Mason-Dixon Line Map Fetches $950,000 at Auction

Bidding opened at $400,000 for the map, which Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed in 1768 to resolve a territorial dispute between the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Though the final price fell short of the $1.2 million high estimate, Lauren Brunk, vice president of Brunk Auctions, characterized the result as a significant valuation for a cartographic record. The buyer of the map has opted to remain anonymous.

Beyond its initial purpose as a colonial border marker, the document gained immense historical weight during the 1820 Missouri Compromise, where it served as the legal baseline for the expansion of slavery. Malcolm Forbes, the late publisher, previously acquired the map for $360,000 in 1982, outmaneuvering the Library of Congress at the time. By 2002, the item had resold for $556,000. While the Library of Congress declined to participate in this latest sale, Princeton University continues to hold a vertical fragment of the survey depicting the Delaware-Maryland border.