By Salma El-Sakka
A hand-drawn survey of the Mason-Dixon Line, the boundary that came to separate free and slave states in the United States, will be auctioned on Thursday by Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina. The 76-inch linen-backed map is expected to fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million from an anonymous seller.
Map's History and Significance
The survey was conducted by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the 1760s to resolve a border dispute between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland. A century later, the 1820 Missouri Compromise used the line to define the limits of slavery, cementing its place in American history as the dividing line between North and South.
Previous Sales and Current Auction
The map remained with the family of attorney Benjamin Chew until 1982, when publisher Malcolm S. Forbes purchased it for $360,000, outbidding the Library of Congress. It changed hands again in 2002. A vertical section showing the Delaware-Maryland border is held at Princeton University. Lauren Brunk, vice president of Brunk Auctions, described the document as awe-inspiring and historically consequential.
Library of Congress Declines Bid
Brunk said she contacted the Library of Congress to gauge interest in reacquiring the map, but officials indicated budget constraints prevented a bid. She added that the library would welcome the map if a private donor purchased it on their behalf.
