This splendid Globe Terrestre by J.B. Nolin is one of the finest large-scale world maps to be produced and is a fitting bridge between the geographical and artistic skills of the seventeenth century and the century to come. The twin hemispheres and their decorative surround are engraved on four sheets with further strips comprising a broad pictorial border and, at the bottom, architectural columns of text. —Rodney Shirley
Jean-Baptiste Nolin (1686-1762). LE GLOBE TERRESTRE/ REPRESENTÉ EN DEUX PLANS-HEMISPHERES/ Dressé/ Sur la Projection de Mr. de la Hyre de l’Academie Royale des Sciences, et/ sur plusieurs Routiers et Memoires des plus habiles Pilotes et Savans Voyageurs/ le tout rectifié et calculé selon les dernieres observations. (Paris: 1740, State 2). Published in Nolin’s Le Theatre du Monde … . Engraving with full and outline hand color on heavy paper. Impressive wall map format measuring 46 x 58 ¼ in. engraved area; 48 1/2 x 60 ½ in. total area. Ample margins. Currently, shrinkwrapped. Very good condition for this scarce map. $50,000.
The map is by Sebastian Munster the most prolific mapmaker of the time, and famous for his influential geographical work, Cosmographia (Basle, 1540). The exquisite border decorations are attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), one of the greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance.
Holbein depicts the World being turned on its axis by cranks wielded by a pair of putti. Some have theorized that this represents the first published depiction of the Copernican conception of the Earth pinned on its axis as it orbits the Sun (predating the publication of Copernicus’ work in 1543). In each corner of the map, the continents and key elements associated with them during the Age of Discovery are represented: for Asia, the spices pepper, nutmeg and clove; for the Americas, fantastic scenes of cannibals; and for Africa, exotic people and animals. From the artistic point of view this is one of the most interesting of the many world maps published in the sixteenth century.
Sebastian Münster (1448-1552). Typus Cosmographicus Universalis. (Basle: 1555). Latin edition. First printed in the 1532 edition of the Novus Orbis Regionum by Johann Huttich and Simon Grynaeus. Woodcut printed on two joined sheets. Strong impression, uncolored.
13 7/8 x 21 5/8 in. to neat line; sheet size: 14 3/4 x 23 in. Small splits and one minor spot of foxing in upper margin. Archivally framed: floated within silk wrapped mat with Optium Plexiglas; handsome moulding with title plate. Very good condition for this decorative and most sought-after map. Overall, a beautiful package. $42,000.
Tuscany is renowned as the homeland of the Etruscan civilization. The present map provides a detailed and meticulously compiled representation of Etruscan Tuscany.
Ortelius was a great collector of newly discovered facts and information. One of the foundational elements of this map is its use of primary sources. However, Ortelius’s endeavor was not limited to contemporary cartographic sources. Recognizing the rich history of Tuscany, he sought to interweave modern geography with historical context. To accomplish this, he turned to classical sources that chronicled the history and geography of the region: Livius, Plinius, Cato, Vergilius, Halicarnassæus, and Plutarchus. By consulting these ancient authors, Ortelius ensured that his map was a synthesis of both the spatial realities of the 16th century and the historical narrative of the Etruscan era.
A beautiful detailed map from the heyday of Dutch decorative cartography, Ortelius’ Tusciae contains all the characteristics of the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish cartography including remarkably fine engraving and wonderful decorative elements.
Abraham Ortelius (1528–1598). Tusciae Antiquae Typus . . . (Antwerp: 1584). First state. Double-page copperplate engraving with hand color, 12 1/2 x 17 ¾ inches to neatline. Sheet: 17 1/8 x 20 ¼ inches. Latin text on verso: “TVSCIA fiue ETRVRIA”. One small hole at l/l; one minor spot in margin u/r. Very good condition. $1,200.
Sanson’s cartography of California would influence mapmakers for the next 50 years, its new shape distinguished by two bays along California’s northern coast. New place names of unknown origin appear in the northern region of California as Talaago and R. de Estiete, in addition to an inexact peninsula protruding out of the mainland’s coast denoted as Agubela de Cato. Sanson also introduced new information on Indian tribes along the Rio Grande, here mistakenly shown as flowing southwest, and with Santa Fe erroneously located west of the Rio del Norte. Other intriguing denotations include Taofii, or the Pueblo of Taos, located just south of a large mythical lake in New Mexico’s northern region. The term “Floride Francois” is used for the first time to designate French possessions in Georgia and South Carolina.
Sanson’s 1650 map of North America and 1656 map of New Mexico seem to the present writer by far the most interesting and important maps—so far as what is now western United States is concerned—that had appeared since Enrico Martínez drew his little ‘sketch’ of Oñate’s route to Quivira in 1602—and this despite their manifest deficiencies and their retention of much of the older mythical geography. — Carl I. Wheat
Nicholas Sanson’s Map of New Mexico and Florida is highly significant in the history of cartography as the first large-scale map in a printed atlas to depict the Spanish territories from Florida to California. Martin and Martin note that “it served as a prototype for the delineation of California as an island, and contributed a number of new place names in the New Mexico region. . . . It has served as a summary of the best information available for the greater Texas region during the middle of the seventeenth century,” which, in essence, was very little.
Nicholas Sanson d’Abbeville (1600-1667). Le Nouveau Mexique et La Floride: Tirees de diverses Cartes, et Relations, (Paris: Chez Pierre Mariette, 1656). First state with the imprint Chez Pierre Mariette, Rue S. Iacque . . . 1656. Copperplate engraving with fine original outline color. 12 1/4 x 21 ½ in. at neat line. Sheet size: 16 3/4 x 22 ½ in. Full margins. Minor toning. Handwritten, old calligraphy, manuscript on verso in two hands. Translated from the French: Florida is partly flat and sprinkled with quantities of rivers. Near the sea, it is almost entirely fabulous: The men there are very well made, as are the women. They have almost no religion… Overall an excellent example with fine original outline color. $14,500.
Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596–1665). Solis Circa Orbem Terrarum Spiralis Revolutio (Amsterdam: Jansson, 1660-1661). Published in Harmonia Macrocosmica. Copperplate engraving. Fine hand color. Image: 17 1/16 x 19 3/16 in. Sheet: 20 5/8 x 23 1/16 in. Margins and centerfold (verso) professionally repaired; minor pencil notations and line mark, verso; three minor pin holes in map; rough edge l/l; minor spotting. $4,500.
