Description:
A map of the State of New York, which is printed on paper with additional watercolors (yellow and green) to enhance the boundary lines of the counties, was divided into 24 small panels which are glued onto one piece of linen cloth. A map is engraved with the inscription, "A/Map/ of the /STATE OF NEW YORK/ (arms of the state of New York and the word EXCELSIOR)/ SIMEON DE WITT/ Surveyor General/ Contracted from his large Map of the State/ 1804/ " and below "G.Fairman del. and sculpt., Albany." To the right are other engraved "REMARKS" about the map and a scale. When folded the map's dimensions are 20.5 x 11.5 cm, the overall size when unfolded is 60 x 73 cm. The map came in a cardboard case which was covered in bluish marbleized paper and labeled with the manufacturer's name, the mapmaker's name, and the year produced. This example is housed in a leather covered paper case inscribed in ink, "Levi P. Graham/1808" - underneath the leather, the case is composed of cardboard which seems to be covered with bluish marbleized paper. Probably the owner Levi Graham had the cardboard case covered in leather to reinforce it and to protect its contents from damage. In 1802, after nearly a decade of cartographic work, New York surveyor Simeon DeWitt released one of the first maps of New York that showed the state in nearly all of its modern boundaries. DeWitt's 1802 map was a tour-de-force of cartographic work and would later be considered one of the most important maps in the history of the early American Republic. While the 1802 map was important, it was not an economic success. Not only was the map cumbersome (167x 135 cm), but at ten dollars it was an extremely expensive item to buy. Two years later, DeWitt released a truncated version of his 1802 map that was available for purchase by subscription for only two dollars. The smaller and less expensive map sold fewer copies than the larger version.
Subjects:
Watercolor painting; Linen; Leather Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2012.43.1 |
