18th-Century Mason-Dixon Line Survey Map to Auction for Up to $1.2 Million

A hand-drawn survey of the Mason-Dixon Line, created between 1767 and 1768, is scheduled for auction in a livestreamed event this Thursday. The document, which measures 76 inches in length and 6.5 inches in height, has been remounted on Japanese rice paper backing. Lauren Brunk, vice president of Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, estimates the item will fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million. The seller remains anonymous. The map was originally drafted by surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to resolve a border dispute between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. While the line later became the symbolic boundary between Northern free states and Southern slaveholding states, particularly after its use in the 1820 Missouri Compromise, Brunk noted that the line was not drawn for that specific purpose. The document has changed hands several times over the past two centuries. It was initially given to the family of attorney Benjamin Chew, who represented the descendants of Pennsylvania founder William Penn. The family retained possession until 1982, when publisher Malcolm S. Forbes purchased it for $360,000, reportedly the highest price ever paid at auction for an American map at that time. A vertical section depicting the Delaware-Maryland border is currently housed at Princeton University. Brunk Auctions has notified officials at the Library of Congress regarding the upcoming sale. According to Brunk, library representatives stated they are not in a financial position to bid on the item due to current budget constraints. However, Brunk added that the Library of Congress would be happy to receive the map if a private buyer purchases it on their behalf.