In this geocentric model, framed by draped cartouches, clouds, and putti, an angled earth sits at the center of an angled celestial sphere in which the sun’s annual and daily motion is portrayed by a spiraling curve running between the Tropic of Cancer in the north (Tropicus Cancri) to the Tropic of Capricorn (Tropicus Capricorni) in the south. The globe itself contains the continents of the eastern hemisphere shown with labeled details of oceans, rivers, continents, and major cities. A ring encircling the globe features figural representations and Greek symbols of the zodiac.
Tobias Conrad Lotter (1717–77). Planisphaerium Coeleste. Secundum Restitution Hevelianam et Hallejanam. (Augsburg: c. 1772). Published in Atlas Novus. Copperplate engraving with hand color. 18 7/8 x 22 ½ inches to neatline. Sheet: 21 1/4 x 25 ¼ inches. Inset diagrams: Hypothesis Tychonica, Hypothesis Ptolemaica, Aestus Maris per Motum Lunae, Illuminatio Lunae per Solem, Hypothesis Copernicana, Motus Terrae Annus Circa Solem. Strong impression; marginal stains l/l; 4” crease u/c. Overall, very good condition. $4,000.
This celestial chart shows the constellations of the northern and southern planispheres. Four of the surrounding circular diagrams illustrate the theories of planetary orbits according to Tycho Brahe, Ptolemy, Landsbergen, and Copernicus. The diagram in the upper right illustrates the orbit of the moon around the earth and its effect on tides. The diagram at the lower left shows the illumination of the moon by the sun. Two armillary spheres appear at the top of the image, and two terrestrial globes at the bottom.
As stated in the title, the astronomy in this chart is based on the work of Johannes Hevelius of Danzig (Gdańsk), who in the 17th century had described ten new constellations.
One of the characteristics of a Moll map is the highly descriptive text. Here, for example, above Guinea, he writes: “I am credibly informed, that ye Country about hundred Leagues North of the Coast of Guinea, is inhabited by white Men, or at least a different kind of People from the Blacks, who wear Cloaths, and have ye use of Letters, make Silk, & that some of them keep the Christian Sabbath.”
He shows the best course for sailing from Great Britain to the East Indies “in the spring and fall” (follow the dots), as well as the general directions of winds and the months in which they prevail. Grain, Ivory, Gold, and Slave coasts are clearly identified for commercial interests. In Moll’s depiction, the Niger originates in Borno Lake, possibly a reference to today’s Lake Chad. The vast Nile River is shown flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. The Mountains of the Moon (“Luna Mountains”) form the southern boundary of a vast Ethiopia, a country that is “wholly unknown to the Europeans.”
Highly descriptive and masterfully illustrated, Herman Moll’s map of Africa is one of the most interesting and compelling depictions of the region during the 18th century.
Herman Moll (ca. 1654–1732). Map of Africa (London: J. Bowles, T. Bowles, Philip Overton and John King, [c.1710]). Published in Atlas Manual: or A New Sett of Maps of all the Parts of the Earth… Copperplate engraving on two sheets hand-colored in outline. 22 1/2 x 38 inches to neatline. Sheet: 23 3/4 x 38 1/2 inches. Large allegorical title cartouche with dedication to Charles, Earl of Peterborow and Monmouth; 4 inset views: “A Prospect of the Cape of Good Hope”, and 3 small scenes of the Fort of Good Hope, Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast of Guinea, and James Fort on the Island of St. Helena. A minor stain in the Eastern Ocean (Indian Ocean), tight margins at top and both sides, otherwise excellent condition. $4,500.
Jean (fl. 1797 – c.1829). Plan Routier de la Ville et Faubourg de Paris divisé en 12 Municipalités [Road Map of the City and Faubourg divided into 12 Municipalities], (Paris: ca.1799). Copperplate engraving with hand color, 16 1/4 x 13 in. to neat line. Strong impression; cut margins; slight smudging l/r; a crease through the title cartouche u/r. Very good condition. $1,500.
This map of Paris by the French publishing firm, Jean, shows the plan for expanding the city following Napoleon Bonaparte’s reorganization of the city into 12 Municipalities. With a growing middle class, and more nobility and military personnel residing and working in Paris, the city was destined to spread out. 11 October 1795, Paris was divided into twelve arrondissements. They were numbered from west to east, with the numbers 1–9 situated on the right bank of the Seine and the numbers 10–12 on the left bank. Paris is shown on both sides of the river Seine, from the Champ de Mars to Le Trone, extends north as far as Montmartre and south roughly to Port Royal. A detailed street index is on either side and at the bottom of this map. The engraving reveals elaborate information about buildings, streets, hills, orchards and public gardens. The map even shows an incomplete state of the northern wing of the Louvre Palace. A minister was appointed to each municipality, their names appearing in the list in the lower right quadrant of this map.
… Delisle’s rendering of Texas was a distinct improvement over previously published attempts. It featured an improved depiction of the river system and a much more accurate view of the coast. It also credibly delineated for the first time the land routes of all the important explorers, including de Soto and Moscoso in 1540 and 1542, La Salle in 1687, and de Leon in 1689. Delisle’s sources were also clearly revealed by the many references to St. Denis’s explorations; the currency of his information was evident from the appearance of Natchitoches on the Red River, founded only the year before the map was printed. … — James C. Martin & Robert Sidney Martin
Guillaume Delisle [de l’Isle] (1675–1726). Carte De La Louisiane Et Du Cours Du Mississipi | Dressée sur un grand nombre de Memoires entrau.tres sur ceaux de Mr. le Maire | Par Guill.aume De l’isle de l Academie R.le des Sciences. [Map of Louisiana and the course of the Mississippi River, drawn from a great number of memoirs including those of Mr. le Maire by Guillaume De L’Isle of the Royal Academy of Sciences] Published A Paris Chez l’Auteur le Sr. Delisle sur le Quay de l’Horloge avec Privilege du Roy Juin 1718. First issue, second state with New Orleans. Inset map of the Mississippi Delta, l/r.: Carte Particuliere des Embouchures de la Riviere S. Louis et de la Mobile. Double–page copperplate engraving with original outline hand color on heavy wove paper. 19 x 25 3/8 in. to neatline. Sheet, with full margins: 21 1/4 x 29 7/8 in. Strong impression; a few printer’s wrinkles; 3 spots of soiling in margins; light soiling along right margin; old adhesive residue at upper center margin. Overall, very good condition. $20,000.
