By Curt and Marti Griggs

 

We are retiring!  We began our love affair with antique maps nearly forty years ago.  Starting out as collectors, we transitioned into gallery owners, then acquired an auction company specializing in cartography, wrote a book on map collecting, and compiled the data you all know as the Antique Map Price Record (AMPR) at Oldmaps.com.  While we will always love antique maps, it is time to spend our time traveling to many of the places on our favorite maps. 

The Antique Map Price Record has a long and distinguished history.  It was first published in a small hard-bound volume titled Antique Maps, Sea Charts, City Views, Celestial Charts & Battle Plans - Price Guide and Collectors' Handbook.  David C. Jolly started with sales data from just twenty-five dealer catalogs. The annual publication became known simply as Jolly’s in the trade and became an essential reference tool for map collectors, dealers, and libraries.  

In 1992 Jon Rosenthal (Kimmel Publications) succeeded Jolly and the AMPR continued in printed form until 2000.  Bringing it into the 21^st Century, Jeremy Poole, of MapRecord Publications, converted to a CD-ROM format in 2002. This format allowed for the creation of a cumulative database bringing all the data from the 1983-2000 books into a searchable, computer-based format.  He published annual CD-ROM editions until 2011, compiling a total of 138,323 data records.

In 1999 we started Oldmaps.com to provide collectors with pricing data on the nascent Internet.  In 2012, we took over the AMPR database and combined the data with our database at OldMaps.com.  This freed users from being tethered to a physical device so pricing records were available anytime and from anywhere with an Internet connection.  Over the years we expanded the information. Improved searching and added numerous services.  The OldMaps database has grown to include information on the antique map market from hundreds of dealers and auctions across the globe. 

It is time once again to pass the torch.  Oldmaps.com has been acquired by Bruce McKinney’s RareBookHub.com.  We believe this is a great development for our subscribers.  RBH has the depth and expertise to improve your online experience with over 13.2 million pricing records. Thank you for your support and business over the years.

With best regards,

Curt and Marti Griggs