WWW-Virtual Library: History
Map History / History of Cartography: THE Gateway to the Subject

WWW-VL Main Catalogue WWW-VL History Central Catalogue
HOME
(main menu)
INDEX
complete
SITEMAP
What the
site is
ABOUT
WHAT'S
NEW
Map History


Marketplace


  • Map Dealers

  • Map Fairs

  • Map Sales, Auctions and Prices

  • Searching for maps and books on the web

  • Map Collecting   |  Thefts of early maps and books

    Map Dealers
    For online listings of map dealers see:-

    For a general, published directory, see Sheppard's International Directories of Ephemera, Prints and Maps, 4th edition (Farnham, Surrey: Richard Joseph, 1999). ISBN 1-872699-68-5.

    For instructions on joining the Map Trade discussion list, where catalogues are announced and maps offered, see Other discussion lists. Postings to the list are placed in the archive. If your interest is in second-hand Ordnance Survey maps, the Charles Close Society issued the first 'informal listing' of dealers in such material in December 2001.

    For a wide-ranging talk about the international map trade see the precis of a talk given by Jonathan Potter in the ‘Maps and Society’ series at the Warburg Institute, London, 12 May 2016, ‘A Map Dealer's Reflections on the Last Forty-Five Years’.

    See general comments on Buying maps, and Fakes, forgeries & facsimiles likely to deceive.

    Top of page


    Map Fairs
    For an up-to-date listing of forthcoming map fairs, see John Docktor's Calendar

    Besides regional map fairs, or book fairs including map dealers, there are now several annual international map fairs. For information on these see MapFair.com, or individually:-

    Virtual Map Fair. Robert Putman, author and Amsterdam map dealer, launched the first fair in October 2008, with an online, geographically-organized catalogue.

    Top of page


    Map Sales, Auctions and Prices

    FUTURE:


    PAST:-

    For reports of recent map auctions see Ian McKay's report on book sales for Fine Books & Collections Magazine. A French site, Argus du Bibliophile, lists material sold at auction in France, with a section on atlases [part of the site is also available in English].

    H!BCoR Grading System for Antique maps, old prints, books, posters offers an 'Antique Map Price and high resolution image source' to 'auction results of 10000+ antique maps...'. You have to register for estimated prices or high resolution images.

    A review in The Portolan 79 (Winter 2010), pp.43-4 by Leigh Lockwood about 'Map World's Catalogue of Antique Maps 1472-1850', produced a reply from its publisher and that, in turn, one from Jeremy Pool, producer of the 'Antique Map Price Record', to which the former had been compared (pp.45-6).

    Barnebys is [February 2014] promising 'a complete overview of the auction house market ... salesroom and online auctions from around the world ... Search 70,000-100,000 unique items on a daily basis'. There is no specific category for maps; the nearest are 'Art, Prints' or 'Books'. Most of the items found via a search for 'map' were not relevant.

    If you want to compare the prices that are being asked for maps, check out the inventories of the dealers listed on the 'web images' page under 'Larger Image Sites (dealers). For further links see Historic Atlas and Map Valuation and Conservation (from Julie Sweetkind-Singer, Stanford University Libraries).

    Top of page


    Searching for maps and books on the web

    For detailed and expert comments see Joel Kovarsky's Book search engines on the web: use for map-related materials


    Map Collecting   |  Thefts of early maps and books

    HOME (main menu)  |  Index   |   Sitemap   |   What this site is about   |   What's New