One of the three great maps of regional North America conceived by Delisle during the early eighteenth century. The present map covers the area from the Great Lakes to New Mexico, extends southward as far as Panama and Venezuela, and includes the West Indies. The map correctly shows the Great Lakes region, and is further distinguished as the first printed map to accurately represent the Mississippi River. Reinhartz and Colley observe, “. . . the attempt to portray the northern gulf, so brilliantly begun by Pineda in 1519, reached its culmination nearly two centuries later in [this] first generally reliable map.” As much detail as was available appears, including locations of Indian tribes and villages, French and English forts, and perhaps most importantly, the early Spanish and Indian settlements in what are now Texas and New Mexico. Geographic features and river systems are drawn according to original eyewitness Jesuit missionaries, colonizers, and explorers, including as d’Iberville, Bienville, and Le Sueur. Delisle also carefully studied and incorporated information from firsthand reports by the survivors of La Salle’s final expedition to the Gulf of Mexico.
Guillaume Delisle / Covens & Mortier. Carte du Mexique et de la Floride, des Terres Angloises et des Isles Antilles, du Cours et des Environs de la Riviere de Misisipi. … Par Guillaume De l’Isle … 1722. [Map of Mexico and Florida, English Territories, and the Antilles, of the Course and Environs of the Mississippi River.] (Amsterdam: Covens & Mortier, 1722). Double-page copperplate engraving, with outline hand color. 18 1/4 x 23 3/8 inches to neatline. Sheet: 22 x 26 ¼ inches. Very strong impression with bright color on heavy wove paper. Even toning; light marginal soiling; 2 wormholes in upper right quadrant; slight separation at upper binding tab. Overall, very good condition. $2,800.
Mark Catesby (ca.1679-1749) / Johan Michael Seligmann. Carolinae Floridae nec non Insularum Bahamensium cum partibus adjacentibus delinatio ad Exemplar Londinense in lucem edita a Jo, (Michael Seligmann /Nuremberg: 1755). Copperplate engraving on heavy paper with fine, original hand color, full margins, strong platemark. Original old folds evident. Slight discoloration in the Atlantic – possibly due to poor inking. 16 3/4 x 22 7/8 inches at neatline. Full sheet: 18 7/8 x 24 ½ inches. Very good condition. $7,500.
The map is one of the earliest and largest maps of the region. Catesby meticulously reproduced the Coastal and River System features of the Southeastern portion of Popple’s map along with the Indian settlements and English, French & Spanish settlements and annotations.
Catesby’s map depicts the Southeastern United States as far west as the Mississippi River and is colored to show the British Colonies in red, French possessions in green and the regions controlled by Spain in yellow. Catesby drew on several important maps for the content, including the manuscript of Captain John Barnwell (1722) that incorporates several details not found on earlier printed maps. He also used Popple’s great 20-sheet map as seen by the river configuration in Georgia and the dotted trail connecting Fort Argyle to Combahee River.
This is a fine copy of Seligmann’s edition of Catesby’s Map of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, in remarkable old color
This detailed map of the Republic of Texas at the start of the Mexican War extends to Wyoming in the North, the Rio Grande in the West, and the Mississippi River further East. It includes early Indian Territory regions, forts, outlines for early Texas counties, and important routes of explorers, including Stephen H. Long, Josiah Gregg, Zebulon Pike, and John C. Frémont, as well as early roads and settlements.
The demand in Germany for maps of the American West was stimulated during the 1840s and early ‘50s by increased immigration into the United States, especially as foreign settlers pushed westward, lured by the discovery of gold in California and the promise of better opportunities in the emerging states and territories of the frontier. Meyer’s map is an excellent and superbly engraved addition to collections of the West, especially interesting for its German authorship and audience.
Joseph Meyer (1796-1856). (Republic of Texas) Texas Nach den besten Quellen entw. U. Gez. Vom Hauptm. Radefeld. 1846. (Hildburghausen: 1846). Engraving with original hand color. 11 1/2 x 13 7/8 in. at neat line with full margins. Sheet size: 14 3/4 x 18 ¼ in. Strong impression; light toning in margins; minor staining lower left. Very good condition. $4,750.
A fine example, and the most ambitious of Coloney and Fairchild’s traveler friendly ribbon maps. This steamship era invention shows the Mississippi River from its delta to its source at Lake Itaska, a distance of 2600 miles. As it unspools to nearly 11 feet, the map takes a continuous journey upriver following the entire 2600-mile course of the Mississippi. It traverses ten states including: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.
This is the revised edition, with significant material on river towns added by William Bowen, president of the Pilot’s Association of St. Louis. While there is no record of the first issue, copies exist at the Minnesota Historical Society and the Newberry Library. With the addition of hundreds of towns, mile markers, islands, landings, landowner and plantation names, and significant Civil War locations, the Lower Mississippi appears to be a settled and thriving commercial place.
Coloney & Fairchild’s Patent Ribbon Maps. Ribbon Map of the Father of Waters. (St. Louis: lithographed by Gast. Moeller & Co., ca. 1866). Hand-colored lithographed strip map in multiple joined sheets, backed with linen and spool cranked into original oak cylinder case.
132 in. (11 ft.) x 2 ½ in; 3 x 2 in. case size. Staining and some wear at terminal edge; minor foxing throughout. Overall, very good condition. $20,000.
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1790–1868). A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining. Compiled from the Most Recent Authorities (Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1846). Lithograph backed on tissue, with superb full and outline hand-color.
22 1/4 x 20 3/8 in. to neatline. Sheet size: 22 7/8 x 21 in. Minor marginal staining. Excellent condition for this rare and popular map. $15,000.
“… the outstanding man of 1846, insofar as the West is concerned, was clearly the prolific Philadelphian, S. Augustus Mitchell, who during the year issued no less than three maps. … The third map, ‘A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California’ was a work of real importance, highly popular … on it the influence of the War with Mexico is strikingly revealed.” — Carl Wheat
One of the first commercially prepared maps to show the new State of Texas, Mitchell’s map is a well-designed and attractive production, featuring all of the political detail available about Texas. This famous map was enormously popular at the time of its publication, tapping into the great expansionist aspirations of mid-nineteenth-century Americans. Mitchell included the enormous extent of land claimed by Texas with a northwestern boundary at the 42nd parallel on the Upper Rio Grande. Other imminent conquests of the Mexican-American War are shown as part of the U.S. Territory, including the whole of upper California. And the entire Oregon country north to Russian America at parallel 54°40′ (parts of which were also claimed by the British) is included. With these claims, U.S. Territory completely surrounded what was still designated as Indian Territory. The map serves as a graphic representation of this dynamic period of U.S. expansion into the great western territories.
