Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2019 Issue

New Amsterdam to Metropolis – Important Maps of New York City 1548 – 1964 at Martayan Lan

Martayan Lan, the New York City rare book and map dealer and ABAA member, has announced the opening of an exhibition of New York maps issued over the past four hundred years.  The event now underway, will continue to May 31st, 2019 at the firm’s headquarters in the Heron Tower at 70 East 55th Street.

 

The exhibition opens with  a cartographic glimpse of New York, Tierra Nueva, that was printed in Venice in 1548.  Next is a map of Norumbega Et Virginia by Wytfliet in 1597.  Norumbega you ask?  If you visit this exhibition you are there.  Third is a Blaeu map of Nova Belgica Et Anglia Nova dated 1635 that shows Manhattan as a triangle.  For those approaching New York by boat Martayan Lan’s next offer is “The first printed sea chart of New England and New Netherlands.” The work of R. Dudley and printed in Florence in the mid-17th century, this is a major rarity.

 

The fifth example is by Danckerts and Visscher.  It’s Novi Belgi Novaeque Angiae, dated circa 1690, in original color.  Next [No. 6] is Lotter and Jansson-Visscher’s Recens Edita totius Novi Belgii.  It was printed at Augsburg, circa 1757 and adds increasing detail to maps of New York and its environs.  At No. 7, Van Keulen’s map reflects the increasing need for accurate sea charts, aiding navigation by clarifying distances and landmarks.

 

No. 8 is a gem; “A South West View of the City of New York.”   This image gives us the artist’s understanding of what New York City looked like circa 1730.  As would inevitably happen, after discovery, exploration and then habitation, a plan for the New York settlement would be needed and No. 9 is the second iteration of such a plan.  No. 10, by Montresor, is also a plan of the city.  It’s dated 1775 when the British were first encountering colonial resistance.

 

No. 11 is Faden’s 1776 plan of New York Island and surrounding areas, with details of an early Revolutionary War battle at Woody Heights on Long Island. It’s a good thing that one battle does not necessarily make a war because, if it had, we in America, would be British subjects still.

 

No. 12 is De Barres’ 1777 “Sketch of the Operations of his Majesty’s Fleet and Army…”  which was part of the navigational atlas used by the British during the war.

 

No. 13 begins to show us a New York City we can recognize.  It’s a rejected first plan [1807] for the City’s streets.  No. 14 is Randel’s 1821 blueprint [on silk] of a map of New York.  Maps on cloth are a very special niche.  No. 15 is a map reflecting the gathering detail of New  York.  It’s by Poppleton and Hooker and, as was No. 14, on silk.

 

No. 16 is Burr’s 1839 map of the city of New York.  No. 17 is a panorama of Manhattan that dates to 1854.  No. 18 is the work of Magnus and dated 1852 that shows in detail the development of New York, Brooklyn and Williamsburg.  No. 19 is Bartlett’s illustrated map of New York City [1870].  It shows some buildings and provides details that can otherwise be difficult to find.

 

No 20 is Viele’s Sanitary & Topological Map of the City and Island of New York.  It dates to 1865 and shows the gathering need to understand the flow of water under Manhattan.  No. 21 is another bird’s eye view.  This one is the work of Heine and Dopler in 1851.  It will attract attention.

 

No. 22 is Hyde & Co.’s [Brooklyn, 1898] Map of the City of New York.  It is the first to reflect New York City as the consolidation of the five boroughs.  No. 23 is the Wanamaker Vest Pocket Subway Guide.  Dated 1904, it shows the nascent subway system.

 

No set of New York maps would be complete without something from Rand McNally.  This version, No. 24,, dated 1909, captures the subway routes in high detail.  And now, the last example.  It’s by Bollman and dated 1963.  It portrays New York in 3-D.

 

All in all, a wonderful tour of the city that is now world renowned.

 

 

Location

 

The Heron Building

70 East 55th Street

New York, New York 10022

 

Hours

 

Monday through Friday 9:30 to 5:30

Saturday and evening hours by appointment

 

Contact Information

 

Martayan Lan

Their website:  www.martayanlan.com

 

