Bridges, William, fl. 1811 This Map of the City of New York...is laid out by the Commissioners...
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC10015 Author/Creator: Bridges, William, fl. 1811 Place Written: New York Type: Map Date: 1811 Pagination: 1 map : framed Order a Copy
One map of City of New York produced by William Bridges dated 1811. The "Commissioner's Map" of New York. Oversize engraving in six joined sheets depicting Manhattan island horizontally (north on right, south on left) with the modern street grid structure laid out to approximately 155th street. Portions of the map are handcolored. The surveying was done 1808-1810 by John Randel, Jr., but William Bridges, City Surveyor of New York, took credit for the printed map (his name is printed larger even than those of the Commissioners). In 1811 the city aldermen granted Bridges the right to print this map, with its errors. Peter Maverick engraved the map. Stokes & Haskell p.52, E-43, note "about a dozen known impressions" of this map, and also note that Randel never received credit. According to Stokes & Haskell, three official manuscript versions survive. See also P. E. Cohen, "Civic Folly: The Man Who Measured Manhattan," in AB Bookman, 6/13/1988, p. 2511-2514, which also evaluates the map and describes Randal's hardships.
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