A map of the Western United States from the borders of Mexico to British America. This map was updated from previous versions due to the rapid changes in the political boundaries of the West. It includes the United States and Mexico border at the Gila River with the continuing negotiations on the New Mexico and Texas territories, and shows both the Bartlett and Graham border lines before the Gadsden Purchase was finalized in April, 1854.
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (1792–1868) / Thomas Cowperthwait & Co. A New Map of the State of California, the Territories of Oregon, Washington, Utah and New Mexico. Published by Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., Philadelphia. 1854. Atlas map, page no. 37. Published in: A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the Various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of the World. With a special map of each of the United States, plans of cities & c. First edition. Lithographic transfer from engraved plate with full hand color, 15 5/8 x 12 5/8 in. to decorative border. Sheet size: 17 x 13 5/8 in. Some spotty age toning to edges; tight left margin with some wrinkling & binding holes. Map is off center on sheet. Overall, very good condition. $700.
Samuel A. Mitchell (1792–1868) / Thomas Cowperthwait & Co. A New Map of the State of Wisconsin, Plate 34. (Philadelphia: 1854). 15 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches to decorative border. Sheet: 17 x 13 ¾ inches. Lithographic transfer from engraved plate. Full original hand color. Published in A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics of The World. Clean and bright; minor stain in Lake Michigan, marginal toning. Overall, very good condition. $425.
A beautifully crafted, early map of Wisconsin, beginning to show most of its counties. The map is filled with countless topographical details, including rivers, towns, lakes and political borders. The Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. maps are especially known for their depiction of the transportation routes of the states, and this map is no exception. The transportation infrastructure was extremely important at this period of increased immigration and travel. Significant changes are shown between 1850 and this edition. One of the best early maps of Wisconsin in full original color.
This fine map of Texas by James H. Young is a later version of a classic map originally issued by this map’s publisher, Thomas, Cowperthwait and Co. two years prior in 1852. Young decidedly issued a similar map, but this time compiled the most current details available and produced this present map that shows a significant amount of information for both the eastern and western portions of Texas. Unlike the earlier version, this map shows the rapid rate of settlement and development in the western parts of the state.
James H. Young (fl. 1817-1866) [Cowperthwait, Desilver & Butler]. Map of the State of Texas from the Latest Authorities, (J.L. Hazzard, Philadelphia: 1854 [1850]). Lithographic transfer from engraved plate by J.L. Hazzard with full original hand color, 12 3/4 x 15 ¾ in. to decorative border. Inset l/l: “Map of the Vicinity of Galveston City”; inset u/l: “Northern Texas on the same scale as the large map.” Some minor age toning around the edges; close top margin. Very good condition. $1,600.
A fine example of the 1854 edition of Thomas Cowperthwait & Company’s map of Florida, hand
colored by counties. Mitchell’s map covers the entire state in considerable detail with towns, cities, counties, swamps, and reefs noted. Water routes and their distances are listed at the top and bottom of the map. Three insets appear in the lower left: a town plan of Pensacola (with surrounding plantations), a town plan of Tallahassee, and a nautical chart of the Harbor of St. Augustine with depth soundings. Political and topographical features are noted.
Samuel A. Mitchell (1792-1868) / Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. Map of Florida,
(Philadelphia: 1854). Published as plate no. 21 in the 1854 edition of Mitchell's New Universal
Atlas. Lithographic transfer from engraved plate with full original hand coloring.
11 5/8 x 14 3/8 in. to neat line; 13 1/2 x 17 in., sheet. Some minor age toning around the edges
and two minor spots within the image. Very good condition. $950.
Samuel A. Mitchell (1792-1868) / Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. City of Washington, (Philadelphia: 1854). 12 1/2 x 15 5/8 in. to decorative border. Sheet: 13 1/2 x 17 in. Lithograph with fine bright original hand color. Published in New Universal Atlas, p.16. Inset “Plan of the Principal Floor of the Capitol.” Reference table at l/l with locations of significant buildings. Slight age toning. Very good condition. $950.
This map of Washington D.C. has a number of fascinating features to recommend it. Its list of
significant buildings includes government facilities, a hospital, a poor-house, markets, churches,
hotels, monuments, an orphan asylum, schools, fire companies, cemeteries, a tobacco warehouse
and a railroad depot. A single railroad to Baltimore is indicated. The site of Columbian College
is shown, outside of what was then the city limits and overlapping the upper border of the map.
This area would later become incorporated into the city, the college moved downtown and
renamed George Washington University.
Mitchell’s New Universal Atlas was published a number of times between 1845 and 1859.
Mitchell published the atlas himself until 1850, when Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. purchased
the copyright. Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. then published an edition every year from 1850 to
1853. Two 1854 editions were published by Cowperthwait, Desilver & Butler. Later, Charles De
Silver acquired the atlas copyright and published it in 1857 and 1858. The final 1859 edition of
the atlas was published in by Cushing & Bailey of Baltimore.
This map of the Southwest was published in Philadelphia in 1873 as part of O.W. Gray’s National Atlas, one of the last commercial atlases to feature hand color. It encompasses five states: California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Attractive pastel colors distinguish the county configurations within each state. Early mining districts, towns, roads, railroads, mountains, rivers, Indian Tribes, The Gadsden Purchase Line (noting a cost of $10,000,000) and a large number of other details are featured. This is a scarce map which appeared only in the first edition of Gray’s Atlas.
Ormando Willis Gray. Gray’s Atlas Map of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona & New Mexico. (Philadelphia: 1873.) First edition. Published in Gray’s Atlas. Double-page lithograph with full original hand color. 15 7/8 x 25 3/8 in. at neat line. Sheet: 17 1/4 x 28 ½ in. Verso: “Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming” and “Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia” maps. Good color; some toning; marginal damp staining u/l; several chips and tears around the outer edges. Good condition overall. $375.
Warner & Beers / H. H. Lloyd. County Map of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, (Chicago: Warner & Beers, 1875). Published in H. H. Lloyd and Company’s Atlas of the United States. Lithograph with full original bright hand color. 16 1/8 x 14 in. to decorative border. Sheet size: 18 1/8 x 15 7/8 in. Binding punctures left margin; 3 printer’s ink spots in margin at upper left corner. Very good condition overall. $850.
