ny-lyne-bradford

THE LIBRARIESBequest ofFrederic Bancroft1860-1945

OF THIS BOOK THERE HAVE BEENPRINTED THIRTY-TWO COPIESON IMPERIAL JAPAN PAPER ANDONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTYCOPIES ON HOLLAND PAPER

JAMES LYNE'S SURVEYOR, AS IT IS MORE COMMONLYKNOWNTHE BRADFORD MAP^

JAMES LYNE'S SURVEYOR, AS IT IS MORE COMMONLYKNOWNTHE BRADFORD MAPA PLAN OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK AT THETIME OF THE GRANTING OF THEMONTGOMERY CHARTERIN 1731AN APPENDIXTO AN ACCOUNT OF THE SAMECOMPILED IN 1893 BYWILLIAM LORING ANDREWSCIVITATlmiDVLMosaNEW YORKDODD, MEAD & COMPANYM D C C C C

nCOPYRIGHT, 1900, BYWILLIAM LORING ANDREWS

oIT!tfjat man map feecj)."

ILLUSTRATIONSFacsimiles, by the Bierstadtprocess, of the original BradfordMap ; of the copy which appearsin David T. Valentine's Historyof New York (1853), reduced onehalf in size; and of the originalDuyckinck Map in the possessionof the New York Historical Society,reduced from its originalsize of jj}4 X \S inches to 11x6.

THE BRADFORD MAP

THE BRADFORD MAPA PLAN OF THE CITY OF3^ew Yorkfrom an actual survey made byJ^MESLYNEand printed and published byIVILLMm'BR.A'DFOR'DAN APPENDIX TO AN ACCOUNT OFTHE SAME COMPILED AND PUB­LISHED IN 1893 BY THEAUTHOR OF THISMONOGRAPHWHEN a full-fledgedand lusty error setsforth upon its journeythrough the world, some malevolentfairy appears to bestowupon it the seven-leagued bootsof Le Petit Poucet, equipped withwhich it makes such rapid strides

THE B R A D F O R D MAPthat sober-minded and slowerpacedtruth is seldom, if ever,able to overtake it. This deplorablefact is well exemplified bythe singularly persistent repetitionof erroneous statements inregard to the first map of thisCity (printed in New York)which is known to exist.This map, the historical and topographicalimportance of whichis shown by the fact that scarcelyany account of our City has everbeen written that does not referto, or reproduce it, was published,probably in 1731, by NewYork's first established printer,William Bradford,^ from a sur-*Also a bookbinder and paper maker, as is shownby the advertisement in his "Gazette": " Printedand sold by William Bradford in New York, whereadvertisements are taken in, and where you may

THE B R A D F O R D MAPvey made by James Lyne. Onlytwo impressions from the originalcopper-plate of this engravingare known, one in the possessionof the writer, and theother in the New York HistoricalSociety, presented to itin 1807 by John Pintard,* anhave old books, new Bound, either Plain or Gilt, andMoney for LINEN RAGS." Bradford did not, however,enjoy a bibliopegic monopoly in the infantcity and among its scant 9,000 inhabitants, JosephJohnson likewise advertises (September, 1734) thathe '' is now set up Bookbinding for himself as formerly,and lives in Duke St. (commonly called Bayard St.)near the Old Slip Market; where all Persons inTown and Country, may have their Books carefullyand neatly Bound either Plain or Gilt, reasonable."William Bradford and Joseph Johnson would appeartherefore to divide between them the honor of introducingamongst us the art of Bookbinding.*0f Huguenot descent, born in New York City,May 18, 1759, died there June 21, 1844. On the arrivalof the British troops in New York he left PrincetonCollege and joined the patriot forces, but returnedin time to receive his degree in 1776. Afterpeace had been declared he turned his attention to5

