1857 U.S. Coast Survey Map of New York City and Harbor
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Description: A rare 1857 coastal chart of New York City, it’s harbor, and environs. One of the first 19th century carts to depicts New York City as we know it today, including Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. Also includes Jersey City, Newark and Hoboken. This is one of the earliest states in the development of this particular chart series. In-land details, which are developed in later charts, are here almost entirely absent. This chart contains a wealth of practical information for the mariner from oceanic depths, to harbors and navigation tips on important channels. Map also includes tables of light houses and beacons, tides and magnetic declination as well as detailed sailing instructions.
The triangulation for this chart was prepared by J. Ferguson and E. Blunt. The topography by H. L. Whiting, S. A. Gilbert, A. M Harrison, H. Adams, and A.S. Wadsworth. The hydrography was accomplished by R. Wainwright, T. A. Craven and W.G. Temple. The entire production was supervised by A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the Survey of the Coast of the United States and one of the most influential American cartographers of the 19th century. Published in the 1857 edition of the Superintendent's Report.
Date: 1857 (dated)
Source: Report of the Superintendant of the U.S. Coast Survey, (1857 edition).
References: Rumsey 5328.000 (1866 edition), 1234.115 (1877 edition); Phillips, 2141; LeGear Atlases of the United States, L2307; Phillips, Philip Lee. A List of Maps of America in the Library of Congress, p. 492.
Cartographer: The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. Hassler, and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Hassler lead the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Under the leadership A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey did most of its most important work. During his Superintendence, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS or USGS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Click here for a list of rare maps from the U. S. Coast Survey.
Size: Printed area measures 26.5 x 30.5 inches (67.31 x 77.47 centimeters)
Condition: Good. Minor toning and repair work along original fold lines, especially at intersections - see zoom. Blank on verso.
Code: NewYorkCity-uscs-1857 (Necessary for phone inquiries: 646-320-8650)
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