Ville de Manathe ou Nouvelle-Yorc
[City of Manhattan or New York]
Paris: Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine [?], 1764
Size (neatline): 16.4 x 21.2 cm / 6.5 x 8.3 in
Size (sheet): 23.7 x 32.7 cm / 9.3 x 12.9 in
Technique: Copper engraving
Colour: Hand coloured
Verso: Blank
Condition: Fine
The earliest obtainable plan of New York City
Description
This fascinating chart depicting colonial New York City is from Jacques-Nicolas Bellin’s Le Petit Atlas Maritime. With close to 600 charts and a strong focus on harbour cities and towns, this atlas is considered the leading publication of its kind at the time it was issued.
The chart focuses on what today is the Financial District at the southern tip of Manhattan, at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. These are respectively displayed as Riviere de Hudson ou Riviere d’Orange, i.e. Hudson River or Orange River, with the latter so named by the Dutch in honour of their royal House of Orange, and Canal de la Longue Isle ou Riviere d’Yorc, i.e. Long Island Canal or York River.
The town is shown as strongly fortified and with a fort at its western end. Established by the Dutch in 1626 as Fort Amsterdam, it was later renamed Fort James, then Fort George, by the British, before its eventual destruction in 1790.
A legend with references from A. to M. identifies 12 important landmarks, such as the port, freshwater wells, the governour’s house, the town hall, gunpowder stores, and – to the northeast of the city – the lower town (la Basse Ville). Separately, just outside the city walls, a Batterie de Mortiers, i.e. cannon battery, is shown and named. Taking into account further artillery batteries installed in the vicinity over the years, this is what ultimately gave today’s The Battery its name.
The chart uses hachures to depict relief and arrows to show the direction of flow of the Hudson. Soundings are shown in fathoms (“brasses d’eau”), one of which equals about 1.8 metres or 6 feet. The distance scale shown at the bottom of the legend is in “Cent Toises”, i.e. one hundred fathoms or approximately 180 metres or 600 feet.
Bellin’s chart is based on a manuscript map by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, drawn in 1693. Franquelin was the first official cartographer of Canada (then New France) as well as royal hydrographer to Louis XIV. Against the background of the King William's War between France and Britain over territorial control in North America, Franquelin had been tasked to map the coast of New England with view to a possible French invasion from sea.
Although other maps of New York City were created before Bellin’s, his is today considered the earliest obtainable.
This is the second state of the chart, with Tome I. No. 33. shown at the top right corner.
The engraver of the chart is not indicated. However, we believe this to be either J. Arrivet or Jean-Baptiste Croisey.
An intriguing artifact from a time when New York’s population counted just a few thousand.
Publication
Le petit atlas maritime : recueil de cartes et plans des quatre parties du monde
Note: Image shows pagination annotation in top right corner (Tome I. No. 33.).
Condition
Fine.
A clear impression on a clean, watermarked sheet. Wide margins. Coloured. One minute spot in upper left margin. Else clean.
Item #: 02756
US $3,000.00