1864 Dripps Map of New York City and Vicinity
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Description: This is a rare large format 1864 map of New York City by Matthew Dripps. The map covers the entire island of Manhattan as well as parts of Brooklyn, Queens, Hoboken and Jersey City. The whole is rendered in considerable detail with all streets and even some individual buildings clearly shown. The names and tracts of Manhattan's original land owners are superimposed over the grid. Where Columbia University now stands, this map reveals a 19th century Lunatic Asylum. In Queens, Dripps labels Hunters Point and shows the beginnings of the Long Island Railroad. Astoria is well delineated. Central Park is mapped detail exhibiting the fully glory of Olmstead's plan.
The mid-19th century was a dynamic period in urban development of New York City. Under the governance of Tammany Hall and the corrupt 'Boss' Tweed, New York City had become a mélange of extremes. By 1864 the Five Points had devolved into the world's most notoriously dangers slum, while further north the high ideals and design genius of Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux created Central Park, the world's first and possibly finest planned public recreation area. Meanwhile, across the East River, Brooklyn, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg consolidated into a single city, becoming in the process the third largest city in the United States, and setting the stage for the emergence of the modern New York City.
Dated 1864 under the title. Prepared by Matthew Dripps and engraved by Julius Bien for issue in David Valentine's 1864 Manual of the Common Council of New York.
Date: 1864 (dated)
Source: Valentine, D., Valentine's Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1864.
References: Haskell, D., Manhattan Maps: A Co-operative List, 1154.
Cartographer: Matthew Dripps was a New York based map publisher working the middle to later part of the 19th century. He is best known for his numerous maps of New York City, but also has to his credit several maps of Brooklyn and New York State. Dripps had his offices at 105 Fulton Street, New York City. Curiously, for a fairly prominent New York publisher, little is known of his life beyond his obvious work. Click here for a list of rare maps from Matthew Dripps.
Cartographer: Throughout much of the 19th century David T. Valentine edited and published a series of New York City almanacs and fact books entitled Manual of the Corporation Of The City of New York. Valentine's Manual, as it came to be called, included facts about the City of New York, city council information, city history, and reported on the progress of public works such as Central Park. The production of this annual manual was the responsibility of the Clerk of the City of New York, a position held at different times by D. Valentine by Joseph Shannon, who also produced a similar manual. Valentine used his manual to reproduce some of the rarest and most important maps of New York City ever created. Click here for a list of rare maps by David T. Valentine.
Size: Printed area measures 19 x 26 inches (48.26 x 66.04 centimeters)
Condition: Very good. Some discoloration on original fold lines. Backed with Japanese tissue.
Code: NewYorkVicinity-dripps-1864 (to order by phone call: 646-320-8650)
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