Warner & Beers’ fantastic County Map of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona offers a quintessential view of the renowned Four Corners region of the United States. The map showcases the location where the boundary lines of the four territories intersect, the only location in the country where this is apparent. However, the boundaries of the territories delineated in this map are the same as when they achieve statehood in the following years, with Colorado being the first in 1876.
This highly detailed and informative map of Indian Territory published by G.W. & C.B. Colton in New York in 1873 is one of the earliest obtainable separately issued atlas maps of Indian Territory. The map is colored by tribes and shows a number of early important place names, railroads, forts, Indian Villages and other points of interest. Several early stage roads are also shown, but not named.
Warner & Beers/H.H. Lloyd. County Map of Texas and Indian Territory. (Chicago: Warner & Beers, 1875). Published in H.H. Lloyd and Company’s Atlas of the United States, p.79. Lithograph with full, original bright hand color. 16 x 13 5/8″ to decorative border. Sheet size: 18 1/2 x 15 1/2.” Minor chip extreme lower right. Binding punctures left margin. One tiny fox mark upper left. Excellent condition. SOLD.
George F. Cram (1842-1928). Railroad and County Map of Indian Territory, (Chicago: George F. Cram, Chicago, 1887). Lithograph with printed color. 15 3/4 x 22 1/8 in. at neat line. Sheet: 17 1/2 x 23 5/8 in. Published in Cram’s Standard American Atlas. Verso: “Map of the Oklahoma Country in the Indian Territory,” and “Index to State Map of Indian Territory.” Minor marginal edge toning. Very good condition. $650.
The Standard American Atlas was a precursor to Cram’s impressive railroad atlases. In 1869 the George F. Cram Company was born and the Cram name became synonymous with accuracy and innovation. This map shows all railroads, unfinished railroads, county seats, post offices, money order post offices, and large and small towns. It is an early example of Crams large format maps and is impressive in its level of detail. The map has been revised from earlier editions with a similar title, to include Gate City in the Public Lands and to name and identify the route of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway through the Choctaw Nation.
George F. Cram (1842-1928). Map of Oklahoma and Indian Ters. (Chicago: Geo. F. Cram, 1903). Lithograph with printed color. 13 1/2 x 20 in. at neat line. Sheet: 14 1/2 x 22 in. Verso: “Oklahoma Territory” (list of counties & towns); “Indian Territory” (list of nations & towns). Minor age toning. Very good condition. $375.
From 1890 to 1907 Oklahoma split into two territories known as Oklahoma Territory in the west, and Indian Territory in the east. Indian Territory was land in the United States reserved for the forced resettlement of Native Americans. The general borders were set by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834. Before Oklahoma statehood in 1907, Indian Territory consisted of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole tribes and their territorial holdings. The western half of Indian Territory and a strip of country known as No Man’s Land were organized into Oklahoma Territory. Reservations in the new territory were then opened to settlement in a series of land runs. Seven counties were defined upon the creation of the territory. Land runs and a boundary dispute with Texas led to the addition of more counties.
Antique postal scales are uncommon and a collector’s favorite. Many types of mechanical scales were used until the 1990s: spring scales, pendulum scales and equal arm balance scales. The scales were used to measure the weight of letters and other small packages to determine the amount of postage needed. Many customers bought scales to weigh mail before going to the post office. This vintage design scale has a pendulum topped with a small plate for letters to be weighed.
A work of art, this beautiful, highly decorative letter scale is designed with a carved metal winged victory figure and a serpent below. The serpent is faced with an enamel plaque of gram measurements. The back of the scale is as pleasing as the front and a nice object for a writing desk or to display in a cupboard.
Austrian Letter Scale, 19th Century. Tabletop pendulum scale with Austrian balance. 11 x 9 x 4 ¼ in. Iron and brass with enameled plaque of gram measurements. No defects; light wear consistent with age and use. $1,295.
An armillary sphere is an early astronomical device that models the movement and location of celestial bodies in relation to the earth or sun with spherical frameworks of rings and objects on rotating arms set on a central vertical axis. Armillaries with the earth at the center are referred to as having a Ptolemaic configuration. When the sun is at the center of the device, it is referred to as having a Copernican configuration.
Charles François Delamarche (1740–1817) / Félix Delamarche (18th century – first half of 19th century). Copernican Armillary Sphere, ca.1826 (unsigned). 19 x 11 x 11 in. Engraving on paper, dissected and affixed to wood and pasteboard, metal-leafed wood sun, pasteboard discs on metal arms, and turned wood base. Missing moon; scattered areas of wear; overall toning; chipping of paint; some warping of one wood ring; base has some worm holes, chips, and areas of repair. $9,000.
Karl Bodmer (1809-1893) Assiniboine Indians, 1839. Tableau 32. From Travels in the Interior of North America [Paris: A. Bertrand; Colbenz: J Holscher; London: Ackermann & Co., 1839-1843] Aquatint, mezzotint, etching and stipple; superb original hand color with gum arabic. Image: 16 ¼ x 11 ½ in. Bodmer blind stamp. Even toning; some scattered spots; one area of minor soiling at upper right. Handsome archival framing with UV Optium Plexiglas: 28 ¾ x 22 ¾ x 1 1/8 in. Very good condition. $10,000.
