Maps > North America(349 items) > Mexico & Central America (9 items)
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	BOWEN, Emmanuel (c.1720-67, engraver) [Veracruz, Mexico] A plan of the City and Harbour of La Vera Cruz and the Castle of San Juan de Ulua being the key of traffick and the principal port of New Spain [London: T. Gardner, n.d. but 1740]. Engraved plan by Bowen. Shaved into plate area at the upper and right margins. Sheet size: 6 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. A reminder of the War of Jenkin's Ear. "The War of Jenkins's Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748. After 1742 it merged into the larger War of the Austrian Succession. [The present map of Veracruz and its environs, printed just after the start of the war, was produced as it was apparent that the fortress' role as a centre for trade made it a prime target for the British]. Under the 1729 Treaty of Seville, the British had agreed not to trade with the Spanish colonies. To verify the treaty, the Spanish were permitted to board British vessels in Spanish waters. After one such incident in 1731, Robert Jenkins, captain of the ship Rebecca, claimed that the Spanish coast guard had severed his ear. The British government, which was determined to continue its drive toward commercial and military domination of the Atlantic basin, used this incident as an excuse to wage war against Spain in the Caribbean. In 1738 Jenkins exhibited his pickled ear to the House of Commons, whipping up war fever against Spain. To much cheering, the British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declared war on October 23, 1739." (Wikipedia) #20668$500.00
	HOMANN, Johann Baptist (1663-1724) [North America & the West Indies] Regni Mexicani seu Novae Hispaniae, Floridae, Novae Angliae, Carolinæ, Virginiæ et Pensylvaniæ, necnon insvlarvm archipelagi Mexicani in America Septentrionali accurate Tabula Nuremberg: J. B. Homann, [circa 1720]. Copper-engraved map, with full original colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 19 5/8 x 22 3/4 inches. The first state of one of the finest maps of America and the Caribbean produced in the early-seventeenth century, by the leading German cartographer This highly decorative and elegantly engraved map represents one of the finest depictions of America and the West Indies printed in the first half of the seventeenth-century. This is the rare first state of Homann's map based on Guillaume De L'Isle's 1703 map of the same subject. It includes a geographically advanced depiction of the Mississippi River and its tributaries from the finest French sources. The portrayal of New Mexico and the Rio Grande valley is also well defined, based on maps supplied by the Spanish governor of the region who defected to the French court. Numerous forts and native villages dot the interior of the continent. The Spanish empire in Mexico and Central America is depicted in great detail, leading all the way down to the Spanish Main. The vast wealth in precious metals that were derived from this empire is epitomised by the exquisite rendering, on the right of the map, of the Cerro Rico in Potosí, Bolivia, that represented the greatest silver mine in world. In this vein, the routes of the Spanish treasure galleons from Veracruz and Cartagena to Havana, and from there in to the Atlantic on the way to Seville are traced on the map. The chain of islands in the Caribbean, then controlled by multiple European hegemons, is elegantly depicted. With reference to the eastern seaboard of America, all of the British colonies are defined in great detail, and especially with regards to Carolina which is shown to be divided into several counties. The interior of the American South features a mythical lake, which is shown to be the source for an elongated Appalachicola River. The map is further adorned in the Pacific by a galleon and a naval battle scene, and an artistically virtuous cartouche graces the upper left corner. Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, 137; Martin & Martin, Maps of Texas, p.93, pl.17; #19862$2,750.00
	HUTAWA, Julius Map of Mexico & California Compiled from the latest authorities by Juls. Hutawa ... 2nd. Edition St. Louis, Missouri: Julius Hutawa, 1863. Folding lithographic map (sheet size: 24 x 19½ inches) by Hutawa, hand-coloured in outline, small repaired tears, tipped onto the inner lower cover of the original drab paper-covered boards. An interesting and rare Gold Rush-era map, showing the locations of various western Indian tribes, overland routes, and the region comprising present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. The fourth issue of an interesting and historically-important map. The Cooke and Kearny routes to the Pacific are shown, and there is an inset showing the area around Mexico City. This example is preceded by three earlier issues which all appeared within a couple of years of each other in 1847 to 1849. The present example differs from its precursors in that it is dated 