THE B R A D F O R D MAPeminent merchant and publicspiritedcitizen of New York,who died in 1844, aged eightyfiveyears. The testimony of onewhose, memory extended so farback into pre-revolutionary timeswould appear to be entitled toconsiderable weight.the shipping business. He was one of the incorporators,in 1819, of the first savings bank that wasestablished in New York City—the Bank for Savings,now at the corner of Fourth Avenue and TwentysecondStreet—serving as its third president from1828 to 1841. From 1819 until 1829 he was secretaryof the New York Chamber of Commerce. Hewas treasurer of the Sailors' Snug Harbor in 1819-23.In 1804 he was active in founding the New YorkHistorical Society, to which he presented many valuableworks on Colonial history, and he was likewiseinstrumental in establishing the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety in 1791, winning the title of "fatherof historical societies in this country." Mr. Pintardwas also active in the foundation of the AmericanBible Society, served as its secretary, and then as itsvice-president, and was the first sagamore of theTammany Society.—Appleton's Cyclopaedia of AmericanBiography.The following notice in Bradford's New York"Gazette" for January 15, 1730, presumably relates6

T H E B R A D F O R D M A PThe following note, endorsedupon the copy of oA Plan of theCity ^NEW YORK from anactual Survey Made by James Lyne,in the New York Historical Society,is signed by Mr. Pintard :''Col. Lurting (whose nameappears in the shield in the upperright-hand corner of the Map)was appointed Mayor, Sept. 29,1726, O. S. (old style.) He diedJuly 23, 1735, O.S. This plantherefore was taken betweenthese periods—presumed fromtradition in 1730.''to an ancestor of the donor to the New York HistoricalSociety of the Bradford Map : "All persons thathave any demands on John Pintard and the Estate ofCapt. John Searle (his brother-in-law) deceas'd aredesired to bring in their Accompts : and all thosewho are Indebted to them are desired to pay theBallance to said Pintard to save further Trouble.Also the Utensils in the Rope-walk are to be sold,and sundry Ship Chandlery Wares."

T H E B R A D F O R D M A P" Gov^ Montgomerie arrivedApril 15, 1728. Died July i,1731." Now, with this statementmade in 1807 by John Pintard,before their eyes, why shouldthe copyists guess at the date of1728 ? At the same time (1807)that Mr. Pintard presented thisoriginal engraving of the BradfordMap to the Society of whichhe was the originator andfounder, he also donated it"A Plan of the City of NEWYORK from an actual SurveyAnno Domini MDCCLV. ByF. Maerschalck, City SurveysPrinted, Engraved For and Soldby G. Duyckinck and dedicatedby him to the Honourable JamesDe Lancey Esq'' Lieutenant Governorand Commander In Chief,

THE B R A D F O R D MAPIn and over the Province ofNEW YORK and Territories Dependingthereon In America."This map is of even greaterrarity than the Bradford Map, asone of the two copies known isin a very imperfect condition.The left-hand portion of theDuyckinck, resembles the BradfordMap so closely in size and inthe style of the engraving that itis not a wild conjecture thatGerardus Duyckinck, limner andpicture-dealer at the sign of theTwo Cupids near the Old SlipMarket—(the same GerardusDuyckinck, I imagine, who suppliedthe Coats of Arms, "curiouslyburnt in glass," of the eldersand magistrates of the old GardenStreet Church, which adorned

THE B R A D F O R D MAPthe small panes, set in lead^ of thewindows of that sacred edifice)—may have obtained possessionof Bradford's copper-plate, piecedit out, and thus on the ruins ofthe Bradford Map constructed hisown. This appears to have beena favorite contrivance of theseearly engravers, for the Burgiscopper-plates of New York Cityand Harvard College were, weknow, thus manipulated.In 1834, twenty-seven yearsafter the gift of Mr. Pintard to theHistorical Society was made, theBradford Map was, apparently,for the first time, reproduced bylithography, but not with exactness,and a date, 1728, for whichthere is no authority whatever,was added. The sins of both

THE B R A D F O R D MAPfor instance, several of the lettersin the inscription on the scrollbelow the City Arms, which aresharp and clear in the original,are, in many of the copies, obliteratedby the shading to suchan extent that the words cannotbe deciphered; and even inthe plan of the streets there areslight discrepancies, but a simplestatement that a so-called BradfordMap bears a date is sufficientof itself to condemn it asan original impression and brandit as a copy. These counterfeitsare scattered broad-cast throughthe land in public and privatelibraries where they are regardedwith implicit confidenceas genuine impressions from theoriginal Bradford Map copper-

