Catalog Archive
Auction 164, Lot 789

NO RESERVE

"Appendiculae Historicae; or, Shreds of History Hung on a Horn",

Subject: References

Period: 1891 (published)

Publication:

Color: Printed Color

Size:
10.4 x 13.5 inches
26.4 x 34.3 cm
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This rare and unusual book by Fred W. Lucas centers on a map of present-day New York and part of Canada engraved on a powder horn, likely during the French and Indian War. According to Lucas, "The artist topographer was evidently a man of imperfect education, the spelling is faulty; the topography is generally correct, even to minute details, though there are two or three errors. His ingenuity, in compressing the map on to the inconveniently shaped surface of the horn, was great." Lucas takes this unique object as launching point to tell the story of America from the early days of exploration and discovery to the Treaty of Paris in 1763. It features ten plates, including a photograph of the curious horn at the book's center, reproductions of maps by Carver, Jefferys, Pownall, Sauthier, and Holland, and a modern skeleton map (in color) of the mid-Atlantic and part of Canada. Hardbound in cloth-backed printed boards. 216 pp. of handmade paper, with two errata slips.

References:

Condition: B

Contents good with light toning and scattered foxing and minor offsetting of the powder horn image on the title page. There are manuscript notes on the end papers. The covers are moderately stained, soiled, and sunned with minor shelf wear.

Estimate: $230 - $275

Unsold

Closed on 9/13/2017

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