1863, includes the words "New Mexico" printed on the map, and has colored boundaries indicating the Gadsen Purchase. "Particularly interesting is the number of routes west traced on the map; most of them are accurate. The locations given in New Mexico are very full" (Graff), also included are fascinating details of the locations of forts, trading posts, and various Native American tribes. The German-born printer, Julius F. Hutawa, settled in St. Louis where, along with his brother Edward, he established a well-known lithography and printing business in the 1830s. The present map is a prime example of their specialized traveler's maps. Wheat Gold Regions 46N; Wheat Transmississippi 1072; Graff 2026; Howell California 52:440; David Rumsey Collection, list # 0335.001; Streeter sale, lot nos. 179 & 180; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West III, 562; Wheat Maps of the California Gold Rush 46; Wheat 1072. #20275$3,750.00
	MOLL, Herman (1654-1732) [Central & South America] A New & Exact Map of the Coast, Countries and Islands within ye Limits of ye South Sea Company London: H. Moll, T. & J. Bowles, P. Overton & J. King, [circa 1730]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 29 1/2 x 21 3/4 inches. A fascinating and historically important map relating to the infamous "South Sea Bubble" and English piracy on the Spanish Main This fascinating map represents the synergy of one of the most sensational economic phenomena in British history and the intrigue surrounding the designs of London-based pirate adventurers. In 1711, as Britain was gaining the upper hand over Spain in Queen Anne's War (1702-14), the Lord Treasurer, Robert Hartley granted exclusive trading rights to commerce with Spanish America to a society of investors known as the South Sea Company. While some of the Company's members were actual corsairs who wished to attack Spanish galleons, by 1713 the Company was given official legitimacy as it was granted a privilege by Madrid to send one trading vessel a year to the region in question, in addition to being granted some involvement in the 'Asiento,' the African slave trade. While the Company did not actually make its first trading voyage until 1717, and even then only made a modest profit, wild speculation consumed London as thousands of investors came to believe that the Company promised to deliver astronomical riches in Andean silver and gold and slave sales. The Company's association with respected politicians and merchants added justification to the ebullient media campaign launched on numerous broadsides. The Exchequer loaned the Company over £11.7 million in public funds (an outrageous sum) and by August, 1720 individual shares reached a staggering high of £1,000. Described as "a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody knows what it is," the share price began to rapidly plummet all the way down to a low of £100 per share once a few commentators began to ask the obvious question. The so-called "South Sea Bubble" had burst, leaving both the Exchequer and numerous investors with massive debts, based on loans leveraged against the share price while it was at a high. As we know today, it was not the first, and by no means the last occasion that the public had been swept up in such irrational exuberance. After its near collapse the Company managed to reconstitute itself, and it continued to maintain a limited trade with the Spanish Main until the 1760s, and from then until 1850 it served as debt management agency for the Exchequer. The main section of this magnificent map embraces all of South America, the West Indies and the southern portions of North America, including Florida and California (which is assumed to be an island). Spanish America is shown divided into its numerous captaincies and all aspects of the coastlines are labelled in great detail. A dotted line located far out into the ocean denotes "The Sea Limit" of the Company's exclusive operational space. The detailed lines of ocean currents are derived from Edmond Halley's revolutionary hydrological world map. This principal map is accompanied by nine exquisitely engraved cartographic insets detailing harbours and islands, which might be especially important to any aspiring corsair who may wish to stalk Spanish treasure fleets in the region. These sites include Acapulco, the Gulf of Fonseca, the Galapagos Islands, Juan Fernando Island, the Panamanian Isthmus, the Straits of Magellan, Pepys's Island and a general overview of the trans-Atlantic Passage from England. Above the main section, are three large and highly detailed inset maps of the important harbours of Chiloe, Valdivia (both in Chile) and Guyaquil (Ecuador). As suggested in the very lower part of the map, in addition to Halley, Moll based most of his geography on the works of the Parisian royal cartographer Guillaume De L'Isle. The present map was part of Herman Moll's magnificent folio work, a New and Compleat Atlas. Moll was the most important cartographer working in London during his