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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Spectacular Atlases and Maps from Bernard Shapero Rare Books There is nothing but the best in Shapero's Cartography By Michael Stillman Here is a catalogue you might consider as stunning as the material it describes were it not for the fact that these items are utterly spectacular. The catalogue is Cartography, from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books, and it contains 112 pages of illustrations and detailed descriptions for just 50 items. However, these are no ordinary items, but some of the most important maps and atlases ever produced. They may be out of reach for the average collector, but at least we have the chance to peruse this magnificent catalogue. Shapero admits that this catalogue is "unashamedly pitched at the upper end of the food chain of collecting." Virtually all maps and atlases going back over two centuries are valuable and collectible, but these are particularly so. Shapero explains, "The works within these pages have been selected not just for their quality of impression, fine colour or provenance...they have been chosen as books or maps with a tale to tell... These are the maps and atlases we like." You will like them too. Here are some samples. The globe pictured on the catalogue's cover was produced between 1645-1648 by the famed Blaeu family of Amsterdam. This 26-inch diameter globe was produced by Dr. Joan Blaeu during the "golden age" of Dutch mapmaking. The first of these globes was made in 1617 by Joan's father Willem Blaeu. After his death, his son Joan (or Joannes) took over the business, and produced this fourth state of the globe. It was regularly updated to take into account new discoveries. This one covers most of the Americas quite well, but Blaeu cheated to cover his lack of knowledge of the Pacific Northwest by placing a large cartouche over the area. California appears as an island, as it generally would until the next century. The eastern portion of Australia, then known as New Holland, fades off into nothingness. The globe sits on a 17th century Dutch wooden base, and was a very expensive item even at the time. However, not as expensive as it is today. Priced at L500,000 (British pounds, roughly equivalent to US dollars $870,000). The Blaeu family was particularly known for their atlases, and item 5 was their monumental achievement and the high point of the family's career. Published in 1662, this is the first edition, in Latin, of their 11-volume masterpiece, Atlas Maior (Great Atlas). It contains 591 engraved maps, and numerous other illustrations, colored throughout by a contemporary hand. It has been described as "the greatest and finest atlas ever published." While a Dutch atlas, it contains 58 maps of England and Wales, 25 of America, including important maps of Virginia and New England. The final volume is devoted to the Americas. The price is available on request, which we take to mean this set is not quite as inexpensive as the preceding globe.
Spectacular Atlases and Maps from Bernard Shapero Rare Books Moses Pitt's English Atlas. Prior to the Blaeus seizing the market in the mid-17th century, the finest atlases had come from another mapmaker, Gerard Mercator. He had coined the word "atlas" to describe a collection of maps. It is unclear whether he chose the term to recognize the mythical Greek strongman who held up the world, or Libyan King Atlas, a mathematician and astronomer. A decade after Mercator's death, Jodocus Hondius purchased his plates at an auction of his son's effects, and began publishing atlases, updated with his own new maps. Item 11 is a 1630 Mercator atlas published by Henricus Hondius, Atlas sive cosmographicae... Hondius was still the most notable atlas publisher at this time, though the firm would soon be displaced by the Blaeus. £65,000 (US $114,120). The other great mapmaker of Mercator's era was Abraham Ortelius. Ortelius was a competitor, but also a personal friend of Mercator. Item 12 is one of his Theatre de l'univers, contenant les cartes de tout le monde. This is the fourth French language edition, published in Antwerp in 1587. It includes 112 engraved double-page maps. £75,000 (US $131,677). Item 15 is The English Atlas by Moses Pitt. This four-volume atlas was published from 1680-1683 in London. Pitt hoped to compete with the Blaeus, but despite this fine effort, Pitt ran out of money, eventually spending some time in debtor's prison. £35,000 (US $61,436). Here is a circa 1730 world map, with contemporary hand coloring, by a man still a household name, though not for his maps. The mapmaker was Edmund Halley, better known as one of the world's leading astronomers, and more specifically for the comet that bears his name. Halley predicted that "Halley's Comet" would revisit the earth every 76 years. His was the first map to show isogonals, lines of equal magnetic pull which he believed would enable voyagers to compute longitude. However, fluctuations in magnetic strength made this use impossible. £8,000 (US $14,044). Shapero notes that for those who find these prices a bit demanding, they have much more material available at less challenging prices. Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books may be found online at www.shapero.com, telephone +44 (0)20 7493 0876.

