The Swann Auction Galleries’ twice-annual sale “Maps & Atlases, Natural History, Historical Prints & Ephemera” takes place tomorrow, and one of the highlights is a 1778 map of the Ohio Valley engraved by Thomas Hutchins. But what makes the map so interesting, according to specialist Gary Garland, is the faintly inked lettering in the margins.

Titled “A New Map of the Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina,” and estimated at between $60,000 and $90,000, the map depicts with unusual accuracy what was then the wild — very wild — American West. But the lettering Mr. Garland was particularly excited about was added later, by an unknown hand, who took the liberty of inserting his own index and boundaries to the map.

Like the Hutchins map, the Swann auction is more than the sum of its parts: digressive, but more interesting because of it. With more than 300 lots, this auction ranges in price from the low hundreds (such as Robert Stawell Ball’s 1891 “An Atlas of Astronomy,” estimated at between $80 and $120) to the tens of thousands. The Swann auction boasts the obscure, the rare, and the commonplace, as well as antiquarian prints, maps, and assorted Americana on paper.

Some of the standouts include an eight-volume edition of “The Birds of North America,” James Audubon’s classic of wilderness reportage, estimated at between $15,000 and $25,000. There is also a collection of 1940s- and ’50s-era Hollywood paper dolls, including likenesses of Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Rock Hudson. A five-volume set of etchings by Piranesi (1800-10) is up for sale, as is a lithograph poster of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

There are also hard-to-place objects, such as the 1825 catalog of the Earl of Tankerville’s collection of seashells. The catalog — a series of delicately colored, hand-drawn lithographs — is estimated to bring in between $2,000 and $3,000.

Mr. Garland said that the market for antiquarian books and maps is healthy, even in the face of a possible recession. The market was steadied by a number of reliable sellers, which he described as “old friends,” of which Audubon is one. Botanical prints remain popular, too.

“They’ve built a track record over the last hundred years,” Mr. Garland said. “If something were to turn up today, it wouldn’t have that history behind it.”

Another popular subject is Native America. “Almost any will sell,” he said. The Swann auction features several hand-colored engraved and aquatint plates by Karl Bodmer, among them “Woman of the Snake-Tribe / Woman of the Cree-Tribe” (1839-44), which Bodmer made following a trip to North America in the 1830s.

After attending a preview of the sale, Adina Cohen, a partner at the Argosy Book Store, one of New York City’s leading sellers of antiquarian books and prints, found this year’s Swann auction “very mixed. There’s a lot of variety,” she said. “Some of it’s terrific.” Ms. Cohen said that she planned to attend the auction, and that, in her opinion, the market had not been affected by the recession.