Extremely rare marine atlas that broke Britain`s symbolic grip on America expected to fetch up to $120,000
(Artdaily.org)

An extremely rare copy of the atlas that broke Britain’s final symbolic grip on America following the Revolution is expected to sell for up to $120,000 at Swann Auction Galleries in New York on December 5.­­ The American Pilot: Containing the Navigation of the Sea-Coast of North-America, originally published in 1791, was instrumental in the United States taking control of its own mapping – a service previously dominated by the British – and at last gave the New England commercial fleets the charts they needed to navigate East Coast waters under American control. Although published in a number of editions between 1791 and 1816, The American Pilot is one of the rarest of all American atlases, partially because it was designed for use on board ships, where many would have been lost or destroyed. Separate charts from the Pilot occasionally appear at auction, but a complete issue is extremely rare, and it is thought