This engraving was completed using a few sketches and one watercolor Bodmer had done while at Fort Union in June 1833. The figure on the left is unidentified. This is unusual–there are only a few portraits in which the subject is anonymous. The central figure is Pitätapiú. In his journal Maximilian describes Pitätapiú as a “remarkable figure… In his hand was a bow lance, as high as a man and draped with long bands of grizzly bear intestines smeared with reddish paint. On his back this slender young man carried a round shield which was painted green and red…” Pitätapiú was a member of the Gens des Roches tribe (Stone Indians). Ref: Elizabeth Guheen, Bair Museum
“Mató-Tópe [Four Bears] was a prominent Mandan chief, popular among his people and respected for his many war exploits. . . He was one of the best-known Indian Personalities of the early nineteenth century. . . In this portrait he is dressed as befits his rank. His new shirt is made of bighorn leather, elaborately trimmed with ermine tails, locks of hair, and long panels of bead-outlined quillwork. On the shoulders of the shirt he has painted symbols of brave deeds. The . . . spatter marks on the front recall old wounds. Usually the number of eagle feathers a man wore on his head signified the number of battle coups he had made, but an impressive headdress like this one might represent instead the combined coups of a war party or perhaps of an entire men’s society. Mató-Tópe wore this bonnet when he rode at the head of the Half-Shorn Society on April 3, 1834. In any event it is clear that the honor of wearing such a bonnet was reserved for the most distinguished leaders. The lance may be another emblem of achievement: the spear with which Catlin says Mató-Tópe killed the Arikara murderer of his brother, the shaft adorned with the scalp of that enemy on a stretched loop. Maximilian said that Mató-Tópe had killed more than five chiefs in intertribal combat and that no other Mandan could enumerate as long a list of heroic accomplishments.” —Hunt & Gallagher
Karl Bodmer (1809-1893). Tableau 13. Matò-Tope – A Mandan Chief. Johann Hürlimann (after Karl Bodmer). Aquatint, etching, stipple, and roulette; superb original hand color with gum Arabic. First State. [1839–1844]. Plate mark: 20 ¼ x 14 5/8; Image: 16 ¼ x 12 ¾; Sheet: 22 ¾ x 16 ¼. Recto: u.r.: Tab. 13.; l.l.: Ch. Bodmer ad. nat. pinx. \ Coblenz bei J. Hölscher; l.c.: Imp. de Bougeard \ MATO-TOPE \ Mandan Chef Chef Mandan \ A MANDAN CHIEF \ London, published by Ackermann & Co. 96 Strand \ [blind stamp]; l.r.: J. Hürlimann sc. \ Paris, Arthus Bertrand, éditeur. Fine impression. Handsome archival framing with UV Optium Plexiglas: 28 ¾ x 22 ¾ x 1 1/8. Excellent condition. $20,000.
Karl Bodmer (1809-1893) Beaver Hut on the Missouri, 1844. Vignette 17. From Travels in the Interior of North America [Paris: A. Bertrand; Coblenz: J. Holcher; London: Ackermann & Co., 1839-1844] Aquatint engraving with original hand color. Image: 7 x 10 3/8 in. Sheet size: 10 x 12 ¼ in. Bodmer blind stamp. Gum Arabic visible. One area of minor soiling at lower right. Very good condition. $1,500.
In this image, Karl Bodmer pictures beavers and their lodge seen on July 17, 1833 while the expedition party made their way from Fort Union up the Missouri River to Fort McKenzie. On that day he made a detailed watercolor representing a large beaver lodge that he observed on the river. At some later date the artist likely sketched one or more live beavers, either from nature or in captivity, and added rough sketches of them to the original watercolor. The final print represents three live beavers in their native habitat.
The War Dance, or ‘dance of the braves,’ is peculiarly beautiful … At intervals they stop, and one of them steps into the ring, and voiciferates[sic] as loud as possible, with the most significant gesticulations, the feats of bravery which he has performed during his life…. and at the same time carries his body through all the motions and gestures, which have been used during these scenes when they were transacted. At the end of his boasting, all assent to the truth of his story… and the dance begins again. — George Catlin
George Catlin (1796–1872). War Dance. Folio plate no. 29 from Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. (London: Day & Haghe, 1844[1845]). Deluxe edition. Lithograph with superb original hand color. Plate trimmed and mounted on card with manuscript ruled line around image and manuscript numbering lower right of image (as issued in the Deluxe edition). This issue contained the rare six extra plates as evidenced by plate no. 29. Image: 10 7/8 x 16 ½ in. Burl wood frame with hand-decorated mat: 21 1/2 x 27 1/8 in. Strong impression; bright color; light scattered foxing. Very fine condition. $7,500.
George Catlin (1796–1872). Buffalo Bull, Grazing Folio plate no. 2. Published in Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio: Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. (London: Day & Haghe, 1844). Deluxe edition. Lithograph with superb original hand color, and heavy gum arabic, mounted on card with outline rule. Image size: 12 x 17 5/8 in. Card size: 18 ½ x 23 ½ in. Superb archival framing: 23 x 28 ½ x 1 ½ in. Strong impression; vivid, bright color. Very fine condition. $23,000.
The American bison, or . . . buffalo, is the largest of the ruminating animals that is now living in America; and seems to have been spread over the plains of this vast country, by the Great Spirit, for the use and subsistence of the red men, who live almost exclusively on their flesh, and clothe themselves with their skins . . . The buffalo bull often grows to the enormous weight of 2000 pounds, and shakes a long and shaggy black mane, that falls in great profusion and confusion over his head and shoulders; and oftentimes falling down quite to the ground. The horns are short, but very large, and have but one turn, i.e. they are a simple arch, without the least approach to a spiral form, like those of the common ox, or of the goat species. George Catlin made this sketch on the Upper Missouri in 1832.
After the preliminaries of the chase have been gone through, as described in the former plate, and the hunting party have reached the vicinity of the herd, scenes like the one represented in this illustration often occur. On one occasion I was invited by the Indians to ride out and witness their attack on a herd of buffaloes, near one of their villages on the Upper Missouri, in the summer of 1832: I sat on my horse and witnessed a scene of this kind; a mode of attacking the buffaloes which they call Wa-rahs-took-kee, a surround. – George Catlin
George Catlin (1796–1872). Buffalo Hunt, Surround. Folio plate no. 9. Published in Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio: Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. (London: Day & Haghe, 1844). Deluxe edition. Lithograph with superb original hand color, mounted on card with outline rule. Image size: 12 x 17 ½ in. Card size: 16 x 22 in. Archivally framed floated within mat with Optium Plexiglas; handsome moulding with title plate: 24 x 29 x 1 ½ in. Strong impression; vivid, bright color. Very fine condition. $13,500.
Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902). The Rocky Mountains, (New York: Edward Bierstadt, 1866). Steel engraving on fine, heavy paper by James Smillie, black and white as issued. Image: 16 7/8 x 28 in. Sheet size with full, original uncut margins: 22 1/4 x 32 3/8 in. Signed in plate, and dated 1863, l/r. Strong, bright, and clear impression. Backed with archival tissue for support. Superb condition for this beautiful print after Bierstadt’s monumental painting. $9,500.
In the spring of 1859, Bierstadt joined a government survey expedition to the Nebraska Territory. At the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains, he made sketches for his monumental painting, “The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak” (collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), completed in 1863. This work propelled Bierstadt into the first rank of American artists with remarkable rapidity.
