Browse Listings in Map Types > Curiosities general
Wood block print showing Ptolemy and Astonomia.
A very nice woodcut print of Ptolemy looking at the stars with a quadrant in the company of Astronomia. Included in Gregor Reisch, compiler of the Margarita Philosophica,...
Date: Strasbourg 1512
Selling price: $350
Sold
Text page with large initial G.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto and verso an introduction with on each page an 6-line initial.VERSO : With a ini...
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $53
Sold
Text page with large initial C and I.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto and verso an introduction with on each page an 6-line initial.Each page side has...
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $13
Sold
Text page with coordinate net showing meridians and parallels and large initial.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto and verso an introduction with on recto coordinate net showing meridians and par...
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $17
Sold
Text page with coordinate net showing meridians and parallels and large initial.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto and verso an introduction with on recto coordinate net showing meridians and par...
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $10
Sold
Text page with diagram and large initial Q.
Text leaf from the Strasbourg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto a diagram of the world and a star.VERSO: Text with a wonderful 11-line initial.
Date: Strasbourg, 1525
Selling price: $55
Sold in 2015
Text page with large intitials P and A.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto a text on Lybia and Asia with 2 six-lines initials.VERSO: A table.
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $10
Sold
Text page with large decoration.
Text leaf from the Strasburg edition of Ptolemy's atlas edited by Laurent Fries. On recto a table surrounded by a decorative wood block border.VERSO: A table.
Date: Strassburg 1525
Selling price: $10
Sold
![[Sea monsters] Les monstres marins & terrestres..](/uploads/cache/21687-500x500.jpg)
[Sea monsters] Les monstres marins & terrestres..
Münster's plate of monsters of both land and sea, taken from Olaus Magnus' 'Carta Marina' of 1539, with abundant tusks, horns and twin-spouts. One vignette shows a galle...
Date: Basle 1544
Selling price: $925
Sold
![[Europe personified as a woman.]](/uploads/cache/36207-500x500.jpg)
[Europe personified as a woman.]
Among the most striking of early cartographic curiosities is this woodcut of Europe regina or Queen of the world. This is a simplified version of Johannes Bucius' represe...
Date: Basle c.1550
Selling price: $1250
Sold in 2016
![[Sea monsters] De regnis Septentrion. Monstra marina & terrestria. . .](/uploads/cache/34722-500x500.jpg)
[Sea monsters] De regnis Septentrion. Monstra marina & terrestria. . .
Münster's plate of monsters of both land and sea, taken from Olaus Magnus' 'Carta Marina' of 1539, with abundant tusks, horns and twin-spouts. One vignette shows a galle...
Date: Basle, ca. 1550
Selling price: $1520
Sold in 2015
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier/Wie Die In Den Mitnacßtigen Landern Gefunden Werden
Sebastian Münster's famous wood cut printed plate of monsters of both land and sea, as it appeared in his "Cosmographia". Derived from Olaus Magnus' "Cart...
Date: Basle, 1550
Selling price: $1200
Sold in 2016
![[Sea monsters] De regnis Septentrion. Monstra marina & terrestria.](/uploads/cache/36206-500x500.jpg)
[Sea monsters] De regnis Septentrion. Monstra marina & terrestria.
Münster's plate of monsters of both land and sea, taken from Olaus Magnus' 'Carta Marina' of 1539, with abundant tusks, horns and twin-spouts. One vignette shows a galle...
Date: Basle, ca. 1550
Selling price: $1600
Sold
![Europa Virgo [Europe personified as a woman.]](/uploads/cache/90554-500x500.jpg)
Europa Virgo [Europe personified as a woman.]
From Cosmographia and showing the continent (west at the top) with the Iberian peninsula as the head with crown, Italy and Denmark as the arms, carrying an orb and sceptr...
Date: Basle, c.1550
Selling price: $700
Sold in 2008
Mostri marini & terrestri, che si trouano in ogni luogo nelle parti d' aquilone.
One of the most famous charts of mythical sea monsters by Sebastian Munster. The monsters are derivative from the 'Carta Marina' of 1539 by Olaus Magnus and have been use...
Date: Basle, 1550
Selling price: $1100
Sold in 2010
Europa Virgo.
Allegorical map showing Europe in the shape of a woman. The representation of Europa Regina was first drawn by Jonannes Bucius in 1537. This simplified version appeared i...
