1930s Downtown District of Manhattan... Nieuw Amsterdam and New York 1789- 1939

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Description

Map Sz: 24"H x 35 1/4"W

Frame Sz: 26"H x 38 1/4" in gilt metal

Arthur Zaidenberg (1908-1990) (after)
Gardner … Read more Map Sz: 24"H x 35 1/4"W

Frame Sz: 26"H x 38 1/4" in gilt metal

Arthur Zaidenberg (1908-1990) (after)
Gardner Osborn (1893-1979) (copyright)
Downtown District of Manhattan: Nieuw Amsterdam and New York 1789-1939
New York: 1938
Color process print

Pictorial aerial map of Lower Manhattan south of Chambers Street and Murray Street, filled with cartoon style illustrations depicting landmarks and events from New York City colonial history and the early years of the American republic. The cartography is simple, with streets, parks, boat slips and rivers color shaded with flat areas of blue, green and orange. Landmark buildings are drawn in aerial perspective in black outline on white backgrounds, highlighted in red. The buildings are numbered, and so may have originally been accompanied by a separate key. The historical events and figures are often depicted in a whimsical manner, such as a 17th-century man admiring a pretty woman crossing the bridge over a canal which the map tells us was once where Broad Street is, and the opera singer Jenny Lind singing atop Castle Clinton in Battery Park. Boats from all eras are in the waters. In the corners are large illustrations of the Statue of Liberty, colonial figures and Native Americans. Above the map are two Native Americans holding the seal of the City of New York flanked by the seals of New Amsterdam and New Netherlands. Historian and preservationist Gardner Osborn is listed as the copyright holder, presumably contributing to the research and captions. See less