Old World Auctions has offered multiple sales of rare maps and books for a long time. The business has been around since 1978, and since 2011, Eliane and Jon Dotson have been sole proprietors of the online-only auction house specializing in maps and other cartographic material. This month, they’re putting on a special sale with the help of their consignors. The premise is simple: Old World challenged consignors to send as much material as possible that the Dotsons had never seen before. Consignors delivered. More than a quarter of the material in the November catalogue are items that Old World has never listed. Considering 120,000 items have passed through their auctions, that’s saying something!
The auction catalogue and bidding will go live on November 4th and concludes on November 18th at 10pm eastern. The sale is comprised of approximately 800 lots of antique and vintage maps, atlases, historical documents, prints, illuminated manuscripts, and reference books. With maps from every corner of the world, nearly half of the lots estimated below $250, and dozens of items listed at no reserve, there are items to fit every interest and budget. As of the release of this article, the online catalogue will not be live yet, but it will be accessible from Old World Auctions’ website.
As the catalogue is not quite live, here’s a rundown of the some of the most interesting and “never before listed” items that will be coming to auction:
- A very rare map of Arkansas Territory that predates the creation of the Arkansas-Indian Territory border. Weiland, Geographisch-Statistische und Historische Charte von Arkansas, 1828. Estimate $2,500-$3,250
- One of the earliest maps dedicated to New Mexico Territory and an important document of private land grants and proposed railroads in the territory. William Morley, Morley's Map of New Mexico Compiled from the Latest Government Surveys and Other Reliable Sources, 1873. Estimate $12,000-$15,000
- "There's gold in them thar hills!" A literal treasure map based on 10 years of research, showing the locations of 46 lost gold and silver mines in the southwestern United States. Treasurama, Trails to Treasures of the Golden Southwest, 1960. Estimate $450-650
- Russian Lubok of the first conflict in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, showing an overconfident Russia prior to losing the war. Torgo-Posrednicheskaya Kontora, [Vasya Flotiskiy - Vasya of the Fleet], 1904. Estimate $400-500
- An anti-Italian propaganda map published at the start of World War I to vilify Italy for joining the Triple Entente and for declaring war on Austria-Hungary. E.B.W.I., Bismarks Ausspruch, 1915. Estimate $800-1,000
- The first English map of the lower Mississippi River detailing new lands open to settlement. John Ross, Course of the River Mississipi, from the Balise to Fort Chartres, 1775. Estimate $3,250-$4,000
- A rare globe gore broadside advertisement for a 36-inch globe that was never produced. Lowitz, Specimen Trigesimae Sextae Partis ex Globo Terrestri, 1749. Estimate $800-$1,000
