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1873 Dripps Map of Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn-dripps-1873-2$1,200.00
Title
Map of the City of Brooklyn New York.
1873 (dated) 33.5 x 23.25 in (85.09 x 59.055 cm) 1 : 14000
1873 (dated) 33.5 x 23.25 in (85.09 x 59.055 cm) 1 : 14000
Description
A rare 1873 map of Brooklyn, New York by Matthew Dripps. A rare 1873 map of Brooklyn, New York by Matthew Dripps. This is one of the first general maps of Brooklyn to include Prospect Park, which was completed in 1873, after 4 years of continuous construction. Moreover, unlike most earlier maps of Brooklyn, which were oriented to the west per the 1852 Brooklyn Commissioner's Plan (see Geographicus BrooklynWilliamsburg-colton-1852), Dripps adopts a more modern convention by orienting his map to the north - and in doing so established a revolutionary new convention followed by most subsequent Brooklyn mapmakers.
A Closer Look
The map covers Brooklyn from Evergreen Cemetery and the Newtown Creek south to roughly 60th street. It extends east to Clarkson Avenue and Fort Hamilton Avenue. It includes modern day Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Green, Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Park Slope, Flatbush, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, and Fort Green. When this map was issued Brooklyn was a bustling city but remained very much in the shadow of Manhattan. Today, Brooklyn is officially the 'Hippest place on earth!'Publication History and Census
This map published by Matthew Dripps in 1873. We are aware of no earlier edition, but there was a contemporaneous map of the same title, also by drips, at 50% scale. The map is held by approximately 5 institutional collections - often in poor condition. No market history.Cartographer
Matthew Dripps (1812 – April 9, 1896) was an Irish-born American mapmaker active in Philadelphia and New York during the second half of the 19th century. Dripps was born in Gracefield, Ireland. In Ireland, probably Belfast, he worked as a grocer. Dripps immigrated to American from Belfast on the Patrick Henry in 1849, arriving in Philadelphia, where he connected with the Reformed Presbyterian Church and worked briefly as a tax collector. His earliest recorded maps, depicting Philadelphia, appeared during this period. Dripps relocated to Brooklyn, New York in 1850, setting up shop as a map publisher. His two largest maps were published in the following years, 1850 and 1851, and combine to form an enormous map of Manhattan. These gained him the attention of the City Council, who used his maps for census and government work. Afterwards, he issued other large format New York City and Brooklyn maps as well as smaller maps for the New York City Clerk's office. He was married to Ameila Millar Dripps with whom he had six children, among them Amelia Dripps and the clergyman Joseph Frederick. Dripps is interred at Greewood Cemetery, Brooklyn. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Good. Laid on archival tissue for stabilization. Some verso fill and reinforcement along old fold lines - especially at fold intersections. Stabilized damage where originally attached to binder, near East New York. Some foxing.
References
OCLC 1057900008. New York Public Library, Map Div. 18-825.