Home › Custom request 161 prints listed · the archives hold far more
Ask for the one that is not here The site lists what we have restored so far, not what exists. If you want the chart of your own stretch of coast, the plan of the city you grew up in, or a size that fits an awkward wall, ask — we source from public archives, so the answer is often yes and usually within a week. If the scan is too small or the rights are not clear, we will say so and nothing is charged.
What helps most
Three details that speed this up A period, not just a place. "Boston" spans three centuries of very different-looking sheets; "Boston around 1775" finds one in minutes.
The wall, not just the size. Tell us the width you have and whether it is tall or wide, and we will suggest a sheet whose proportion actually fits rather than one that has to be cropped.
Why you want it. A harbour you sailed, a city you left, a house you bought — it changes which of several candidate sheets is the right one, and it is usually the deciding detail.
Current collections: Antique World Maps · Antique Maps of US States · Antique Map Prints of American Cities · Framed Nautical Charts · Antique Maps of Europe · Framed Topographic Maps · Historic Charts, Ancient World & Themed Maps · Vintage Travel & National Park Posters · Antique Maps of Asia · Japanese Woodblock Prints · Patent Prints
What can you actually find? Anything a public archive has digitised at high resolution and published without restriction: US Coast Survey and NOAA charts, Ordnance Survey and Admiralty sheets, city plans and bird's-eye views, topographic quadrangles, celestial atlases, botanical and natural-history plates, patent drawings, and government poster programmes. The Library of Congress, NOAA, the Rijksmuseum, the Met and the British Library between them hold a great deal more than the 151 prints on this site.
What can you not find? Anything still in copyright — which rules out most twentieth-century commercial art, living artists and their estates, and modern Ordnance Survey or NOAA editions. Also anything only ever scanned at low resolution: a 1,200-pixel scan cannot make a 24-inch print, and we will tell you that rather than sell you a soft one.
How long does it take? Usually two to five days to find the sheet, confirm the rights and restore it, then the normal made-to-order print time. If the scan turns out to be too small or the rights are unclear, we say so and nothing is charged.
What does it cost? A sourced print at a listed size costs what that size costs — there is no research fee. A size we do not list is quoted, because the frame and the shipping box change. Nothing is charged until you have seen the restored image and agreed the price.
Can I send you my own image? Only if you hold the rights to it or it is genuinely out of copyright — a photograph of an old map is still someone's photograph. Tell us where it came from and we will check honestly before printing anything.
Bigger than 32 × 48 in? Rarely, and only when the scan supports it. None of the 151 current scans reach 40 × 60 at a print-worthy resolution, which is why the site stops where it does rather than upscaling and hoping. Some archive sheets are enormous, though — ask.