“This is a glimpse into the heart of the continent towards which civilization is struggling; and the grey peaks, in their massive grandeur, seem . . . to be wrapt in a romance new, and fresh, and breezy . . . . This picture is a view into the penetralia of destiny as well as nature.” — New York Leader, April 2, 1864
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902). The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak, (London: Thomas McLean, 1869). Chromolithograph on heavy paper. Drawn by Jacob Lutz, printed by Kell Brothers. Signed and dated lower right ABierstadt 1863, mimicking the original painting of 1863. Full sheet: 19 x 32 ¼ in. Good condition. $12,000.
Albert Bierstadt was more than the great recorder of the American western landscape. He possessed, according to Nancy K. Anderson, a “near-perfect combination of technical expertise, European experience, national enthusiasm, and marketing savvy—everything required to turn the western landscape into an iconic image of national definition.” Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak remains one of the great images of the American Dream of Manifest Destiny, here offered as a superb chromolithograph.
Schmidt traveled to the Southwest in 1921, visiting New Mexico and Arizona. Shortly after his visit, he moved just north of Santa Fe to the village of Tesuque where he had Santa Fe artist and builder William Penhallow Henderson, design and construct his home. He found in New Mexico a place where he could feel at peace with himself, a place where human scale was not diminished by buildings, but by mountains and trees. His experiments in composition, color, and medium created a collection of distinct works: still lifes, landscapes, figures, genre scenes and nature studies.
His early paintings, such as the one offered here, are in the manner of the French Impressionists, but he soon developed a modernist style that emphasized painterly qualities and strong color. He painted mostly in oil or pastel. Schmidt’s compositions utilized the concepts of Dynamic Symmetry, the law of natural design, developed by the artist Jay Hambidge.
Schmidt was a founding member of the Santa Fe Art Colony. From 1924 through 1957, he exhibited in the group annual at the Museum of Fine Arts. The “First Traveling Show of New Mexico Artists,” which toured the country in 1941 and 1942 included Schmidt’s work. He also had twelve solo exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts between 1928 and 1958. His work is in many public and private collections throughout the country including the Albuquerque Museum, the Museum of New Mexico, the American Embassy at the Vatican and at the Embassy in Prague.
Albert Schmidt (1885–1957). Cottonwood Trees, ca. 1920s. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. Image: 25 ½ x 21 ½ in.; Stretcher: 25 ½ x 21 ¼ in.; Frame: 30 ¾ x 26 ¾ x 1 1/2 in. Hand carved gold leaf frame by Goldleaf Framemakers, Santa Fe. Excellent condition. SOLD.
Howard Cook (1901–1980). Longhorns, 1937. Lithograph, edition of 25. 11 3/8 x 16 in. Signed l/c: Howard Cook; titled l/l: Long-Horn Steers Texas. Full margins, beautiful signature, frame ready with new archival hinges applied. Overall, excellent condition. $4,500.
In 1937 Howard Cook won a major national competition for the San Antonio Post Office murals sponsored by the Treasury Relief Art Program (T.R.A.P.). He devoted two years to his San Antonio mural, producing one of the largest (16 panels in all) fresco murals in the nation.
Cook was very much taken with the subject matter of Texas, pursuing regional themes in his printmaking as illustrated in Longhorns. This image was incorporated into the artist’s frescoes painted in the San Antonio Post Office Building.
This lithograph by Howard Cook relates to a period when he sojourned in Texas with the WPA project, and completed a series of murals for the entry lobby at the Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building, titled “San Antonio’s Importance in Texas History,” (1937–39).
In the early thirties the human figure became a much more important source of imagery for Cook. In this scene, located in La Salle County, Texas, he portrays hard working cattle-men of the region. Chuck Wagon is in the collections of: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of New Mexico.
Howard Cook (1901–1980). Chuck Wagon,1937. Lithograph, edition of 25. Signed l/r: Howard Cook; titled l/l: Chuck-Wagon, Texas. Full margins, beautiful signature, frame ready with new archival hinges applied. Overall, excellent condition. $4,750.
Howard Cook (1901–1980). Acapulco Girl or Cocoanut Palm, 1932. Wood engraving from an edition of 30. Signed and dated in pencil, l/r: “Howard Cook imp. 1932”. Image: 10 x 8 in. Sheet: 12 1/8 x 10 1/8 in. Very strong impression on extraordinary thin paper; print off center. Excellent condition. $9,750.
Acapulco Girl offers a fine example of Cook’s period of Mexican portraiture. Here Cook applied the lessons he learned from observing “Diego Rivera’s skill at combing large groupings of figures and organic plant forms into a balanced, decorative schema,” writes Richard Cox. Cook poses a village girl, her head covered by her white rebozo, before a “delectable southern Mexico tropical landscape.” In the deep background, Cook includes a charming vignette in which tiny inhabitants, a pig, and a dog make their way through the narrow streets of the girl’s village. Cook achieves not only a sensitive depiction of both individual personality and the local way of life, but also a masterful manipulation of formal elements. As Janet Flint observes, Cook’s figures are “delineated with strong draughtsmanship and intense, sculptural contrasts of dark and light. The dark tones, composed of many fine, sensitively etched and inked lines are not opaque, but richly luminous. Indeed, light seems to pervade the image. . . ” Although Cook has abstracted his figure into an idealized shape with powerful tonal contrasts, he has not abandoned a genuine sense of human warmth. Consequently, the formal innovations of Cook’s Mexican phase and his deep reverence for the Mexican culture combine in a happy balance of form and content. Acapulco Girl is one of Cook’s figural masterpieces, an exquisite work by the great master of American Modernist printmaking. The print took a prize the Philadelphia Print Club in 1934.
Howard Cook (1901–1980). Head of Guerrero Woman (Maria), 1933. Aquatint and etching (soft-ground) from an edition of approximately 30. Signed and dated in pencil, l/r: “Howard Cook imp. 1933”. Image: 11 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. Sheet: 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 in. Selected for “Fifty Prints of the Year”, American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1938. Very strong impression. Excellent condition. $4,750.
Howard Cook (1901–1980). Rosanna, 1939. Lithograph from an edition of 250. Signed and dated in pencil, l/c: “Howard Cook”. Image: 11 3/4 x 8 ¾ in. Sheet: 16 x 12 in. Verso: brief artist biography by Associated American Artists. Very strong impression. Excellent condition. $2,500.