era, a career that spanned over fifty years. His origins have been a source of great scholarly debate; however, the prevailing opinion suggests that he hailed from the Hanseatic port city of Bremen, Germany. Joining a number of his countrymen, he fled the turmoil of the Scanian Wars for London, and in 1678 is first recorded as working there as an engraver for Moses Pitt on the production of the English Atlas. It was not long before Moll found himself as a charter member of London's most interesting social circle, which congregated at Jonathan's Coffee House at Number 20 Exchange Alley, Cornhill. It was at this establishment that speculators met to trade equities (most notoriously South Sea Company shares). Moll's coffeehouse circle included the scientist Robert Hooke, the archaeologist William Stuckley, the authors Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, and the intellectually-gifted pirates William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and William Hacke. From these friends, Moll gained a great deal of privileged information that was later conveyed in his cartographic works, some appearing in the works of these same figures. Moll was highly astute, both politically and commercially, and he was consistently able to craft maps and atlases that appealed to the particular fancy of wealthy individual patrons, as well as the popular trends of the day. In many cases, his works are amongst the very finest maps of their subjects ever created with toponymy in the English language. Shirley, Maps in the Atlases of the British Library I, T.Moll-4b, 12; Cf. Hutchinson, 'Herman Moll's view of the South Sea Company,' Journal for Maritime Research, 2003; Reinhartz, The Cartographer and the Literati: Herman Moll and his Intellectual Circle #17932$2,750.00
	MOLL, Hermann (1654-1732) A Map of the West-Indies or the Islands of America in the North Sea... [London]: Moll, n.d., c. 1720. Copper-engraved map with period outline colour. Browning at edges and at fold. Image size (including text): 23 x 39 1/2 inches. Sheet size: 25 1/4 x 40 5/8 inches. Moll's Map of the Spanish Main This very intriguing Moll map of the West Indies undoubtedly owes a good deal to his friendship with a number of prominent English privateers, most notably William Dampier and Woodes Rogers. (Moll contributed world maps to works written by both men). The map is full of observations that derive from an intense interest in the various routes of the annual Spanish flotilla that, beginning in the 1520s, conveyed silver, gold, gems, spices, and wood from the New World to Spain. According to Moll's map, the convoy sailed into the Gulf south of Granada to Cartagena where they picked up mostly silver from South America: primarily Potosi until 1626, and Peru. From there they might sail directly to Havana, or to Porto Bello in Darien (Panama) where materials that had been transported across the Pacific from the Philippines would await them. From there to Vera Cruz to collect exports from Mexico and then on to Havana. The whole flotilla, again following Moll's "tracts", sailed northeast from Havana, then north through the Bahama Channel to St. Augustine, then east to Spain. Needless to say, the pirates were located near the latter stages of the procession, many in the Bahamas. As time went on, piratical ventures organized and began to assault wealthy port towns, in addition to the ships anchored in their harbors, and Moll provides inset charts of St. Augustine, Havana, Porto Bello, Vera Cruz and Cartagena in the upper right. There is also a handsome engraved view of Mexico City with an index keyed to 15 sites. The present map was part of Herman Moll's magnificent folio work, a New and Compleat Atlas. Moll was the most important cartographer working in London during his era, a career that spanned over fifty years. His origins have been a source of great scholarly debate; however, the prevailing opinion suggests that he hailed from the Hanseatic port city of Bremen, Germany. Joining a number of his countrymen, he fled the turmoil of the Scanian Wars for London, and in 1678 is first recorded as working there as an engraver for Moses Pitt on the production of the English Atlas. It was not long before Moll found himself as a charter member of London's most interesting social circle, which congregated at Jonathan's Coffee House at Number 20 Exchange Alley, Cornhill. It was at this establishment that speculators met to trade equities (most notoriously South Sea Company shares). Moll's coffeehouse circle included the scientist Robert Hooke, the archaeologist William Stuckley, the authors Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe, and the intellectually-gifted pirates William Dampier, Woodes Rogers and William Hacke. From these friends, Moll gained a great deal of privileged information that was later conveyed in his cartographic works, some appearing in the works of these same figures. Moll was highly astute, both politically and commercially, and he was consistently able to craft maps and atlases that appealed to the particular fancy of wealthy individual patrons, as well as the popular trends of the day. In many cases, his works are amongst the very finest maps of their subjects ever created with toponymy in the English language. #20626$6,000.00
