LIBRARY NOTES
Robert Augustyn, co-author of
Manhattan in Maps talked about the Library's Ratzen Plan at this year's Book Award presentation on June 9, 1998.
The map depicts the city in the years 1766 and 1767. It is 48" x 35" and printed from three copper plates. Mr. Augustyn called it "perhaps the finest map of an American city and its environs produced in the 18th century." The view is from Governor's Island and includes a detailed rendering of the agrarian landscape of Brooklyn and Queens. The map extends to today's 50th Street. The city at the time had a population of about 25,000. All major roads north of the city are shown and named for the first time.
Bernard Ratzer was a skilled military engineer sent to America during the French and Indian war.
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