Collectors of antique Bermuda maps are apparently in for a bonanza this weekend with more than 60 coming up for auction.

At 'Windblown' in Tucker's Town, nearly 60 cedar-framed maps, some dating back to the 1500s and all part of a private collection, are being sold by auctioneers Hammers.

"It is an amazing collection, really world class, and as far as I know the largest collection to come to the market," Hammers partner Mrs. Andrea Casling says. "I am thrilled to be the auctioneer."

The collection includes a Gastaldi 1548 woodcut, a Ruscelli 1561 woodcut, and a John Smith 1624 . Among many others there is also a Van Keulan 1682, a Speed 1676, a Jannson 1647 and a Homan Heirs 1737.

According to a source who wished to remain anonymous, the John Smith is the first printed map of Bermuda.

"From a collector's point of view this is one of the most important maps there is, and it is extremely rare," he said.

Mrs. Casling said that "for the most part" the maps were in "excellent condition", and while they were attracting a great deal of interest among local collectors, "so far" there was no overseas interest that she was aware of.

"There are a lot of map collectors in Bermuda because the maps are so interesting," she said. "As you go back over the years you can see the development of Bermuda. Obviously the earliest maps were rather crudely drawn, but as cartographers became more sophisticated you could see more accurate and changing information. For example, Paget port became Hamilton Harbour. Another has forts all around it."

The owner, who is selling the collection and wishes to remain anonymous, describes the maps as "one of the largest known collections in the world", and says that it is the oldest maps and those which cannot be identified which are generating so much interest.

"That draws a lot of attention," he said. "We made numerous attempts over the years to have them identified and no one seems to know what they are or where they came from."

Mrs. Casling was confident that sales would be brisk, and estimated that individual prices would range from $350 to $20,000.

"Some maps are obviously more important than others," she said.

"It should be very interesting," one source, who did not wish to be named, agreed, though he indicated that, at auctions, the sale price was not necessarily a true reflection of a map's value.

"Value should be related to the condition of each map. Unless it is extremely rare, condition is important," he said. "You have to examine each one out of the frame. Frames can hide a lot of sins. For example, while the Smith is one of the rarest maps, its value very much depends on its condition."

As to what would persuade someone to sell such an impressive collection, the owner said it was because it would not fit into his new smaller, contemporary home, but he admitted that the decision to sell was a very difficult one for his family.

"It has been my hobby for 25 or 30 years, and I have collected the maps from all over the world," he said. "They are all framed in Bermuda cedar to our own style, which is very attractive, and we also used acid-free matting and non-reflective glass. It is very expensive to do that. Where there was information on the flip side, the map was framed in double glass so you could read both sides."

The owner has, however, retained six maps from the collection for his children, and they were chosen for their visual attractiveness rather than their value.

The collector admits that the possibility of the maps, or some of them, leaving Bermuda after he spent so many years repatriating them, saddened and troubled him, and he says it is his fervent wish that the new owner or owners will keep them here.

"They are quite a Bermuda treasure," he said. "There's no question about that."

Elsewhere two antique maps, one a Thomson 1815 depicting Cuba and the Bahamas, and the other depicting Bermuda, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Kitts and Antigua, are included in tomorrow's auction by Leonard Gibbons at The Old Rectory in St. George's.

Picture: Captain John Smith's 1624 map of Bermuda is believed to be the first published map to only show Bermuda.