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The Map Chest

Patrick and Anette Ahrens The Map Chest specializes in original antique maps printed between 1500 and 1800.

We also offer, on a smaller scale, a few antiquarian books. In keeping with our cartographic interests, the antiquarian books we offer are geographies, atlases or travel books printed in the same period.

10/03/2025

Today in 1661 Louis XIV, the Sun King, took personal control of France following the death of Cardinal Mazarin. He quickly moved his seat from Paris to Versailles and went on to become the longest reigning sovereign recorded, 72 years. Here Paris and France printed by John Speed circa 1625.

04/03/2025

Today in 1681 the British inhabitants of Penn’s Woods, or Pennsylvania, formed their colonial governments based on the charter granted to William Penn by Charles II. Labeled Iroqvois on Rossi’s l’Amerique Settentrionale of 1687, the land had been claimed by the Lenape and the Susquehannock, the Dutch, the Swedish and the British.

26/02/2025

Today in 1616 Galileo Galilei was instructed by Cardinal Bellarmine to abandon his "foolish and absurd" opinions on heliocentrism as decided by the Inquisition. Galileo's work on the topic was published in 1632 with papal consent which nevertheless led to his trial by the Inquisition and lifelong house arrest. One hundred years later his theories were accepted worldwide as printed on this heliocentric depiction of the solar system on Johann Homann's Systema Solare et Planetarium of 1716.

20/02/2025

Today in 1895 Frederick Douglass died of a heart attack at his home in Washington, DC at the age of 77. He worked tirelessly as an abolitionist, an orator, a writer, and a social reformer. On Johnson’s Delaware and Maryland printed in 1866, Douglass’ birthplace in Talbot County lies unlabeled between Easton and Hillsboro. He boarded a train in Baltimore to self liberate in 1838. You can trace his route to Philadelphia along the rail line depicted. His final home in DC lies on this map in Uniontown, renamed Anacostia in 1866, the date of the map. The Episcopal Church (USA) commemorates “the most influential African American of the nineteenth century” by observing Frederick Douglass Day.

15/02/2025

Today in 1764 the city of St. Louis was established by French trader Pierre Laclède and his 14 year old stepson, Auguste Chouteau, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain on land the Osage people considered their territory. The United States acquired the territory in the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis and Clark set out on their expedition from St. Louis, returning to settle there at its conclusion. The city would famously become the Gateway to the west as wagon trains launched onto the Oregon Trail in their footsteps. Here the site of the city is not yet reflected at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on Cassini’s Gli Stati Uniti Dell’ America of 1797. Note the branch of the river labeled Osage to the west.

10/02/2025

Today in 1763 the French and Indian War, the North American theater of the Seven Years' War, came to an official end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France lost New France, their holdings in Canada, as well as French Louisiana, their territory west of the English colonies. The area depicted in pink on Ottens' Carte des Possessions Angloises & Françoises du Continent de L'Amerique Septentrionale, printed in 1755, was ceded to the English, while Louisiane went to Spain.

03/02/2025

Today in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias sailed into Mossel Bay, extending European exploration of Africa beyond what became known as the Cape of Good Hope. Dias named the the bay after the cowherds he encountered. Dutch traders named the bay for the mussels they found, and that name prevailed. Here Moßel Bay on Bleau’s Æthiopia Inferior, vel Exterior. printed circa 1630. Note the cows depicted.

28/01/2025

Today in 1671 pirate Henry Morgan sacked and burnt the city of Panama. The ruins called Panama Viejo were declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. Here Panama on Ogilby’s Insulae Americanae printed at that time.

21/01/2025

Today in 1793 Citizen Louis Capet, known to the world as Louis XVI, was executed by guillotine at the Place de la Revolution in Paris. The square was originally designed to commemorate Louis the XV and his statue was dedicated in 1763. Under the Directory, it was renamed the Place de la Concorde. At the time this map was made, the Champs-Elysees were fields and gardens, not yet a major thoroughfare. Here the site on de Fer’s Plan de Paris of 1717. The future Place de la Revolution/Concorde lies just west of the Tuilleries garden.

