A map compiled by French explorer and the “Father of New France” Samuel de Champlain and believed to be among dozens stolen more than a decade ago from the Boston Public Library has been recovered.
The 1612 map was found at a New York arts dealer where it was on sale for $285,000 US. It depicts Canada’s maritime provinces, the New England coast, and an area as far west as the Great Lakes.
The map’s defects caught the attention of the Boston Public Library’s curator. The Carte Geographique de la Nouvelle France was one of dozens of rare maps that had been stolen from the Boston Public Library by notorious thief E. Forbes Smiley more than a decade ago.
Champlain’s map was one of two torn from a book, and the other one remains missing.
Although the library celebrates the return of one of its prized possessions, it is still missing 34 maps.
Read more about this discovery in the Boston Globe.
