Well-known antique map collector Jonathan Potter is retiring, and plans to sell off many of the antique maps in his catalog.

Antique maps for sale by Potter include:

• A 400-year-old map depicting Iceland entitled Islandia, published by Abraham Ortelius in the 16th Century for approx. $15,000 USD
• A globe by Mattaeus Greuter, produced in 1632 and priced at $180,000 USD (approx.)
• A double-hemisphere map of the world by John Speed
• An antique map of the moon, prepared in the 1720s by astronomer, geographer, mathematician and physicist, Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr for $3,000 USD (approx.)

Potter first became interested in antique maps 40 years ago, wandering the markets of London’s Portobello Road. Potter went on to establish his own gallery and amassed one of the largest collections of antique maps in the world, all of which are now for sale. The entire map collection is valued somewhere around $6 million USD.

Source: 400-year-old map collection for sale

David Rumsey is donating his collection of thousands of rare and historical American maps to Standford University.

Rumsey says one of the rarest maps that has been donated is Lewis & Clark’s map used during their journey through the upper Missouri and into Oregon published in 1814.

The collection of about 150,000 maps will go to Stanford Library’s Special Collections Division for preservation.

Rumsey has spent at least 30 years collecting rare and antique maps. About 18,000 of the maps digitized for online viewing at his web site http://www.davidrumsey.com.

Read the full story.

Edit: A more indepth story regarding the donation  is now available from The Imperial Valley News.

[tags]David Rumsey, antique maps, antique map collections, lewis and clark[/tags]