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1866 Mitchell City Plan or Map of New York City, New York
1867 (dated) $250.00
1861 Mitchell City Map or Plan of New York City
NewYorkCity-mitchell-1861$125.00
Title
Plan of New York etc.
1860 (dated) 13.5 x 11 in (34.29 x 27.94 cm) 1 : 31300
1860 (dated) 13.5 x 11 in (34.29 x 27.94 cm) 1 : 31300
Description
This is an 1861 Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr. city map or plan of New York City and its immediate environs. The map centers on Manhattan, depicting the island from Forty-Sixth Street south to the Battery and from the Hudson River to the East River. Also included are the cities of Hoboken and Jersey City on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, and the city of Brooklyn, which by 1861 had annexed both Green Point and Williamsburg. Highly detailed, in Manhattan, individual streets are illustrated and labeled, along with parks (Washington Square Park, Union Square, and Madison Square Park), and railroads (Harlem Railroad, Hudson River Railroad). Docks along the Hudson and East Rivers, mostly in Lower Manhattan, are labeled, noting which steamship line berthed at each dock. Ferry routes across the East and Hudson Rivers are also labeled, even going so far as to note the distance from one side of the river to the other in yards. Streets are labeled in Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Jersey City as well, along with the Long Island Railroad in Brooklyn and the Morris Canal in Jersey City.
This map was produced by Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr. and published in the 1861 edition of his New General Atlas.
This map was produced by Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr. and published in the 1861 edition of his New General Atlas.
Cartographer
Samuel Augustus Mitchell (March 20, 1792 - December 20, 1868) began his map publishing career in the early 1830s. Mitchell was born in Bristol, Connecticut. He relocated to Philadelphia in 1821. Having worked as a school teacher and a geographical writer, Mitchell was frustrated with the low quality and inaccuracy of school texts of the period. His first maps were an attempt to rectify this problem. In the next 20 years Mitchell would become the most prominent American map publisher of the mid-19th century. Mitchell worked with prominent engravers J. H. Young, H. S. Tanner, and H. N. Burroughs before attaining the full copyright on his maps in 1847. In 1849 Mitchell either partnered with or sold his plates to Thomas, Cowperthwait and Company who continued to publish the Mitchell's Universal Atlas. By about 1856 most of the Mitchell plates and copyrights were acquired by Charles Desilver who continued to publish the maps, many with modified borders and color schemes, until Mitchell's son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Junior, entered the picture. In 1859, S.A. Mitchell Jr. purchased most of the plates back from Desilver and introduced his own floral motif border. From 1860 on, he published his own editions of the New General Atlas. The younger Mitchell became as prominent as his father, publishing maps and atlases until 1887, when most of the copyrights were again sold and the Mitchell firm closed its doors for the final time. More by this mapmaker...
Source
Mitchell, S. A., Mitchell's New General Atlas Containing Maps of the Various Countries of the World, Plans of Cities, Etc., embraced in Forty-Seven Quarto Maps, Forming a series of Seventy-Six Maps and Plans, together with Valuable Statistical Tables (Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, Jr.) 1861.
Mitchell's New General Atlas was published by Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr., the son of the prolific cartographer Samuel Augustus Mitchell. Many of the plates are derived from the his father's Mitchell's Universal Atlas, but not directly. The Mitchell's Universal Atlas was initially sold to Thomas, Cowperthwait, and Company in 1849, and again to Charles Deliver in 1856. It was Deliver who introduced the new vibrant color scheme, abandoning the older Mitchell's Universal Atlas green borders and themes for bright reds, blues, and yellows. Samuel Augustus Mitchell, Jr. acquired the Deliver plates in 1859. He added his own floral motif border, but doubled down on the vibrant color scheme, thus introducing to the American public the most vividly colored American atlas of the 19th century. In 1860, he published the first edition of his New General Atlas and, despite a slump in sales during the American Civil War, attained a level of success to rival his father. Mitchell would continue to publish the New General Atlas until 1887, when the firm formally closed.
Condition
Very good. Even overall toning. Blank on verso.
References
Rumsey 0565.010 (1860 edition).