A hand‑drawn survey of the Mason‑Dixon Line, the survey that once demarcated the boundary between free and slave states, changed hands at Brunk Auctions in Asheville on Thursday. The auction, which drew 45 bidders and lasted less than three minutes, saw the map leave the auction floor in private hands.
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon finished the survey in 1768, and it was later coopted in 1820 for the Missouri Compromise, setting the limits of slavery in the young republic. The map grew to symbolize the sectional fault line that erupted into the Civil War four decades later.
Previous owners included Malcolm Forbes, who acquired the map in 1982 for $360,000, and an unnamed collector who paid $556,000 in 2002. A vertical section of the original map is currently housed at Princeton University.
Vice President Lauren Brunk said she was pleased with the outcome, adding, “It’s a very high price for a map.” She also noted, “I am thrilled that this is going to a good home and we are so happy to have had it in our presence for these last months.”
The buyer has asked to remain anonymous, so the map will likely stay in a private collection, with no immediate plans for public exhibition.