Cook traveled to Mexico in 1932–33 on a Guggenheim Fellowship in order to pursue “a pictorial study of a civilization unaffected by the machine age,” as he wrote in his application. “To make a series of drawings and prints in etching, wood-engraving and lithography depicting the people of Mexico, their occupations and crafts, their peaceful and self-reliant lives.” The quaint village of Taxco, where he and his wife, the artist Barbara Latham, settled after a brief stay in Mexico City, provided the perfect setting. While there, Cook fell under the spell of the Mexican muralists, especially the work of Diego Rivera, whose aesthetic and stylistic innovations inspired a turning point in Cook’s career. The American had up to this time created mostly abstracted cityscapes and occasional landscape prints, but under the influence of the muralists, he now applied modernist principles to the human figure.
In Taxco, Cook produced numerous drawings of both individuals and groups in pencil, ink, and chalk, as well as painting them in watercolor. He made dozens of portrait studies from locally hired models and became a keen observer of village life and its customs, notably indigenous religious festivals, many of which were held in the town plaza.
Howard Cook’s artworks are held in a number of important permanent collections including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Richard Day’s lithographs reveal a mastery of the medium as well as a level of modernist sophistication that indicate a great amount of understanding and interest in the work of his contemporaries, for this self-trained artist. The subject of this lithograph, Rio Grande, N.M., appears to be quite rare in his body of work, while scenes from Mexico, for example, are more numerous. Nearly all of Day’s lithographs date from the 1930s, and certainly he would have been aware of the allure that both Mexico and New Mexico held for many artists of the time.
Richard Day is well known for his work in motion pictures as an art director for Erich von Stroheim, MGM, and 20th Century Fox, having received forty nominations and seven Academy Awards during his fifty-year career in film. He began his career as a commercial artist in Canada and moved to Hollywood in 1920 where he first worked as a scene painter.
In 1932 Merle Armitage published The Lithographs of Richard Day. Day’s lithographs were shown in 1935 at the California-Pacific Exposition in San Diego. Today they are held in the collection of the Library of Congress. Day’s brief career as a printmaker ended with the boom in films during the Depression of the late 1930s. He immersed himself in the film industry and never again ventured into printmaking. Ref: International Fine Print Dealers Association
Richard Welsted Day (1896-1972). Rio Grande, N.M., 1930. Lithograph on Basingwerk Parchment. Impression number: 3 of 24. Image size: 11 1/4 x 13 in. Full margins. Sheet size: 17 1/2 x 23 7/8 in. Archivally refit in original silver toned frame: 23 1/4 x 24 ¾ in. Signed by the artist in pencil l/r; titled in pencil l/c; “Paul Roeher (the printer) imp,” l/l. Strong impression, very clean and bright. Some foxing left margin. Excellent condition for this rare print. $5,000.
Alexandre Hogue (1898–1994). Penitente Morada, 1941. Lithograph no. 6 of 50. Image:
9 x 13 in. Sheet size: 12 5/8 x 15 5/8 in. Signed and dated l/r. Titled and numbered l/l. Initialed in stone “AH” l/r. Small ink mark u/l corner indicating the edge of the lithograph stone. Handsomely framed in an archival presentation: 14 3/8 x 19 in. Strong impression. Superb condition. $12,500.
The present and very rare lithograph presents a Morada in Northern New Mexico, a religious meeting place used by the Penitente Brotherhood, a confraternity of Spanish-American Roman Catholic men. Rendered in Alexandre Hogue’s distinctive style and texture, a lone man approaches a windowless adobe building carrying wooden crosses in his hands. Though the mountains are rendered in palpable moody tones, the bright sun gleams towards the stark buildings and on to the man’s back forming a cross shaped shadow at his feet. The man’s face is hidden from our view; perhaps to show symbolically the great conviction the Penitente Brothers go to, to practice their religion in private.
In this lithograph Edward Bearden depicts the drama and contrasts of a New Mexico rainstorm. A cluster of cumulus clouds gather during a late summer afternoon highlighted with dark and light tones. Cloud shadows and highlighted foliage play off the hills and the plains, foreseeing the rapid changes in weather conditions during New Mexico’s monsoon season.
Edward Bearden was described as a protégé of Jerry Bywaters, one of the founding members of the “Dallas Nine,” and would later join the group. The artist found his way to New Mexico and returned often, to paint and draw its expansive and unique landscapes.
Ed Bearden’s artworks are held in a number of important collections, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Jefferson Historical Museum, and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.
Edward C. Bearden (1919–1980). New Mexico Rainstorm, 1949. Lithograph. 10 x 13 ½ in. Titled l/l: “New Mexico Rainstorm”; signed l/r: Ed Bearden 1949. Framed in an archival presentation: 18 x 21 ¼ x 1 in. Strong impression. Superb condition. $6,500.
Andrew F. Bunner (1841-1897). Upstate New York Lake, ca. 1880, oil on canvas, 10 1/8 x 18 inches; 20 x 28 inches framed, signed lower left. Exquisite original gold leaf frame. Black light tested. Superb condition. $10,000.
Offered here is one of Andrew Bunner’s best paintings capturing the nuances of light, color and a sense of place. Depicting a serene evening at a lake in upstate New York, this painting has a quiet atmospheric quality. Lured by the beauty of the landscape, Bunner became a master of traditional realistic painting and became renowned for that genre as well as for his marine paintings.
Andrew Fisher Bunner was born in 1841 in New York City. He studied in New York and in Europe where he traveled extensively through France, Holland, Germany and Italy. He exhibited annually at the National Academy of Design in New York City, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and frequently at the Boston Art Club and the Brooklyn Art Association. In Europe he exhibited at the Paris Salons in France. Bunner’s work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art.
David Roberts was a Scottish painter, best known for his work, Views in the Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, & Nubia, a prolific series of detailed lithograph prints of Egypt and the Near East. Roberts traveled to the Holy Land in 1838 where he spent eleven months drawing and painting the architecture, people, and landscapes. He was the first Westerner granted permission to enter many of the sacred mosques or monuments.
Approach of the Simoon is considered to be the most desirable image of all 250 lithographs. It is dramatic and incorporates the Sphinx, the Great Pyramid, a caravan of travelers, and the approaching sandstorm blocking the blood red sun setting in the west.
The images have always been very desirable and are becoming very rare as sets are being broken and the prints sold off.
David Roberts (1796-1864). Approach of the Simoon – Desert at Gizeh. (London: F. G. Moon 1849). Duo-Tone lithograph with hand finishing. Image: 12 7/8 x 19 inches. Framed: 25 ¾ x 31 x 2 inches. Signed in plate, and dated 1849. Archival framing with elegant gold frame, deep bevel mat and Optium Plexiglas. Very good condition for this rare print. $12,000.