Date: Basel, ca. 1550
Selling price: $700
Sold in 2009
Der Statt Rom boden und circkel sampt thor vnnd porten, wie sie gestanden ist vor zeiten, do sie noch in ihrer herrlichkeit was.
Large format wood engraving by Sebastian Münster with a special map showing the underground of Rome: the hills, the water streams. The city is marked by the city walls a...
Date: 1550
Selling price: $100
Sold in 2022
![[Lot of 10 leaves] Catalogus doctorum…in Cosmographia Sebastiani…/ Index Cosmographicus.](/uploads/cache/48294-500x500.jpg)
[Lot of 10 leaves] Catalogus doctorum…in Cosmographia Sebastiani…/ Index Cosmographicus.
Ten leaves with several wood blocks with index taken from the "Cosmographia". From the 1552 Latin text edition of Münster's Cosmographia, which is a short and ...
Date: Basel, 1552
Selling price: $3
Sold in 2022
Ptolemy.
With woodblock portrait of Ptolemy using a quadrant, from a French text edition of the Cosmographia .
Date: Basel 1560
Selling price: $50
Sold
Mörewunder vnd seltzame thier
Spectacular woodcut of mythical land with sea monsters and animals. The monsters were first engraved in the ‘Carta Marina’ of 1539 by Olaus Magnus and have been us...
Date: Basel, 1561
Selling price: $1500
Sold in 2022
Les marins monstres & terrestres...
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. This famous piece may well have...
Date: Basle, 1568
Selling price: $850
Sold
Die Länder Asie nach ihrer gelegenheit biß in India...
One of the earliest maps of the whole continent of Asia, published in Sebastian Münster’s "Cosmographia." The Pacific Ocean shows an archipelago of 7448 is...
Date: Basle, c1574
Mörwunder und seltzame Thier, wie die in Mitnächtigen Ländern gefunden werden.
In the early days of the era of discoveries, many ships would depart, never be seen again. Sailors that managed to return used to speak of encounters with large fish that...
Date: Basel, 1578
Selling price: $1450
Sold in 2018
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi.
Wood block map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this m...
Date: Magdeburg, ca. 1579
Selling price: $2200
Sold in 2021
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasir.
Map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this map.Bünting...
Date: Magdeburg,. 1579
Selling price: $2000
Sold in 2012
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier.
An exceptional, seminal woodcut depicting, in detail, a variety of fantastic sea-monsters and rare animals, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters.Th...
Date: Basle, 1580
Selling price: $450
Sold in 2017
![[Europe depicted as a Queen]](/uploads/cache/24785-500x500.jpg)
[Europe depicted as a Queen]
Among the most striking of early cartographic curiosities is this woodcut of Europe regina or Queen of the world. This is a simplified version of Johannes Bucius' represe...
Date: Basel, 1580
Selling price: $1300
Sold
Monstra marina..
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. This famous piece may well have...
Date: Basel 1580
Selling price: $850
Sold
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier.
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. Including monsters with abundan...
Date: Basel, 1580
Selling price: $1950
Sold in 2023
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier.
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. This famous piece may well have...
Date: Basel, 1580
Selling price: $900
Sold in 2013
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier.
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. Including monsters with abundan...
Date: Basel, 1580
Selling price: $2000
Sold in 2022
Meerwunder und Seltzame Thier.
A fine detailed woodcut depicting a superb variety of fantastic sea-monsters, such as might be encountered by a sailor in northern waters. This famous piece may well have...
Date: Basel 1580
Selling price: $440
Sold
America, sive Bresilia. . .
Allegorical print of the continent of America. Engraved by Jan Sadeler (1550-1601) after Theodor Bernard, dated 1581. Rare print and one of the earliest representations o...
Date: Amsterdam, ca 1581
Selling price: $400
Sold in 2020
Europa Prima Pars Terrae Forma Virginis.
Desirable, famous and relatively scarce-to-rare item usually deemed a curiosity or oddity map. All of Europe is depicted in the form of a Queen wearing her crown and in f...
Date: Magdeburg, ca. 1581
Selling price: $1550
Sold in 2019
![Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]](/uploads/cache/44699-500x500.jpg)
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]
Wood block map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this m...
Date: Magdeburg c. 1581
Selling price: $1000
Sold in 2019
Europa Prima Pars Terrae Forma Virginis.
Desirable, famous and relatively scarce-to-rare item usually deemed a curiosity or oddity map. All of Europe is depicted in the form of a Queen wearing her crown and in f...
