. This example is notable for being separately-issued on thicker paper and engraved rather than lithographed. (more details)

This is J. N. Bellin's 1768 edition of Niels Horrebow's map of Iceland, based on the first trigonometrical survey of the country. (more details)

This is a whimsical c. 1943 pictorial map of Denver, Colorado, by artist Harold Wolfinbarger. It presents the city during World War II, when Denver, like other Western cities with military facilities, experienced a population boom. (more details)

This is William Schmidt and H. V. Kuhlmann's large-format c. 1875 wall map of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the finest map of Milwaukee during the late 19th century, when it underwent a period of fast-paced immigration-fueled development. The map is invaluable as a snapshot of Milwaukee’s emergence as an industrial and immigrant metropolis, documenting neighborhoods, infrastructure, and development patterns. (more details)

This is a 1915 Frank L. Anders city planning map of Fargo, North Dakota. This was the official city planning map of Fargo during its early 20th-century building boom in response to immigration and as a grain and railroad town. (more details)

A scarce, large-format 1943 Japanese Serizawa Keigo World War II map of the world, with insets focusing on Southeast Asia. The map implicitly celebrates Japan's wartime empire, near its furthest extent at the time, in particular the 'East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere', intended to replace Western colonialism in Asia. (more details)

This is a 1967 John A. Johns original manuscript art for a pictorial game map of New England. This game was intended for publication by the Pittsburgh Press, but may never have been printed, as we can find no other record of it. (more details)

An uncommon and beautiful map of Lake Geneva engraved by Jodocus Hondius for his 1606 edition of the Mercator Atlas. It is one of the best-detailed maps of the region based on firsthand description, derived from the manuscript map of native Jacques Goulart. (more details)

This is Joan Blaeu and Georg Marcgrave's 1647 map of the environs of Mauritiopolis and Recife, the main Dutch colonial foothold in Brazil during the impactful tenure of Dutch Governor Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604 - 1679). The map was issued to promote Maurits' leadership and incontrovertible Dutch claims in the region. (more details)

This is a c. 1970 Jack H. Moffett bird's-eye view map of greater Los Angeles, California. It provides a stunning overview of the region as it struggled to expand against imposing topographic limitations - keenly apparent here. (more details)

This is an unmounted proof of an unrecorded c. 1900 pictorial four-sheet chromolithograph game board map of Europe, prepared by the Parisian game maker Saussine. It reflects the combination of didactics and entertainment common of French board games of the Belle Epoque. (more details)

This is a c. 1910 uncirculated board game map of Belgium prepared by the Parisian game maker Saussine. It reflects the curiosity and enthusiasm of the early automobile age, as well as Belgium's prominent role in the burgeoning industry. (more details)

This is an 1851 U.S. Coast Survey nautical map or chart of the entrance of the Savannah River, including Tybee Island, Cockspur Island, and Fort Pulaski, Georgia. This is a rare, separately-issued example, printed on thicker paper for durability. (more details)

This is a 1946 Ernest F. Hill city plan or map of Los Angeles, California, and surrounding communities, published during a population boom in the wake of World War II (1939 - 1945). The war was a watershed event in the history of Southern California, with thousands of servicemen passing through the region and many settling there afterward. (more details)

This is a separately-issued 1849 nautical map or chart of the Buttermilk Channel, situated between Brooklyn and Governor's Island in New York Bay. It was issued just after the completion of the Atlantic Basin, a major project that set off rapid development of shipping facilities and warehouses in Brooklyn. (more details)

This is Macdonald Gill's legendary Wonderground Map of London, England, here in the 1924 edition, issued in tandem with that year's British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. This outstanding and colorful pictorial map is credited with both 'saving the network' of the London Underground and inaugurating the Golden Age of Pictorial Cartography. (more details)