Email:  info@martayanlan.com

Tel:  212.308.0018

Fax:  212.308.0074      

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining, Philadelphia, 1846. $3,500 to $5,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: 17th–19th-century case maps of various locations. $1,500 to $2,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Andreas Cellarius, Haemisphaerium Stellatum Boreale Cum Subiecto Haemisphaerio Terrestri, celestial chart, Amsterdam, 1708. $2,500 to $3,500.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: Vincenzo Coronelli, Set of engraved gores for Coronelli’s monumental 42-inch terrestrial globe, Venice, circa 1688–97. $18,000 to $22,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, group of four navigational charts, Antwerp, 1580s. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Thomas Bros, Block Book of Berkeley, Oakland, 1920s. $800 to $1,200.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Nieuhoff & John Ogilby, An Embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, map of China, plan of Canton, London, 1673. $1,200 to $1,800.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Frederick Sander, Reichenbachia, St. Albans, 1888-1894. $5,000 to $7,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Two early illustrated works on horsemanship and breeding, Nuremberg, early 18th century. $700 to $800.
    Swann
    Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books
    December 7, 2023
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Gould, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans. Supplement to the First Edition, London, 1834; 1855. $40,000 to $60,000.
    Swann, Dec. 7: John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, London, 1808–14. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Swann, Dec. 7: Oakley Hoopes Bailey, Hackensack, New Jersey, Boston, 1896. $800 to $1,200.
  • CHRISTIE’S
    Valuable Books and Manuscripts
    London auction
    13 December
    Find out more
    Christie’s, Explore now
    TREW, Christoph Jacob (1695–1769). Plantae Selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini in hortus curiosorum. [Nuremberg: 1750–1773]. £30,000–40,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    VERBIEST, Ferdinand (1623–88). Liber Organicus Astronomiae Europaeae apud Sinas restituate. [Beijing: Board of Astronomy, 1674]. £250,000–350,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF ALICE & NIKOLAUS HARNONCOURT. Master of Jean Rolin (active 1445–65). Book of Hours, use of Paris, in Latin and French, [Paris, c.1450–1460]. £120,000–180,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    A SILVER MICROSCOPE. Probably by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), c.1700. £150,000–250,000
    Christie’s, Explore now
    AN ENGLISH HORARY QUADRANT
    C.1311. £100,000–150,000
  • Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Roberts (David) & Croly (George). The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia. Lond. 1842 - 1843 [-49]. First Edn. €10,000 to €15,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Incunabula: O'Fihily (Maurice). Duns Scotus Joannes: O'Fihely, Maurice Abp… Venice, 20th November 1497. €8,000 to €12,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: An important file of documents with provenance to G.A. Newsom, manager of the Jacob’s Factory in Dublin, occupied by insurgents during Easter Week 1916. €6,000 to €9,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: WILDE (Oscar), 1854-1900, playwright, aesthete and wit. A lock of Wilde’s Hair, presented by his son to the distinguished Irish actor Mícheál MacLiammóir. €6,000 to €8,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Heaney (Seamus). Bog Poems, London, 1975. Special Limited Edition, No. 33 of 150 Copies, Signed by Author. Illus. by Barrie Cooke. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Binding: Burke, Thomas O.P. (de Burgo). Hibernia Dominicana, Sive Historia Provinciae Hiberniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ... 1762. First Edition. €4,000 to €6,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: COLLINS, Michael. An important TL, 29 July 1922, addressed to GOVERNMENT on ‘suggested Proclamation warning all concerned that troops have orders to shoot prisoners found sniping, ambushing etc.’. €3,000 to €4,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Scott Fitzgerald (F.) The Great Gatsby, New York (Charles Scribner's Sons) 1925, First Edn. €2,000 to €3,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Yeats (W.B.) The Poems of W.B. Yeats, 2 vols. Lond. (MacMillan & Co.) 1949. Limited Edition, No. 46 of 375 Copies Only, Signed by W.B. Yeats. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of the Russian Empire, Description in English and French, Lg. folio London (S. Gosnell) 1803. First Edn. €1,000 to €1,500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Miller (William) Publisher. The Costume of Turkey, Illustrated by a Series of Engravings. Lg. folio Lond.(T. Bensley) 1802. First Edn. €800 to €1,200.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Dec. 12-13: Mason (Geo. Henry). The Costume of China, Illustrated with Sixty Engravings. Lg. folio London (for W. Miller) 1800. First Edn. €1,400 to €1,800
  • Sotheby’s
    Fine Books and Manuscripts
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane] — Isaac D'Israeli. Jane Austen's copy of Curiosities of Literature. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition in boards of the author's debut novel. 70,000 - 100,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Brontë, Charlotte. "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me..." 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Eliot, George. The author's magnum opus. 25,000 - 35,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Whitman, Walt. Manuscript written upon the Death of Lincoln, 1865. 60,000 - 80,000 USD
  • Sotheby’s
    Important Modern Literature from the Library of an American Filmmaker
    8 December 2023
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Kerouac, Jack. Typescript scroll of The Dharma Bums. Typed by Kerouac in Orlando, Florida, 1957, published by Viking in 1958. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]. 300,000 - 500,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Miller, Henry. Typescript of The Last Book, a working title for Tropic of Cancer, written circa 1931–1932. 100,000 - 150,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Ruscha, Ed. Twentysix Gasoline Stations, with a lengthy inscription to Joe Goode. 40,000 - 60,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 8: Hemingway, Ernest. in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book. 30,000 - 50,000 USD

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