THE B R A D F O R D MAPplate, and proudly displayed assuch.Following with a blind andsimple faith, this reproduction of1834, various other copies of thisnoted Survey of James Lyne havebeen made, from time to time,and nearly every writer upon ourlocal history, who has pictoriallyembellished his work, has insertedin it a facsimile of a lithographicmap, purporting to havebeen made in 1728 (regardless ofthe fact that the art of lithographywas not invented by AloisSenefelder of Munich until 1792,and not introduced into thiscountry until about the year1819), and presented it to hisreaders as a true and faithful reproductionof William Bradford's13

THE B R A D F O R D MAPcopper-plate. It has remained,however, for Mr. John Fiske togo farther and fare worse in thismatter than the historians whohave preceded him, inasmuch ashe essays to be more explanatoryof the situation by suggestingthat there may have been differentstates of the original Map.Referring in his table of contentsto the map, which appearsin Vol. II, page 258, of his work,Mr. Fiske writes :''James Lyne's Map of NewYork in 1728.—From an originalkindly lent by General JamesGrant Wilson. I am informedby Mr. Wilberforce Fames thatMr. W. L. Andrews has an originalwithout the date, which corroboratesa suspicion that the14

T H E B R A D F O R D M A Pdate 1728 may have been absentfrom the map as first issued.Montgomerie's Ward, which appearson the map, was not createduntil 1731." (A fact to whichthe writer of this article believeshe was the firstto draw attentionas one evidence of the incorrectnessof the date of 1728 attachedto the copies of the map.)Turning to the map on page258 of Vol. II of Mr. Fiske'sbook, I found a reduced copy ofthe lithograph with the date 1728,which has masqueraded on somany previous occasions as theoriginal Bradford Map. This wasas I expected, as I knew thatGeneral Wilson did not have,and I did not believe he wouldclaim to have (which he writes«5

THE B R A D F O R D MAPme he does not), an impressionof the map from the original copper-plateof William Bradford.I, thereupon, wrote Mr. Fiskea note to the following effect:" DEAR SIR:" In the table of contents ofyour book 'The Dutch andQuaker Colonies in America,'you state that the map, whichappears at page 258 of Vol. II, isa copy of an ' original' loanedyou by General Wilson, and yourefer to one which you were informedby Mr. Fames of theLenox Library was in my possession,which bore no date,from which circumstance yousurmise that there may havebeen two states of the original16

THE B R A D F O R D MAPJames Lyne or (as it is betterknown) the Bradford Map. Youapparently were not aware thatthere are other considerable differencesbetween the map in mypossession and the copy you reproducebesides the absence of adate. I have found by experiencethat copies never followfaithfully the originals and thereis always a ' tell-tale' somewhere."This statement over yourname, if erroneous, as I thinkyou will find upon investigationthat it is, is calculated to domuch harm, as it will aid bookand print dealers to either wittinglyor ignorantly deceive theircustomers with the numerouscopies of the Bradford Map that17

THE B R A D F O R D MAPare in circulation from the lithographmade by George Hayward*in 1834 down to the reproductionsof recent times,printed and published by thehundred for advertisement andother purposes. These have littlevalue, but they are being continuallypalmed off upon thepublic as genuine impressionsfrom the original copper-plate ofWilliam Bradford, at all sorts ofprices. This statement in your*The inscription at the foot of this lithographiccopy, which I judge to be the first one made, readsthus : '' Facsimile of an original map in the possessionof G. B. Smith, Street Commissioner. Pub^dby G. Hayward, Lithographer, No. i Cortlandt St.,NevV York, 1834." The next facsimiles issued areprobably the ones in Valentine's Manuals for 1842-5,1844-45, ^"d in his history (1853), and then we haveone published by F, B. Patterson, 61 Liberty Street(1874). How many others may have preceded this,or followed it, it is impossible for me to say.