Date: Magdeburg, ca. 1581
Selling price: $1775
Sold
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasir.
Map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this map.Bünting...
Date: Magdeburg, ca. 1581
Selling price: $1825
Sold
![Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]](/uploads/cache/48362-500x500.jpg)
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]
Wood block map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this m...
- $2500 / ≈ €2299
Date: Magdeburg c. 1581
![Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]](/uploads/cache/26984-500x500.jpg)
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]
Wood block map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this m...
Date: Magdeburg, c. 1581
Selling price: $2500
Sold in 2009
![Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]](/uploads/cache/39170-500x500.jpg)
Asia secunda pars terrae in forma Pegasi. [Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.]
Wood block map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named. There are several states, of this m...
Date: Magdeburg, c. 1581
Selling price: $1600
Sold in 2017
Europa Prima Pars Terrae Forma Virginis.
Desirable, famous and relatively scarce-to-rare item usually deemed a curiosity or oddity map. All of Europe is depicted in the form of a Queen wearing her crown and in f...
Date: Magdeburg, ca. 1581
Selling price: $1250
Sold in 2017
![[Ship Victoria of Ferdinand Magellan]](/uploads/cache/32588-500x500.jpg)
[Ship Victoria of Ferdinand Magellan]
On recto a description of the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan with a wood block printed depiction of his ship "Victoria" (69x65mm.)From a Latin text edition of...
Date: Basle, 1550-1590
Selling price: $26
Sold in 2013
![[Ptolemée]](/uploads/cache/32591-500x500.jpg)
[Ptolemée]
On verso a wood block print showing Ptolemy sitting at a table surrounded with surveying instruments and an atlas. (53x75mm.) From a Latin text edition of his Geographia ...
Date: Basle, 1550-1590
Selling price: $25
Sold in 2013
Spectandum Dedit Ortelius Mortalib. orbem Orbi Spectandum Galleus Ortelium. Papius
A beautiful colored portrait of Abraham Ortelius as Frontispiece to his 'Theatrum Orbis'. Engraved by Phillipe Galle.
Date: Antwerp, 1592
Selling price: $450
Sold in 2015
Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus.
Copper engraved map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. This is a very rare issue of the map from a Czech edition. The original woodcut map was re-engraved on copper with a...
Date: Magdeburg, 1592
Selling price: $3500
Sold in 2010
America Retectio.
The print shows an allegory of Neptune supporting the globe, which is flanked by Flora, representing Florence, and Janus, representing Genoa (birthplaces of Vespucci and ...
Date: Antwerp, 1596
Selling price: $550
Sold in 2018
Americvs Vespvccivs Florentinvs..
A very good impression, printed with tone and displaying very good contrasts and clarity of details. From a series composed in 1592, to celebrate the centenary of the dis...
Date: Antwerp 1596
Selling price: $600
Sold
Christophorvs Colvmbvs Ligvr..
A very good impression, printed with tone and displaying very good contrasts and clarity of details. From a series composed in 1592, to celebrate the centenary of the dis...
Date: Antwerp 1596
Selling price: $600
Sold
Europa Regina
This is one of the most famous of cartographic oddities showing Europe in the shape of a woman. The representation of Europa Regina or Queen of Europe, was first drawn by...
Date: Basel 1598
Selling price: $950
Sold
Baixos de India.
Early print of a wreaked ship, with people captured by giant lobsters! From the Caert-Thresoor and engraved by the Dutch master-engraver Petrus Kaerius. The first edition...
Date: Amsterdam 1600
Selling price: $130
Sold
![Ventorum Index Figur des See-Compass... [on sheet with] Vocabulorum Geographicorum Topica Significatio...](/uploads/cache/85783-500x500.jpg)
Ventorum Index Figur des See-Compass... [on sheet with] Vocabulorum Geographicorum Topica Significatio...
A very unusual, striking engraving featuring a magnificent 32-point compass rose or wind rose, paired on the same page with a map of an invented coastline used to illu...
Date: Köln, 1600
![Ambivi.. Victoria.. [The ship victoria of Magellean]](/uploads/cache/36152-500x500.jpg)
Ambivi.. Victoria.. [The ship victoria of Magellean]
A rare print representing a the ship Victoria by Magellan, crossing the Pacific Ocean. From "Hand-boeck Of Cort begrijp der Caerten. . ."