	NORIE, John W. (1772-1843) [Southern portion of the Gulf of Mexico with inset charts of Jamaica, Mobile Bay, the Harbour of Vera Cruz, the Harbour of Tampico] London: J. W. Norie & Co., 1836. Black and white copper engraving. Four vertical creases where folded, multiple creases at centerfold. Repaired split in center fold about two inches long. There are erasible pencil lines and dates that chronicle a sea voyage]. Sheet size: 23 1/2 x 63 1/2 inches. A large, handsomely engraved chart of the Gulf of Mexico south of Cuba and including all of the Caribbean Islands, the eastern coast of Central America and the northern coast of South America John William Norie was the leading chartmaker and writer on navigation of his time. Born in London, he attached himself to William Heather at an early age and by the age of 25 was making charts independently. William Heather ran a shop for navigators known as the Naval Academy and the Naval Warehouse. (Dickens later used the Naval Warehouse in Dombey and Son). It sold nautical instruments, sea charts, guides and instructional books on navigation. By 1815, Heather had retired, and Norie was in command. His accomplishments were considerable and lasting, including several atlases of sea charts:Complete West India Pilot (first published in 1828), from which this chart comes; East India Pilot (1816); North Sea & Baltic Pilot (1824); Complete North America and United States Pilot (1825); as well as general works on navigation, most notably The Epitome of Practical Navigation (1805), which was the standard work throughout the 19th century. This highly detailed, large chart shows all of Jamaica, Santo Domingo, all of the Caribbean Islands, the north coast of South America and the east coast of Central America. It includes inset charts of Jamaica, Mobile Bay (Alabama), Vera Cruz and Tampico. #15528$2,500.00
	TANNER, H.[enry] S.[chenck] (1786-1858) [Mexico] A Map of the United States of Mexico, as organized and defined by the several acts of Congress of the Republic ... Second edition, 1846 Philadelphia: H.S. Tanner, 1846. Copper-engraved map, on banknote paper, with original hand-colour. Good condition with some expert restoration to margins and old folds. Sheet size: 22 7/8 x 29 5/8 inches. An important and rare map of Mexico and the southwestern United States, depicting Texas in its largest form, the 1846 "Second edition" of the celebrated Tanner map. The present map embraces all of modern Mexico and the southwestern United States of America, and prominently features the new state of Texas with its original extensive boundaries. H.S. Tanner, of Philadelphia, was one of the most esteemed American mapmakers of the first half of the nineteenth-century. His 1822 Map of North America was one of the most influential of the period. In 1825, he excerpted and enlarged the portion of the map pertaining to what was a newly-independent Mexico, which then included the entire American southwest. Tanner's map effectively became the definitive source map for the region. It was brazenly copied in the White Gallaher & White map of 1828, which in turn directly inspired the famous Disturnell map of 1846, the "Treaty map" initially used to consider the redemarcation of the international border following the Mexican-American war. Walter Ristow noted that Tanner produced the first edition of the United States of Mexico map in 1825, and furthermore cited that he "issued 10 variants of one or another of five states" of the map up to 1847. The present map is officially termed as the "1846, second edition", although it is actually the seventh variant of the map to be issued, according to Ristow's classification. It closely follows the "1832, second edition," even including the "April 2nd, 1832" copyright imprint in the lower right corner. At this time, interest in all matters relating to Mexico and Texas amongst the American public was at an all-time high, and it is thought that Tanner hastily prepared this edition in order to capitalize on the commercial opportunities. Tanner did not take the time to avail himself of the most recent geographical advances, and consequently this map is a fascinating cartographic hold-out during a time of unprecedented change. Texas is portrayed as an enormous Mexican state, although it had since 1832 seceded, and later joined the Union as an American state. Its massive territory extends far to the north and west of its modern limits, following the eastern band of the Rio Grande up to its headwaters, up into the 'stovepipe' to a point touching the 42nd parallel. The geographical detailing of most of Texas is quite accurate, as Tanner was well apprised of Stephen F. Austin's surveys, a point underscored by his inclusion of 'Austin's Colony' in east-central