De Dion-Bouton Carte Routière de France (1902 set of 4 maps)

[Guest acn250]

Hello,

I'm currently researching this early, 1902 2nd edition set of four maps issued by De Dion-Bouton. Apparently they were issued for a few years and were some of the first civilian road maps made. They are paper on cloth, and each map represents one of the four quadrants of France (northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast), including Corsica and Algeria. Each map also has some promotional material on the side for De Dion products.

Here are a few images:

http://i.imgur.com/rwqJl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/P5vLn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XRRz6.jpg

I'm mainly looking for an approximate value on the item, as it will be up for sale soon. Most of what I have found so far puts it in the $300 to $500 range, but this set of maps appears to be in significantly better shape than other ones I'm finding out there. Any relevant information would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,

Andrew

[Terry Bond]

Thanks for posting the pics - I'm very familiar with these maps having spent some time in Europe. Yours are in great condition and are scarce, but they do occasionally show up on Ebay, and if you follow Ebay France you'll seem them fairly often. They did not come supplied with cars to the best of my knowledge but were available from a variety of sources including garages, etc. A collector of De Dion Bouton memorabilia might be after them, then there are general road map collectors. I've found that most road map collectors are very "territorial" or are after brand-specific items like gas and oil company maps. Your set might appeal more to collectors of general early automobilia. They are early but not the first of the kind - I have a wonderful leather cased set of circa 1902 maps produced by Barthalameow in England. There are eight individual leather covered maps showing segments of the UK including Scotland. Each map contains some additional advertising for hotels, garages, and autos. It's a great set and in the original leather case I'd value them at $500+. Yours came in a less elaborate slip case originally, and if I'm looking at your pics correctly your slipcase is in really nice condition. That makes it a complete set worth top dollar. As individual maps they would be worth less of course. These maps were made for a lot of European countries including the UK. A set in less condition than yours sold at auction in 2008 for a bit over $200 (against a $200-400 pre-sale estimate). Considering the condition, todays market for early automobilia, and interest in De Dion Bouton I think youre value guestimate is pretty close. In the right auction venue-who knows?

[Guest acn250]

Thanks for posting the pics - I'm very familiar with these maps having spent some time in Europe. Yours are in great condition and are scarce, but they do occasionally show up on Ebay, and if you follow Ebay France you'll seem them fairly often. They did not come supplied with cars to the best of my knowledge but were available from a variety of sources including garages, etc. A collector of De Dion Bouton memorabilia might be after them, then there are general road map collectors. I've found that most road map collectors are very "territorial" or are after brand-specific items like gas and oil company maps. Your set might appeal more to collectors of general early automobilia. They are early but not the first of the kind - I have a wonderful leather cased set of circa 1902 maps produced by Barthalameow in England. There are eight individual leather covered maps showing segments of the UK including Scotland. Each map contains some additional advertising for hotels, garages, and autos. It's a great set and in the original leather case I'd value them at $500+. Yours came in a less elaborate slip case originally, and if I'm looking at your pics correctly your slipcase is in really nice condition. That makes it a complete set worth top dollar. As individual maps they would be worth less of course. These maps were made for a lot of European countries including the UK. A set in less condition than yours sold at auction in 2008 for a bit over $200 (against a $200-400 pre-sale estimate). Considering the condition, todays market for early automobilia, and interest in De Dion Bouton I think youre value guestimate is pretty close. In the right auction venue-who knows?

Terry,

Thanks a ton for all the helpful info. It is very much appreciated. I work at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, MA selling some of their donated items through two eBay stores (literature at automobile literatuture, rare automobile literatuture items in LAAM GIFT SHOP store on eBay! and automobilia at Gifts for the Auto Enthusiast, Auto Parts items in LAAM Automobilia Gift Shop store on eBay!). Sometimes, real gems like this surface but it can be hard to figure out what they are exactly, especially when they are over a hundred years old! Anyway, thanks again for your help. You've really cleared things up.

Best,

Andrew