--- title: The Original 1768 Mason-Dixon Line Map, Once Owned by Malcolm Forbes, Is Up for Auction Again description: The hand-drawn 1768 Mason-Dixon survey that Malcolm Forbes outbid the Library of Congress for goes on sale in Asheville on October 29. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-10-16T11:29:57.072Z updated: 2026-10-17T08:20:04.083Z canonical: https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/mason-dixon-map-auction-brunk-forbes image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/mason-dixon-map-cartouche-signatures.webp categories: Culture content_type: Feature region: United States publication: Sovereign Magazine schema_type: Article about: - type: Organization name: Brunk Auctions description: Brunk Auctions is a private auction house specializing in the sale of fine art, jewelry, Asian art, antique furniture, coins, and countless other areas of collecting – ranging from Contemporary Art to Antiquities. Excellence in connoisseurship is the hallmark of our specialist staff. Consistent and thoughtful client service is the foundation of our nearly 45 years in business. url: https://www.brunkauctions.com sameAs: - https://www.facebook.com/brunkauctions/ - https://www.instagram.com/brunkauctions/ - https://x.com/brunkauctions - https://www.youtube.com/@brunkauctions --- The hand-drawn 1768 survey of the western Mason-Dixon Line, signed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, goes on sale at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, at 10 a.m. Eastern on October 29. The auction house's own listing estimates it at $800,000 to $1.2 million, with bidding starting at $400,000. Christie's put the same estimate on the map in March 2002, when it was sold from the Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents to a private collector for $556,000. Twenty years before that, in April 1982, Malcolm Forbes, then president of Forbes magazine, bought it at Christie's for $360,000, a result The Washington Post called a "world record price for an autographed map." The Library of Congress had gone to that sale hoping to acquire it, according to Brunk Auctions. ### Event: Important Mason-Dixon Manuscript Map & Related Documents 29 October 2026 Hybrid Venue: Brunk Auctions, Asheville, United States Organized by: Brunk Auctions A Brunk Auctions sale in Asheville, North Carolina, led by the 1768 manuscript map of the western Mason-Dixon Line signed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, with related documents. [Event website](https://live.brunkauctions.com/auctions/brunk/important-mason-dixon-manuscript-map-related-documents-october-29-2026-24252/catalog) ## The Map Is a Single Hand-Drawn Strip About 76 Inches Long Brunk's listing gives the map's full title as "A Plan of the West Line or Parallel of Latitude which is the Boundary between the Provinces of Maryland and Pensylvania," with Pennsylvania misspelled as in the original. It is drawn in ink over graphite pencil on six joined sections of laid paper, about 76 inches long, and signed by both men at lower right. Mason and Dixon drew it in Philadelphia between December 26, 1767 and February 29, 1768. Princeton University Library holds their [manuscript of the eastern section](https://static-prod.lib.princeton.edu/republic/mason-and-dixon-map) of the boundary, also drawn and signed by both men. The listing's condition notes describe a much-conserved document: the map is mounted on a later backing of Japanese paper, with professional restoration throughout, losses and insect damage repaired with paper pulp and inserts, and areas of retouching. After the 2002 sale, conservators at Colonial Williamsburg relined the map, and removing the old linen backing alone took more than 200 hours, according to Brunk Auctions. ## Mason and Dixon Were Given One Month and Took Five Years The two English surveyors' contract with the Penn family and Lord Baltimore, signed on August 4, 1763, called for them to finish the whole survey in one month, according to [Christie's 2002 catalogue entry](https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-3886727). They first ran the border between Maryland and the Three Lower Counties, present-day Delaware, then the west line over the Allegheny Mountains, which took two and a half years on its own, Brunk's listing says. In September 1767, 26 Indigenous axemen refused to go beyond the Monongahela River for fear of the Shawnees and Delawares, and the last 36 miles stayed unsurveyed until a joint Virginia and Pennsylvania survey finished the line in 1784, according to Brunk Auctions. The commissioners formally ratified the boundaries on November 9, 1768, according to Christie's. Mason had left on September 11, 1768, boarding a packet boat for Falmouth and writing in his journal, "Thus ends my restless progress in America." ## A Property Line Became the Divide Between North and South The line never ran more than 233 miles, the historian Genevieve Blatt wrote in a passage Christie's quoted in its catalogue, yet "North of it would be North; south of it would be South." Princeton University Library dates the first official use of the name Mason's and Dixon's Line to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which barred slavery above the line and allowed it below. By some accounts, Christie's notes, Dixon's name became "Dixie." ## The Western Map Was Taken for an Engraving Until 1963 For almost two centuries the western strip sat among the Chew family papers, kept by descendants of Benjamin Chew, the Penn family's representative, and was taken for a printed engraving. In January 1963 the historian Nicholas Wainwright and Benjamin Chew III noticed that its cartouche did not match the printed version, and a comparison with the eastern manuscript at Princeton showed it was an original drawing by the same hand, according to Brunk Auctions. "Most historical documents of consequence exist in multiples, copies, printings, other surviving drafts," said Andrew Brunk, CEO and president of Brunk Auctions. The sale at [Brunk Auctions](https://www.brunkauctions.com), 117 Tunnel Road, Asheville, also includes period maps and manuscripts on the survey. Bidders can register online through the listing. The map's listing is on [Brunk Auctions' site](https://live.brunkauctions.com/online-auctions/brunk/mason-dixon---a-plan-of-the-west-line-of-maryland-and-pensylvania-sic-9620900). **About Brunk Auctions** Brunk Auctions is a private auction house specializing in the sale of fine art, jewelry, Asian art, antique furniture, coins, and countless other areas of collecting – ranging from Contemporary Art to Antiquities. Excellence in connoisseurship is the hallmark of our specialist staff. Consistent and thoughtful client service is the foundation of our nearly 45 years in business. [Website](https://www.brunkauctions.com) ## FAQ **Q: How many printed copies were made from the Mason-Dixon manuscripts?** Robert Kennedy published an engraved map at Philadelphia in 1768, derived from Mason and Dixon's manuscript maps, and 200 copies were printed, according to Christie's. One of them was dissected onto a large sheet and became the commissioners' official copy, certifying that the survey was complete. **Q: What else sold when the map first came to auction in 1982?** The map was lot 23 in Christie's April 1, 1982 sale of colonial American documents from the Chew family papers, which also included the Declaration of Independence. A broadside of the Declaration sold at that sale for $285,000, $75,000 less than the map.