Date: Amsterdam, Cornelis Claesz, 1609
Selling price: $100
Sold in 2015
![[Title page] Hand-boeck of cort begryp der caerten ende beschryvinghen van alle landen des werelds.](/uploads/cache/36153-500x500.jpg)
[Title page] Hand-boeck of cort begryp der caerten ende beschryvinghen van alle landen des werelds.
A rare title page print representing a group of cartographers sitting at a table with globes and surveying instruments. From "Hand-boeck Of Cort begrijp der Caerten....
Date: Amsterdam, 1609
Selling price: $277
Sold in 2015
![Tornaci Nervorum. Episcopatus Perantiquus Totaq. Tornacesii Ditio... Ion. Baptista Vrientius Antverp. Tabulam a se delineatam.. [One of the rarest of all Ortelius maps]](/uploads/cache/93996-500x500.jpg)
Tornaci Nervorum. Episcopatus Perantiquus Totaq. Tornacesii Ditio... Ion. Baptista Vrientius Antverp. Tabulam a se delineatam.. [One of the rarest of all Ortelius maps]
This exceptional rare map of Hainaut is a must for all collectors of Ortelius maps!!! The rarest of all Ortelius maps. Centered on Lille. The map has a dedication to Mich...
Date: Antwerp, ca. 1610
Selling price: $800
Sold in 2021
Introductio.
On the recto a celestial diagram and on the verso a climate, longitude and latitude table.
Date: Amsterdam, 1644
Selling price: $14
Sold in 2017
![[Text page with Compass card]](/uploads/cache/39276-500x500.jpg)
[Text page with Compass card]
On the recto a colored wind rose with a table of 32 winds (95 x 95mm.) On the verso a little celestial diagram.
Date: Amsterdam, 1644
Selling price: $110
Sold in 2018
Tabula Anemographica seu Pyxis Nautica.
Impressive compass rose with a fleur de lis at the center and 32 wind directions flowing from it identified in six languages, Greek, Latin, French, Dutch, Italian, and Sp...
Date: Amsterdam, 1650
Selling price: $1050
Sold in 2015
Introductio ad cosmographiam.
On each side a celestial diagram.
Date: Amsterdam, 1650
Selling price: $40
Sold in 2009
Tabula Anemographica seu Pyxis Nautica.
A most significant anemographic, or wind rose. This unusual chart represents a transitional point in the perception of direction, or to be precise, the transition from th...
Date: Amsterdam, 1650
Selling price: $1450
Sold in 2010
![[Cartouche cutting from ] Insulae Iavae Cum parte insularum Borneo Sumatrae. . .](/uploads/cache/30306-500x500.jpg)
[Cartouche cutting from ] Insulae Iavae Cum parte insularum Borneo Sumatrae. . .
A cut-out of the elegant sea chart of the island of Java with parts of Sumatra, Borneo and Bali. The title cartouche featuring natives and merchants.
Date: Amsterdam, 1652
Selling price: $35
Sold in 2013
Insula Huaena sive Venusia a Guiljelmo Blaeu cum sub Tychone Astronomiae operam daret, delineata.
Decorative map of the island Hvan in the Danish Sound. In the center Tycho Brahe's famous observatory Uraniborg established in 1576, under the patronage of Frederick II, ...
Date: Amsterdam, 1659
Selling price: $800
Sold in 2015
Declaracion del Traco en llano de Steleburg.
Decorative plan of Steleburg on the island Hvan in the Danish Sound. Showing Tycho Brahe's famous observatory Uraniborg established in 1576, under the patronage of Freder...
Date: Amsterdam, 1659
Selling price: $800
Sold in 2020
Ichnographia praecipue domus
Decorative plan of Uraniborg, the observatory build by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. The building was dedicated to Urania, the Muse of Astronomy, and called "Ur...
Date: Amsterdam, 1659
Selling price: $300
Sold in 2020
![[No Title] Mythological Chart.](/uploads/cache/45927-500x500.jpg)
[No Title] Mythological Chart.
A highly decorative and informative chart by Jeremiah Sautter and engraved by Johann Spiegel. This striking engraving depicts the four seasons: Spring with a spade and fr...
Date: Salzburg, ca. 1680
Selling price: $250
Sold in 2020
Conserva Tempus Et Devita a Malo.
Chart from from "Conserva Tempus et Devita a Malo," "Vol. 1, Page 280, Eccli. Cap. 4.V.23," by the seventeenth-century German author of Oculus Artific...
