How does color affect the value of a map?
We are often asked this question. The answer is highly subjective. It is easiest to break the answer down into two groups, maps that are correctly issued in color and maps that were typically issued uncolored. Maps which were originally issued with color An antique map with gorgeous original color will generally sell for more than an uncolored example, a recently colored example or a poorly colored example of the same map. By contrast, if the same map is poorly colored or the old color has caused damage or has offset (transferred onto the opposite side of the map from having been folded into an atlas), the value of an uncolored or recently colored example will fetch a higher price. In between these two extremes, the difference is largely a matter of personal preference. Very few collectors are actively seeking uncolored examples of maps by Ortelius, Blaeu, Hondius and other mapmakers from the Golden Age of Dutch Cartography, yet over half of all the maps and atlases issued by these mak
