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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.

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.

10/11/2024

Today in 1775 the United States Marine Corps was created by the Second Continental Congress “to serve as landing forces with the fleet.” Their most famous missions included the taking of the Tripolitan city of Derna in 1803 in the First Barbary War referenced as “the shores of Tripoli in the Marines’ Hymn. Here the shores of Tripoli on Seutter’s Africa Iuxta Navigationes… printed by Mattheus Seutter in 1725.

05/11/2024

Today in 1605 Guy Fawkes was captured under the Houses of Parliament before he could set off the gunpowder amassed to assassinate the king. The Gunpowder Plot is still celebrated with bonfires and the burning of “The Guy” in effigy. The practice evolved in the American colonies into Pope Night with anti-catholic protests which survived until 1892. Here Angliae, Scotiae, et Hiberniae, Sive Britannica: Insularum Desriptio. Spanish edition first printed by Ortelius in 1609.

29/10/2024

Today in 1665 King Antonio I, or Mvita a Nkanga, King of Kongo, was decapitated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila in modern Angola. The loss of the king ended two centuries of Kongolese resistance to the Portuguese as the region descended into civil war. The king’s head was ceremonially buried in Luanda, labeled on this map Loanda. Here Aethiopia Superior vel Interior vulgo Abissinorum printed by Willem Bleau circa 1630.

25/10/2024

Today in 1764 John Adams of Quincy, Massachusetts married his third cousin, Abigail Smith, overriding the objections of her genteel mother. The second first couple had six children, four of whom survived, served their country as representatives to Paris and London, moved the US capital to Washington, DC, were the first family to live in the White House, and marked 54 years of marriage three days before her death. Here Massachuset from Part of North America, comprehending The Course of the Ohio, New England, New York… printed by John Barrow circa 1760.

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