THE B R A D F O R D MAPbook will be a service to printsellers which I am sure that,aware of its incorrectness, youwould not desire to render." I would have been glad tohave shown you an original BradfordMap, one of the two copiesknown, and you would not thenhave been led astray by this olddeception, which has been againand again exposed, but whichwriters upon our local historycling to so tenaciously, as thoughthey loved and could not bear topart with the pleasing delusion."To this note, written severalweeks ago, Mr. Fiske has so farmade no reply. If it did not miscarryin the mails and Mr. Fiskereceived my communication, hehas seen fit to answer it only by19

THE B R A D F O R D MAPa silence which we are told issometimes more eloquent thanwords.A reduced facsimile of one ofthese copies of the Bradford Map,similar to the one in Mr. Fiske'sbook, appears in General Wilson's"Memorial History of theCity of New York," Vol. II, page185, and is described in a footnoteas a complete copy of themap as it was printed by Bradfordin 1728. I trust that, for thesake of historical truth and accuracy.General Wilson will correctthis foot-note in future editionsof his " Memorial History," andreplace his reproduction of thecopy with the imaginary date of1728 with a facsimile of the trueand genuine, although some-

THE B R A D F O R D MAPwhat tattered and torn, engravingof the Bradford Map, which haslain open to inspection in theNew York Historical Society fornearly a century, and made it allthese long years quite as easy tobe in the right as in the wrongin this matter.The reports which come at intervalsfrom north, south, eastand west, of the finding of originalBradford Maps, have in theman element of ludicrousness toany one familiar with the excessiverarity of engravings executedin this country at the period towhich the map belongs and thepoverty of the arts at that distanttime. I have been searching diligentlyfor early American printsfor more than thirty years, and I

THE B R A D F O R D MAPventure to make the assertionthat not more than three or fourimpressions exist of any Americanengraving executed prior to themiddle of the last century. Ofthe " Prospect of the Colledgesin Cambridge in New England,"produced by William Burgis in1726, the copy in the possessionof the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety discovered not manyyears ago, is the only one knownto exist. Of the re-impressionof this plate, issued in 1739 or1740, I have a perfect impression,with the exception of thetitle, and I know of no otherin as fair a state of preservation.The copy in Harvard College isin a very damaged condition (unlessthey have found another

THE B R A D F O R D MAPwithin the last few years), and theone in the Massachusetts HistoricalSociety is thus described bythe custodian of that institution:"So discolored by time that portionsof it are almost indistinguishable,and the panel uponwhich it was pasted had also becomemuch warped and cracked."Of the "View of the City ofNew York in 1717," by WilliamBurgis (the most important andinteresting of the early picturesof our city), there is but the onesolitary copy owned by the NewYork Historical Society, and buttwo of the impressions from thesame plate, issued in 1746, areknown—one in the above-namedinstitution and one in the NewYork Society Library.23

THE B R A D F O R D MAPOf the "Northwest Prospectof Nassau Hall in New Jersey "(Princeton College), engraved byH. Dawkins, 1764 (?), the Collegehas only, I am told, an imperfectcopy, and I can learn ofbut two others (besides my own),as to the state of preservation ofwhich, I am not clearly informed.Of the Burgis engraving of the" New Dutch Church "* (corner* The "New Dutch Church." Why so called is thusstated by the Rev. Dr. Dewitt in a discourse deliveredin the North Reformed Dutch Church (cornerof William and Fulton Streets) on the last Sabbathin August, 1856, one of the illustrations in which isa ''facsimile on a reduced scale of a print of theold Middle Dutch Church in its original state as firstbuilt, executed in 1731."The old church in the fort had become inconvenientlylocated, was beginning to decay, and thepopularity of Dom. Selyns called for more spaciousaccommodations. Tradition says that a diversity ofopinions existed as to the site to be selected, a portionof the congregation contending that the spotafterwards chosen was too far out of town. The24

