Certified Copies of Original Maps of Property in New York City, 1881.

Filed in the Register's Office and elsewhere, Together with the Register's Index to Maps and Important Notes Regarding the Same. Hoboken: Spielmann & Brush, 1881. First edition. Folio. [title, blank], [preface/index, blank], [i-viii, General Index of Maps], 186 pages of 93 double-page maps, [1]13-26 pages, Notes. Period quarter-leather boards worn with perished spine. Some toning, light chipping, and occasional small tears to page edges, not affecting images. Two columns of related newspaper clippings tipped in on front free endpaper. Preliminaries detached. Original receipt tipped in on title page. Two two-page folded sheets of publisher's announcements laid in. Binder's ticket and notes on front pastedown. Otherwise, a near fine set of these wonderful street maps of late nineteenth-century Manhattan.

A scarce and complete set of beautiful hand-colored lithographs showing the late 19th-century street grid of Manhattan laid on top of the former property lines of farms and land owners. These wonderful illustrations lay out the original history of the island transposed with all the block measurements, tracts, lots, and streets within the waterways. As the bicentennial of the Island's famous grid was celebrated last March, these images are striking reminders of New York City's master plan almost completely realized in bold, beautiful color lithography. Estimate: $4,000 - up. Included in Heritage Auctions’ Rare Books Auction #6085, April 11-12, 2012, in New York.