Bellin.   Carte de L'Isle St. Thomas...   1764.   From Le Petit Atlas Maritime.   (Paris.)   9 x 14 1/4."  A bright example with later, tasteful outline color.  Wide margins with minor soiling.  Two areas, each of 2" square, of apparent insect specking.  Overall, very good condition.   Click here for image.
This attractive map covers all of St. Thomas and the western tip of St. John.  Numerous bays and points are identified, as are "la Ville,"  two settlements and Fort St. Thomas ou Christian.  Several soundings are shown for the harbor of what is now known as Charlotte Amalie.  A compass rose and simple cartouche add to the attractiveness of this map.      [Item # 2082.]   $600.00.

Bellin.   Carte de L'Isle de Sainte Croix...[on same sheet with] Carte de L'Isle de Saint Jean de Portorico.   1764.   From Le Petit Atlas Maritime.   (Paris.)   Image area of both maps together: 8 3/4 x 6 3/4."  Age-toned, especially at the margins.  Some staining in the margins.  Later, simple outline color.   Click here for image.
Two separate maps are included on one sheet: St. Croix of the Virgin Islands at the top and Puerto Rico below.  While many points and bays are noted on St. Croix, there is no indication of settlements.  An anchorage is indicated at Petit Cannebay.  On Puerto Rico, several points, capes, bays and rivers are identified.  San Juan is styled "Ville de Portorico."  This is a charming rendition of these two islands in the mid-18th century.    [Item # 2083.]   $600.00.
 

[Virgin Islands: Book with Maps & Views.]   Oldendorp, C. G. A.  Geschichte der Mission der Evangelischen Brueder auf den Caraibischen Inseln St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Jan... [History of the Evangelical Brethren on the Caribbean Islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.]   1777.  bey Christian Friedrich Laur...   Barby [Switzerland].   [16], 1068, [44] pp.   Two volumes bound as one.  Later one-quarter black leather over marbled boards, with minor scuffing.  Spine with four raised, gilt-lined bands; gilt title and decorative bands at head and foot of spine.  Contents age-toned with scattered light foxing.  Four folding views and three folding maps bound on tabs at rear; all are bright and very clean.  The map of St. Thomas has a tear of about 1/4" from the right margin, just through the neat lines.  Lacks folding table.
This is, to our knowledge, the first published work devoted to the history, natural resources and social conditions of the Virgin Islands, then the Danish West Indies.  Oldendorp was a Moravian minister sent to the islands in 1767 to document the history of the Church's missions there.  The book is in two parts.  The first is devoted to the people and customs of the islands, as well as their natural resources.  The second part, edited by Johann Jakob Bossart, provides a detailed history of the Moravian missions to the islands, beginning with that in St. Thomas in 1732.  The volume contains three maps: Caraibische Inseln (12 1/8 x 13 7/8"), Die Insel Sanct Thomas mit den mehresten Plantagen 1767 [including the western end of St. John] (7 x 12 1/2") and Die Insel Sainte Croix mit den Namen der Plantagen die bestaendig sind...1767 [with a symbol used to identify which plantations have a Zuckermuhle] (6 7/8 x 12 5/8").  Also bound in are four copper-plate engravings: Aussicht von Neu-Herrnhut auf St. Thomas von der Ostseite (7 x 10 1/2"), Friedensthal in St. Croix an einem Bettage...( 7 x 10 1/8"), Aussicht von Friedensthal von der Westseite (7 x 11 1/4") and Bethanien in St. Jan (7 x 8 7/8").  These are undoubtedly among the first views published of the Virgin Islands (and offered here in fine condition).  Oldendorp's work is an underappreciated one, perhaps made somewhat less so by an English translation published in 1987, nearly 200 years after the original.  Sabin: 57152.  Not in Hough and Hough, The Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection at Hamilton College.    [Item no. 2625.]   $2,750.00.

Kueffner.   Die Insel Sanct Thomas mit den mehresten Plantagen 1767.   1777.   Nuremburg.   7 x 12 7/8."  Light soiling; very strong impression.  Very good.   Click here for image.
This very scarce map of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands identifies a host of plantations throughout the island.  Water Island, Carrot Bay and Red Hook are among the names still readily recognizable on St. Thomas.  The western end of St. John, including Great and Little Cruz Bay, is also shown.    [Item # 2098.]   $1,250.00.

Schomburgk.   Anegada with its Reefs by R. H. Schomburgh (sic).   1832.   Published for the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society by John Murray.   London.   7 5/8 x 9 1/4."  Original fold lines; offsetting from being folded.  Otherwise, very good. Click here for image.
A nicely detailed map of Anegada, now one of the British Virgin Islands.  Presumably this is one of the earliest separate maps of Anegada.  A small inset map of the entire Virgin Islands group appears in the lower left corner of this map.  Numerous points (Tomata, Saltheap, etc.) and bays (Bone's, Windlass, etc.) are identified as are Settlements, Flamingo Pond and "Heaps of Conch Shells."  Various shoals, channels and locations of fresh water are also shown.  At Southern Shoals, it is noted "H. M.  Ship Plover lost her rudder."   A charming and scarce map by the German-born and educated British explorer and surveyor, best known for "the Schomburgk line," from his survey of the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela.   [Item # 2142.]   SOLD.

Schomburgk.   The Virgin Islands, Shewing the Set of the Tides Amongst Them.   1835.   Published for the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.   London.   7 3/8 x 16 1/2."  Very light darkening of one fold; right margin reinforced; soiling between neat lines at right. Click here for image.
An interesting separate presentation of the Virgin Islands, extending from Green and Brigantine Islands just east of St. Thomas to Virgin Gorda in the west.  Red and blue colored lines depict the flow of the flood and ebb tides, respectively.  In addition, areas of heavy swell and ground swell are indicated by shading.  While towns are not indicated,  numerous islands, "kays" and points are identified.  Schomburgk, a German-born and educated British explorer and surveyor, first visited the Virgin Islands in 1831 at the age of 27.  Subsequently, he undertook explorations and surveys of British Guiana, Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Thailand.   Phillips, A List of Maps of America: p. 976.    [Item # 2143.]   $325.00.

U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office.   West Indies --  Anegada Passage with  Adjacent Islands Compiled from the latest information 1886.   1886, with corrections to 1894.    Hydrographic Office, Navy Department.   Washington, D.C.   23 3/4 x 39 1/2."  Rolled chart on heavy paper with three old vertical folds; very good condition.
A scarce chart produced by the U.S. Navy in the late 19th century.  The left third of the chart depicts the Virgin Islands group, including St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and numerous smaller islands and cays.  Sombrero Island sits, lonely, in the middle of the charted area.  The right third of the chart encompasses Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Bartholomew and Saba Island.  Numerous sounding are presented, and many passages, reefs and banks are located on this detailed navigational chart.    [Item # 2144.]   SOLD.

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Updated 1 November 2004