THE B R A D F O R D MAPof Nassau and Liberty Streets)dedicated to the Honourable RipVan Dam, Esq., which was executedprobably about the year1732, only one copy is positivelyknown to exist, and the samemay be said of "A View ofdeed conveying the site is dated in 1690, and definesit as being in Garden Street (Exchange Place), andadjacent to the orchard belonging to Elizabeth Drisius,the widow of Dominie Drisius. 1 find an accountof the expenses of the church, audited in1695, which amounted to 64,178 guilders, or $27,-671 of our money. . . . It was opened fordivine service in 1693 before it was thoroughly finished.. . . This house continued the onlyhome of worship for our Dutch ancestors till thebuilding of another at the corner of Nassau andLiberty Streets. After the erection of the church inNassau Street the church in Garden Street took thename of OLD, and in Nassau Street that of the NEW ;and when the church at the corner of Fulton andWilliam Streets was erected it took the name of theNORTH, when the Garden Street Church was designatedas the SOUTH, and the Nassau Street as theMIDDLE. The terms old and new, however, continuedto be applied to the two latter for a long timesubsequent,"25

THE B R A D F O R D MAPCastle William by Boston inNew England," which was probablyengraved by William Burgisat about the same period. It isnatural to presume that theseartists executed other engravingsbesides those we know, which Ihave enumerated, not a vestigeof which, apparently, remains.There is a vague but fondly-cherishedlegend that another copyof the engraving of the "NewDutch Church" exists somewheredown in the wilds of LongIsland and will some day cometo the New York Historical Society,but for at least twenty-fiveyears to my own knowledge ithas been a case of the " hope deferredthat maketh the heartsick."26

THE B R A D F O R D MAPThese engravings are the incunabulaof chalcography in theseUnited States, and not even theGerman xylographic prints of thefifteenth century excel them inpoint of rarity. The woodcut ofSt. Christopher with the date of1423^ unearthed in a convent fiftymiles from the old Roman townof Augsburg in Bavaria, and Burgis'scopper-plate engraving ofthe " Middle Dutch Church inNew York," executed more thanthree hundred years later, meeton equal terms in this respect,and may salute each other asfellow-members of a very limitedand exclusive circle.We are not confronted withthe same conditions with the engravingsabove named as those27

THE B R A D F O R D MAPwhich exist in the case of theBradford Map, owing to the fortunatecircumstance that no copiesof the same size, or even approximatelyso, as far as I amaware, were ever made; otherwisewe should be bothered injust the same way.To point out to others theirmistakes, is not an agreeabletask, but I could not see this erroneousstatement in regard tothe Bradford Map receive a newendorsement and be given afresh impulse, and a still widercurrency than it now enjoys,without uttering a word of protest.A well-sponsored errorpossesses the gift of continuancein a superlative degree, andshould be combated and refuted28

THE B R A D F O R D MAPat every opportunity. Onceplanted, either by accident or design,it propagates itself and ismore difficult to eradicate fromthe minds of men than is thatpest, the Canadian thistle, fromthe field of the husbandman.There are not a few histories,so styled, that might with considerablepropriety be cataloguedwith works of fiction, and forthat matter the amount of trustworthyinformation which anyhistorian succeeds in corrallingwithin the covers of his book isan open question. To the errorsof former writers which herepeats, the latest chronicleradds the coloring of his ownfancy, and he is never entirelyfree from the bias of his natural29

THE B R A D F O R D MAPprejudices and predilections. Anhistoric character in the eyes ofone writer may be a god-likehero, in those of another, a villainof the deepest dye, but whenwe look upon an engraving of alocality we are justified in believingthat it tells the truth. It maybe hampered in its expression bylack of skill, but the artist depictedthat which came withinthe range of his own vision andso his picture comes down to usas the testimony of an eye witness,and it should not be perverted,either through carelessnessor by design.