15/01/2025

Today in 1541 King Francis I of France commissioned Jean-François de La Rocque, Sieur de Roberval, to settle New France in Canada. He sent Jaques Cartier as navigator with the first group of 500 settlers and followed the next year with 200 more. The settlements near modern Montreal lasted only two years. Here Ramusio's La Nuovo Francia printed in 1565 was based on the explorations of Jacques Cartier as well as an earlier expedition by Giovanni Verrazzano.

06/01/2025

Today in 1721 the results of the inquiry into the South Sea Bubble were published, revealing corruption and fraud. Created a decade earlier to monopolize the slave trade to the South Seas and South America, the South Sea Company never made money, and many investors lost everything when the stock collapsed. Sir Isaac Newton was among the losing investors . Here A New & Exact Map of the Coast, Countries and Islands within the Limits of ye South Sea Company printed by Herman Moll circa 1720. The map was designed to sell stock in the venture.

31/12/2024

Today in 1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease with a rate of £45 per year on the unused St. James Gate Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. The recipe has changed, the corporate structure has evolved, but the brewery continues to produce ale there. The dark porter first appeared in 1778. In 1981 Guinness Extra Stout was relaunched in a more drinkable version, and in 2017 isinglass as a filter was discontinued to make the beverage vegetarian/vegan compliant. Here Dublin as an inset on Herman Moll’s A New Map of Ireland Divided into its PROVINCES, COUNTIES and BARONIES… second edition, printed in 1750.

25/12/2024

Today in 1659 "whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way” was subject to a 5-shilling fine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Here Maßachuſets on Jansson's Nova Anglia Novum Belgium et Virginia of 1639. Merry Christmas!

20/12/2024

Today in 1803 the Louisiana Purchase was formalized with the raising of the American flag in New Orleans. Setting out to purchase just the city of New Orleans, the United States nearly doubled its territory with this purchase, including parts of fifteen states and two Canadian provinces. Jefferson was accused of constitutional overreach, but the treaty was ratified and the agreement stood. Here New Orleans on Tardieu’s Carte des Etats-Unis printed in 1802, showing the United States immediately prior to the new acquisition.

13/12/2024

Today in 1577 Sir Francis Drake set off on his three year circumnavigation of the globe. His was only the second expedition to accomplish this mission, and he was the first commander to complete it. (Magellan died en route.) Here the world as understood at that time on Ortelius’ Typus Orbis Terrarum printed in 1595, Latin edition.

03/12/2024

Today in 1586 the potato is introduced in England by Sir Thomas Herriot. A scholar, linguist, mathematician, astronomer, and shipmate to Sir Walter Raleigh on his expedition to Virginia, Herriot brought specimens of the plant native to Colombia back to England spawning fish and chips, crisps, bubble and squeak and countless other classic potato dishes. Here Colombia of that era on Otelius’ Peruviae Avriferae Regiones Typis printed in 1608.

29/11/2024

Today in 1777 San Jose was founded on land inhabited by the Tamien nation of the Ohlone peoples by José Joaquín Moraga as the first Pueblo in Alta California. Spanish control of the region devolved to Mexico in 1821, then ceded to the United States in 1848. The Gold Rush brought quick statehood, with San Jose as the capital. Here early explorations of California as presented by Diderot in his Encyclopédie printed in 1772.

20/11/2024

Today in 1739 Vice Admiral Edward Vernon sailed into the bay of Portobello in modern Panama. His sailors and marines quickly seized the Castillo del Hierro labeled Irou Castel on the map. The British forces then turned on Santiago Fortress, labeled Castell Gloria. By morning the Spanish surrendered. The capture of Portobello in the War of Jenkins’ Ear led to the naming of Portobello Road in London, Porto Bello’s in both Virginia and Maryland, as well as districts in Dublin and Edinburgh. Admiral Vernon inspired George Washington’s brother Lawrence to name his home Mount Vernon. Lawrence Washington sailed in the subsequent missions against Cartagena, Panama and Cuba. Here the contemporary map Portus Pulchri in Isthmo Panamensi printed by Homann’s Heirs in 1740.

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