Date: Nutremberg, 1690
Selling price: $475
Sold in 2020
Accurata Utopiae Tabula Das ist Der Neu entdeckten Schalck Welt, oder des so offtbenannten, und doch nie erkanten Schlarraffenlandes Neu erfundene lächerliche Land tabell Worinnen alle und jede laster in besondere Königreich. . .
This curious and decorative Utopia map was printed for the art dealer and publisher Daniel Funck at the end of the seventeenth century together with a comprehensive expla...
Date: Nuremberg, 1694
Selling price: $1000
Sold in 2020
An Introduction to Geography.
A nice woodcut engraving of a compass rose (sometimes called a wind rose or rose of the winds). Made by an anonymous engraver, ca. 1695. The rose is surrounded by English...
Date: Unknown, ca 1695
Selling price: $23
Sold in 2019
Sea Monsters
Very decorative, large page from the rare Specula physico-mathematico-historica, superbly illustrated compendium of mathematics and natural history by Zahn, a member of t...
Date: Nuremberg, 1696
Monsters
Very decorative, large page from the rare Specula physico-mathematico-historica, superbly illustrated compendium of mathematics and natural history by Zahn, a member of t...
Date: Nuremberg, 1696
Radish with Human Form, Goat atop a Plant, Twisted Carrots, Man merged with Tree
This large, very decorative print is from Johann Zahn's Specula physico - mathematico - historica notabilium ac mirabilium sciendorum in qua mundi mirabilis oeconomia, ...
Date: Nuremberg, 1696
Furis imago in fago dissecta Polonie Arbor-Piri fructus mirabilis
This large, very decorative print is from Johann Zahn's Specula physico - mathematico - historica notabilium ac mirabilium sciendorum in qua mundi mirabilis oeconomia, ...
Date: Nuremberg, 1696
Mythological animals, devil
This large, very decorative print is from Johann Zahn's Specula physico - mathematico - historica notabilium ac mirabilium sciendorum in qua mundi mirabilis oeconomia, ...
Date: Nuremberg, 1696
Waer wort de wysheyt ghevonden. . ./ Den omganc des hemels heb ick alleen omgegaen en dien doorwandelt.
Small map of an imaginary Land of Wisdom according to Job 28 "Where Can Wisdom Be Found". The map is surrounded with quotes from the bible and inside we see the...
Date: Netherlands, ca. 1700
Selling price: $130
Sold in 2012
The Frontispiece of a Curiouse CLOCK which will inform Gentlemen & Others in all Usefull Things Contained in ALMANACK'S for the Year 1701 . . .
RARE.One of the more obscure, but also one of the more fascinating historic horological texts was penned in the first decades of the 18th century by a London clock maker ...
Date: London, 1702 - 1706
Selling price: $1850
Sold in 2020
Postarum seu veredariorum stationes per Germaniam et provincias adiacentes
Rare post road mapspost route map of the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Austria. Including the towns of Venice, Paris, Lübeck, Krakow and centered on Ba...
Date: Brussels, 1711
Selling price: $190
Sold in 2012
Poliometria Europae Maxime Autem Germaniae ac Finitimorum Locorum. . .
This unusual thematic chart shows the traveling distances from various European cities in a style that is still used in charts today.
Date: Amsterdam, 1720
Selling price: $225
Sold in 2011
Afbeeldinge van 't zeer vermaarde Eiland Geks-Kop
These satirical engravings are some of the most famous cartographic curiosities. They represent the collapse of the French Compagnie de la Louisiane d'Occident, and simil...
Date: 1720
Selling price: $450
Sold in 2011
Carte pour contribuer a indiquer la connoissance des premiers principes de fortifications.
A decorative military copperplate engraving showing various forms of defensive structures, as well as weapons for defending, and the tools for creating them. Also shown a...
Date: Amsterdam, ca 1720
Selling price: $300
Sold in 2021
Discus Chronologicus in quo Omnes Imperatores et Reges orbis Europaei . . .
A fascinating chart in the form of a dial with a moving pointer, providing a chronology of the Holy Roman Emperors, Popes and kings of Europe from AD to 1721. The names o...
Date: Nuremberg, 1721
Selling price: $300
Sold in 2020
Icon Synoptica Sac. Rom. Imp. Electorum, Ducum, Principum.
Famous plate of an Elector in full robes, covered with listings of all the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, princes, electors, and dukes. At the left is a pillar with her...
Date: Augsburg, 1728
Selling price: $325
Sold in 2013