Original Mason-Dixon Line manuscript map to be auctioned in the US

An original handwritten map of the Mason-Dixon Line, which became a symbol of the division between northern and southern U.S. states, will be auctioned in the United States. The auction will be held by Brunk Auctions, with the document estimated at $800,000–$1.2 million.

The map was created in 1767–1768 to mark the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Later, the line became a symbolic border between the slaveholding South and the free North, as well as one of the symbols of the division that led to the Civil War.

Until 1982, the document belonged to the family of Judge Benjamin Chu, after which it was acquired for $360,000 by publisher Malcolm Forbes, outbidding the Library of Congress. Along with the map, other historical documents related to the work of Mason and Dixon will also be auctioned.