POSTSCRIPTTHE following is a partiallist, chronologically arranged,of the copies ofthe Bradford Map which havebeen published from time to timeduring the last fifty or sixtyyears. It would be difficult, ifnot impossible, to trace them all,including those which have beenused for advertisement purposes,and which may have been eitherreimpressions from one of theearly lithographic stones or pho-/o-lithographic copies, and I havenot undertaken the task.The market value of these copiesranges from fifty cents to five31

P O S T S C R I P Tdollars, with naturally an upwardtendency in price in sympathywith the recent rapid enhancementin the value of all maps,prints and books relating to theHistory of the City of New York.For an impression from theoriginal copper-plate of WilliamBradford an offer of twenty-fivehundred dollars has been severaltimes declined.The copies all bear the samecaption, viz.: " A Plan of the Cityof New York from an Actual Survey,Made by James Lyne." Theyare the same in width, namely :22 inches, but only 17 instead of17^ inches in height, as is theoriginal.No. I. Inscription at foot ofMap : " Facsimile of an original32

P O S T S C R I P TMap in the possession of G. B.Smith, Street Commissioner.Pub"^ by G. Hayward, Lithographer,No. I Cortlandt Street,New York, 1834." This is apparentlythe first copy made of theoriginal Map and it is the mostaccurate and the most carefullyexecuted.A copy of this facsimile wasmade by order of the Corporationof the City of New York, toaccompany a report on the GreatPier of the Committee on Docksin 1836. Hay ward's address onthis copy is changed to 48 NassauStreet.No. 2. Inscription the same ason No. I, except that the address,"No. I Cortlandt Street,New York, 1834," is erased.33

P O S T S C R I P TThis facsimile appears in Valentine'sManual for 1842-43. Itis printed upon thin white paper.No. 3. Inscription the same ason No. 2. This facsimile appearsin Valentine's Manual for 1844-45.It is printed upon what is virtuallya tissue paper of a more delicatetexture even than the paperof No. 2.No. 4. Inscription the same ason Nos. 2 and 3 except that theword "Pub^"*" is omitted. It isprinted on blue paper and appearsin Valentine's Manual for 1851.This would appear by comparisonto be the particular facsimilewhich was copied by GeneralWilson in his "MemorialHistory of the City of New York,"and by Mr. Fiske in his " Dutch34

P O S T S C R I P Tand Quaker Colonies in America."The copy of this facsimile formerlyowned by General Wilsonis backed with brown paper, andis now among the reproductionsof the Bradford Map which arebeing collected by the LenoxLibrary in its Map Department.No. 5. Inscription: "PrintedforD. T. Valentine's History of NewYork, 1853, by Geo. Hayward,120 Water Street, New York."No. 6. Inscription: " Enteredaccording to Act of Congress inthe year 1871, by Orrin Vanderhovenin the office of the librarianof Congress at Washington.NEW YORK CITY as it was in1728. A Fac-simile of the firstOfficial map of New York City(in 1728) showing the extent of35

P O S T S C R I P Tthe City at that date. A curiousand valuable Relic when comparedwith the Great Metropolisof the present day."No. 7. Inscription: "Fac-simileof an original map of New Yorkin 1728. Published by F. B. Patterson,61 Liberty Street, 1874."Undated copy.Inscription:1728"Ch Magnus Lith Est—FAC­SIMILE of an original map made1728. Reprinted by John Slater,Bookseller No. 204 ChathamSquare New York." *This is a colored lithograph(the various wards being tinted*This is the facsimile, very much reduced, whichwas copied by Benson J. Lossing in his History ofNew York.36

P O S T S C R I P Tblue, green, red and yellow), andit is therefore not a dangerouscounterfeit. John Slater the publisheris said to have begun businessin 1838, and to have died in1857.The Histories of New York byBenson J. Lossing, William Dunlapand Mrs. Martha J. Lamb areembellished with copies of JamesLyne's Survey on a much reducedscale and the two last named arewithout the full inscription. Asmall section of the map is alsodisplayed by A. J. Weise in his"Discoveries of America." JustinWinsor, in his "Narrativeand Critical History of America,''does not include among his illustrationsa copy of the map, buthe refers to it on p. 253, Vol. V,37

POSTSCRIPTand mentions, among other facsimiles,one which the writerhas never seen, published by W.W. Cox of Washington (D. C).This would make NINE reproductionsof approximately the samesize as the original Bradford Mapthat we are now able to place onrecord.FINIS

- , * . ' , ' " • .^B^^^^^^DATE DUEr» f j STJ..,. ,.BtiBSK-'Printedin USA

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES0040797791978N48Aii270&^l'30aaaOJl