Sotheby’s Upcoming Auction Includes Braddock’s Expedition Map and Johann Theodor de Bry’s The Great and Small Voyages

The Braddock expedition, a British military expedition, was carried out in 1755 to capture Fort Duquesne from the French. Native American and French warriors from Fort Duquesne defeated the British forces. The expedition was named after General Edward Braddock (1695 – 1755), who led the British forces and died in the effort. A fine, contemporary manuscript map of General Edward Braddock’s route towards Fort Duquesne, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in the Ohio Country, is a key highlight of the upcoming Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana auction, presented by Sotheby’s. According to the auction house, the detailed map has been lost for nearly a century and has never before been published or closely studied. 

A full set of The Great and Small Voyages written by Johann Theodor de Bry is also available. Engraver and goldsmith Theodor de Bry was born in 1528 in Liège, Belgium. Born into a family of copper plate engravers, de Bry often depicted early European voyages to the Americas in his engravings. The set also includes Parts XII and XIII of the Great Voyages and Parts XI and XII of the Small Voyages, and the Appendix of the Small Voyages, making it an exceedingly rare lot. An important letter from President Abraham Lincoln to General Halleck regarding military strategy, another from President John Quincy Adams to fellow politician Ambrose Spencer, and four volumes of The Gazette of the United States stand out as well. Visit Sotheby’s to view the complete Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana catalog and register to bid.