Texas. In an improvement to it antecedent, the western portion of the state owes its form to William Emory's map of 1844. The depiction of what is now modern Mexico is quite advanced, in light of Alexander von Humboldt's exhaustive charting of the country. At this time, Tanner elected not to include information from Charles Frémont's ground-breaking map of 1845, based on his own discoveries. The coastline of Alta California still maintains a mythical quality, void of most actual details such as San Francisco Bay, but is replete with imaginary details such as the Buenaventura, Los Mongos, Timpangos and San Felipe Rivers. The interior regions extending all the way into what is now Colorado are shown to be almost completely unknown. A curious prophetic detail is the demarcation of a boundary line between Alta and Baja California, although located to the south of the international border that was to be set in 1848. The map includes a detailed inset depicting the key travel route from the port of Veracruz to Mexico City, the same path taken by U.S. forces during their successful attack on the Mexican capital in 1847. In the spirit of the times, the map also includes two statistical tables, one of distances and the other of population and geographical details of individual states. Tanner, wishing to update this map, produced a "third edition" later that same year that included Frémont's discoveries. Ristow A la Carte p.207; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West vol.III, p. 38 #19284$30,000.00
	TIRION, Izaak (d.1769) [California] Karte van het Westelyk Gedeelte van Nieuw Mexico en van California Volgens de laatste Ontdekkingen der Jesuiten en anderen Amsterdam: Isaak Tirion, 1765. Copper-engraved map, with full original colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 16 x 19 inches. A very attractive and detailed map of the American Southwest and Baja California, by a respected Amsterdam cartographer This highly detailed map, with beautiful full original colour embraces the area from what is now central Arizona and southern California down to Sonora and the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. The map depicts the region during an especially fascinating time in its development. The Baja Peninsula and Sonora are shown to be dotted with Spanish garrisons and Jesuit missions established in the wake of Father Eusebio Kino who explored the area in the late 1600s. Kino was also the first cartographer to definitively establish that California is not an island, as previously thought. The notations on the map refer to various episodes in the exploration of the region. The shores of the Peninsula and the Sea of Cortés are charted in finely assured detail as are the courses of the lower Colorado and Gila Rivers, the latter running near the present-day site of Phoenix, Arizona. With reference to what is now known as southern California, the map depicts the Channel Islands, and extends past "Kaap St. Diego" up towards modern-day Los Angeles, however the shape of the coastline seems to be based more on conjecture than on actual discovery. The first mission in Alta California, San Diego (founded 1769), was yet to be established, and accurate charting of the region by such figures as the Comte de La Pérouse were still to occur a generation into the future. The present map was included in Tirion's well-regarded Nieuwe en Beknopte Hand-Atlas. Lowery Collection, 498; Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p.494 and Atlases, 600-102; Wheat, TransMississippi West, 148; Wagner, Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America, 608 #19714$950.00
	WILLIAMS, L. D. - A. D. Bache and W. R. Palmer Map of Central America. Compiled from materials furnished by the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of the U.S. Executed at the Office of the U.S. Coast Survey ... March 1856 Washington: 1856. Large folding map printed on 4 sheets, lithographed by Julius Bien, hand-coloured in outline, dissected into 48 sections and linen-backed at a contemporary date. Three insets: Nicaragua from San Juan to Fonseca Bay (showing the proposed route of a canal), the Bay of Fonseca and the Port of San Juan. Folds into publisher's brown boards, covers decoratively blindstamped and lettered in gilt on the upper cover. (Minor split along rear joint of case). Sheet size: Approximately 45 x 44 inches. Large-scale American mapping of Central America at the height of the movement for an inter-oceanic canal across the region This interesting map, although showing the Atlantic and Gulf coastline from southern Georgia to northern Colombia and the Pacific coastline from southern Mexico to the Bay of Panama, is especially focussed on Central America. Great detail has been added to the interior of those countries, including towns, rivers, railroads and proposed canal routes. A proposed boundary is shown dividing Nicaragua from the Mosquito Coast. Phillips, p. 216; Kapp 241. #23774$500.00
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