1890 U.S. Coast Survey Nautical Chart or Map of Long Island and New York City
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Description: An uncommon and appealing nautical chart of New York City, Long Island, the Connecticut coastline adjacent to the Long Island Sound, and parts of New Jersey to Barnegat Bay. A beautiful example of the Coast Survey's work in this region with countless depth soundings throughout and some good inland detail along the coast, especially around New York City, New Haven, and the Long Island Forks. Printed and engraved by the Norris Peters Company of Washington D.C.
Date: 1890 (undated)
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.
Cartographer: Norris Peters Company (fl. c. 1880 - 1920) were Washington D.C. based lithographers and printers. The firm was awarded numerous government contracts to print patents, coastal charts, plat books, and geological survey maps. The company was subsequently involved in numerous law suits regarding government remuneration, illegal lobbying, and intellectual property rights. The Norris Peters Company was headed by Daniel Fraser and maintained offices at 458-460 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Click here for a list of rare maps by Norris Peters and Company.
Size: Printed area measures 26.5 x 20.5 inches (67.31 x 52.07 centimeters)
Condition: Good. Map exhibits some wear and toning on original fold lines as well as a few additional creases. Some staining near the South Fork, in the lower right, and in the lower left. This chart was used for actual navigation and has some old pencil marks, partially erased, to that effect. Some damage to lower left margin - repaired.
Code: LongIslandNautical-uscs-1890 (to order by phone call: 646-320-8650)
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