1856 Map of the City of Washington by Casimir Bohn

This map, printed in 1840, is a detailed representation of Washington, D.C. in the mid-19th century. The map shows block numbers, wards, and government buildings as well as details o...

By Andrew Ellicott (1754-1820) and Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825). Plan of the City of Washington. Published by Thackara & Vallance, Philadelphia, 1792. Later impression printed on 19th century wove paper. This is a fine 19th century printing of the "official" plan of Washington, D.C. First printed in 1792 by the original publishers, Thackara & Vallance in Philadelphia, this is a later 19th century printing of the fifth recorded engraving of the L’Enfant / Ellicott city plan. The first three issues of this city plan were in published in periodicals, making the fifth edition only the second separately-issued engraving of the plan. In full, the title reads, “Plan of the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia, ceded by the States of Virginia and Maryland to the United States of America and by them established as the Seat of their Government after the year 1800.” The national capital city is laid out according to a plan originally proposed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant and modified by Andrew Ellicott. L'Enfant was born in Paris, where he trained to be an architect. He came to America in 1777, and served under George Washington as an engineer during the Revolutionary War. In 1791, Washington asked L'Enfant to design the new capital city in the District of Columbia. However, trouble arose between the city and L'Enfant. The City Commissioner needed a finished, printed copy of the plan in order to sell building lots but L'Enfant worked slowly and released only incomplete plans, and proved to be quite obstinate. On instruction from President Washington...

Presented is U.S. Coast Survey nautical chart or maritime map of Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay from 1856. The map depicts the region from Susquehanna, Maryland to the northern Outer Banks in North Carolina. It also shows from Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia to the Atlantic Ocean. The map is highly detailed with many cities and towns labeled throughout. Rivers, inlets, and bays are also labeled. Various charts illustrating more specific parts of the region are marked on the map using dotted lines. The lines form boxes, and the corresponding chart number and publication date are given. Extensive triangulation surveys were conducted the length of Chesapeake Bay and are illustrated here. Hampton Roads, Virginia is labeled, along with the James, York, and Rappahannock Rivers, which were all extensively surveyed. The chart was published under the supervision of A. D. Bache, one of the most influential and prolific figures in the early history of the U.S. Coast Survey, for the 1856 Report of the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey. Alexander Dallas Bache (1806-1867) was an American physicist, scientist, and surveyor. Bache served as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey from 1843 to 1865. Born in Philadelphia, Bache toured Europe and composed an important treatise on European Education. He also served as president of Philadelphia's Central High School and was a professor of natural history and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon the death of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Bache was appointed Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey. The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin...

Presented is a hand-colored, engraved folding map titled "New Map of the City of New York With Part of Brooklyn & Williamsburg" by J. Calvin Smith. The map was issued bound in the bo...

Presented is an original map of Albert Boschke's extremely sought-after "Topographical Map of the District of Columbia Surveyed in the Years 1856 ...

This is a beautiful hand-colored map titled “New York City & County Map with Vicinity entire Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, Jersey City &c.” The work was published in 1855 by Charles Magnu...

Antique map titled 'Chart of the Bonin Group of Islands.' The Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the Ogasawara Group are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, som...

Antique map titled 'The Arctic Regions showing the North-West Passage of Captain R. McClure'. Old map of the North Pole, displaying the Northwest Passage di...

Antique map titled 'États-Unis'. A very attractive and detailed late 19th century map of the United States, with a fine decorative vignette of Washington. The extensive railway netwo...

This original hand-colored map is from the "Atlas National Illustré," a work by Victor Levasseur, a French geographer and cartographer known for his richly illustrated maps. The map...

Antique map titled 'De Platte Grond van Amboina zoo als het was in den Jaare, 1718'. Antique map depicting the City of Ambon, Indonesia. This print originates from 'Oud en Nieuw Oost...

Antique map titled 'Bolzvardia'. Old map of the city of Bolsward, Friesland. This map was published with two other maps on one sheet (Hindeloopen and Stavoren). Artists and Engravers...