About Us

Background

Compass Antique Maps

Located in Sydney, Australia, Compass Antique Maps was established by Carl-Christian (Chris) Nitzsche.

The company deals in authentic cartographic material dating from the 15th century onwards. We only sell genuine antique items – no restrikes, reproductions, or any other type of modern copy. We back this up with a full money-back guarantee.

Our product range includes antique maps, sea charts, town views, city plans, celestial charts, as well as pictorial maps and cartographic curiosities.

We focus on material that is different – uncommon or scarce, rare or unique, unusual or peculiar. This can include, for example, items:

  • considered unrecorded
  • not often seen on the market
  • with little or no institutional representation
  • not usually considered rare but currently not being offered
  • representing a rare state or variant or particularly aesthetically pleasing example of an otherwise common item
  • in manuscript
  • with a unique provenance
  • with a twist – telling a curious or intriguing story.

Whatever it is, we try to pique your interest with things you won’t easily see elsewhere!

Furthermore, we aim to offer our customers a balanced representation of geographies, mapmakers, time periods, and price points. Please talk to us if you are after a specific item you would like us to source for you.

Being an Internet-based business, we do sell globally. All items are shipped insured.

While we do not maintain retail premises, we would be delighted to meet you in person. Please contact us to view any of our items by appointment at our Sydney location.

Chris Nitzsche

The son of a book publisher, Chris grew up behind the Iron Curtain, in former East Berlin, East Germany. His interest in cartography goes back to when geography was his favourite subject in school, and he would spend hours reading atlases, traveling in his imagination to places then beyond limits to him. This is also the time when he first gained extensive experience in dealing in a range of collectibles.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chris started globetrotting, exploring the places previously out of reach to him. He backpacked around Australia, studied in the US, and married in Argentina.

Chris holds two business degrees – a Diplom-Kaufmann (FH) from the HTW University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, and an MBA from the University of Montana, earned as a Fulbright Scholar. Prior to starting Compass Antique Maps, he completed a successful 25-year international career as a management consultant and project manager.

Following an epiphany triggered while coming across an antique map market stall in 2018, Chris reconnected with his past, diving head over heels into the subject matter. He started dealing in antique maps as a hobby, mostly through auctions around the world. A few thousand maps later, in 2023, Chris transitioned to professional fulltime retail trading by starting up Compass Antique Maps.

Chris has attended the London Rare Books School at the University of London, focussing on antique maps. He is a member of the International Map Collectors’ Society (IMCoS), the Washington Map Society (WMS), and The International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap).

Chris lives with his wife and two daughters on Sydney’s beautiful Northern Beaches peninsula. When he is not immersed in antique maps, he loves cooking, hiking, and skiing.

Logo

Do you like our logo image? Wonder about its story?

The beautiful compass rose was drawn by William Hacke (c.1655-1708) for his manuscript portolan atlas A Wagoner of the South Sea, completed in 1685.

Hacke was an English cartographer, creating detailed sea charts. He was one of the most productive manuscript chart makers of his time, having drawn more than 300 charts.

The South Sea Waggoner, as it is also known, covers much of the Pacific coastline of the Americas, reaching from Acapulco to Tierra del Fuego, and including the Galápagos and Juan Fernández islands. The atlas is based on a derrotero – a rutter or coast pilot – stolen by English buccaneer Captain Bartholomew Sharp during a raid on the Spanish ship El Santo Rosario, in 1681. When Sharp eventually had to face court for his exploits, he was pardoned by Charles II due to the intelligence value of the derrotero to English seafaring. Hacke was then tasked with reproducing it for use by the English Government.

Hacke produced multiple copies of the atlas, which contains detailed coastline depictions, many rendered in stylised bird’s-eye view. Aside from harbours, ports, anchorages, and soundings, the charts display pictorial elements such as trees and buildings. Distance scales, location coordinates, and verbal sailing instructions provide additional navigational information. The atlas is richly decorated, and all charts are vividly coloured and partially illuminated with gold.

Ethics

Compass Antique Maps observes the highest professional standards.

We voluntarily abide by the Code of Usages and Customs of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (“ILAB”), the Code of Ethics and Book Buyer’s Bill of Rights of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (“IOBA”), and the Code of Ethics & Charter of the Confédération Internationale des Négociants en Œuvres d’Art (“CINOA”).

For our full terms and conditions, please see here.

Sustainability

Compass Antique Maps is deeply committed to sustainability across its various dimensions.

Business

We aim to run and grow a business based on customer satisfaction, driven by a carefully curated product range, honest material description, and fair pricing. This is complemented by responsive and clear communication with you and prompt order processing. We consider repeat business our key measure of success.

Economic

We try to source as many operational supplies and support services as possible from local businesses, supporting a strong local economy.

Environmental

We strive to operate a carbon-neutral business. Our office electricity consumption is fully carbon offset. We also offset the CO2 emissions resulting from our travel, for all means of transport.

Being an Internet-based business, we try to operate our office as close to paperless as possible (with our reference library being the main exception). Further, we aim to minimise the production of any hardcopy promotional and related material. When we print, we do so on recycled paper. Any office wastepaper is recycled.

All packaging from newly acquired stock is reused or recycled.

For the packaging of your purchase, we use – as far as possible – recycled and recyclable materials, typically sturdy cardboard tubes with plastic end caps. We do not use any other type of plastic, such as foam sheets or wrap, bubble wrap, air pillows, polystyrene sheets or packing peanuts, or plastic packaging tape or strapping.

For the shipment of your purchase, we choose carbon offset options, where available.

Social

We view social cohesion as a cornerstone of a stable and peaceful society. An obstacle to it is the perpetuation of any form of prejudice, discrimination, and injustice through bias, misrepresentation, and manipulation.

Maps are hardly ever neutral. They are political, mirroring the values, beliefs, and attitudes of the respective society at the time of their making. They have been used to exert power, dispute borders, dominate trade, propagate ideology, and progress political agendas, including colonialisation, vilification, and armed conflict.

As antique map dealers, we believe that, in addition to making a variety of historic cartographic material available, we have a duty to inform the critical discourse on the background and impact of that material, where possible. This can then facilitate the development of the knowledge and understanding required to interpret these items responsibly within their context and from today’s perspective.

Cultural

The safeguarding and preservation of cultural heritage are key aspects of our activities. In this respect, we see ourselves as temporary custodians of the antique cartographic material that goes through our hands and accept the associated responsibilities, including handling items with care and arranging for their professional restoration, where required.

Community

At Compass Antique Maps, we strongly believe in giving back to the community. We do this by supporting two wonderful organisations. One of them uses mapping to respond to disasters and save lives, while the other facilitates learning and enables indigenous storytelling.

The charities we contribute to include:

MapAction

MapAction collaborates with partners around the world to help anticipate, prepare for, and respond to humanitarian crises. It does so by applying geospatial expertise to emergency and disaster situations and ensuring key actors have access to the information and analysis they need, to save lives and alleviate suffering.

Indigenous Literacy Foundation

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation supports Australian First Nations peoples’ literacy by providing respective remote communities with culturally relevant books and learning resources for children and families. It also makes resources and tools available for these communities to create and publish their stories in languages of their choice.