Spectacular Atlases and Maps from Bernard Shapero Rare Books

There is nothing but the best in Shapero's Cartography

By Michael Stillman

Here is a catalogue you might consider as stunning as the material it describes were it not for the fact that these items are utterly spectacular. The catalogue is Cartography, from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books, and it contains 112 pages of illustrations and detailed descriptions for just 50 items. However, these are no ordinary items, but some of the most important maps and atlases ever produced. They may be out of reach for the average collector, but at least we have the chance to peruse this magnificent catalogue.

Shapero admits that this catalogue is "unashamedly pitched at the upper end of the food chain of collecting." Virtually all maps and atlases going back over two centuries are valuable and collectible, but these are particularly so. Shapero explains, "The works within these pages have been selected not just for their quality of impression, fine colour or provenance...they have been chosen as books or maps with a tale to tell... These are the maps and atlases we like." You will like them too. Here are some samples.

The globe pictured on the catalogue's cover was produced between 1645-1648 by the famed Blaeu family of Amsterdam. This 26-inch diameter globe was produced by Dr. Joan Blaeu during the "golden age" of Dutch mapmaking. The first of these globes was made in 1617 by Joan's father Willem Blaeu. After his death, his son Joan (or Joannes) took over the business, and produced this fourth state of the globe. It was regularly updated to take into account new discoveries. This one covers most of the Americas quite well, but Blaeu cheated to cover his lack of knowledge of the Pacific Northwest by placing a large cartouche over the area. California appears as an island, as it generally would until the next century. The eastern portion of Australia, then known as New Holland, fades off into nothingness. The globe sits on a 17th century Dutch wooden base, and was a very expensive item even at the time. However, not as expensive as it is today. Priced at L500,000 (British pounds, roughly equivalent to US dollars $870,000).

The Blaeu family was particularly known for their atlases, and item 5 was their monumental achievement and the high point of the family's career. Published in 1662, this is the first edition, in Latin, of their 11-volume masterpiece, Atlas Maior (Great Atlas). It contains 591 engraved maps, and numerous other illustrations, colored throughout by a contemporary hand. It has been described as "the greatest and finest atlas ever published." While a Dutch atlas, it contains 58 maps of England and Wales, 25 of America, including important maps of Virginia and New England. The final volume is devoted to the Americas. The price is available on request, which we take to mean this set is not quite as inexpensive as the preceding globe.

Spectacular Atlases and Maps from Bernard Shapero Rare Books

Moses Pitt's English Atlas.

Prior to the Blaeus seizing the market in the mid-17th century, the finest atlases had come from another mapmaker, Gerard Mercator. He had coined the word "atlas" to describe a collection of maps. It is unclear whether he chose the term to recognize the mythical Greek strongman who held up the world, or Libyan King Atlas, a mathematician and astronomer. A decade after Mercator's death, Jodocus Hondius purchased his plates at an auction of his son's effects, and began publishing atlases, updated with his own new maps. Item 11 is a 1630 Mercator atlas published by Henricus Hondius, Atlas sive cosmographicae... Hondius was still the most notable atlas publisher at this time, though the firm would soon be displaced by the Blaeus. £65,000 (US $114,120).

The other great mapmaker of Mercator's era was Abraham Ortelius. Ortelius was a competitor, but also a personal friend of Mercator. Item 12 is one of his Theatre de l'univers, contenant les cartes de tout le monde. This is the fourth French language edition, published in Antwerp in 1587. It includes 112 engraved double-page maps. £75,000 (US $131,677).

Item 15 is The English Atlas by Moses Pitt. This four-volume atlas was published from 1680-1683 in London. Pitt hoped to compete with the Blaeus, but despite this fine effort, Pitt ran out of money, eventually spending some time in debtor's prison. £35,000 (US $61,436).

Here is a circa 1730 world map, with contemporary hand coloring, by a man still a household name, though not for his maps. The mapmaker was Edmund Halley, better known as one of the world's leading astronomers, and more specifically for the comet that bears his name. Halley predicted that "Halley's Comet" would revisit the earth every 76 years. His was the first map to show isogonals, lines of equal magnetic pull which he believed would enable voyagers to compute longitude. However, fluctuations in magnetic strength made this use impossible. £8,000 (US $14,044).

Shapero notes that for those who find these prices a bit demanding, they have much more material available at less challenging prices. Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books may be found online at www.shapero.com, telephone +44 (0)20 7493 0876.