EXTREMELY RARE — EARLIEST KNOWN MAP OF CONSOLIDATED GREATER NEW YORK (1898)

1898. Item #88

EXTREMELY RARE — EARLIEST KNOWN MAP OF CONSOLIDATED GREATER NEW YORK
(1898)

HYDE, E. BELCHER & CO. Map of the City of New York, the Imperial City of the New World, embracing the entire city limits. Based upon official surveys.
Brooklyn: Hyde & Company, 1898. Folio atlas comprising a series of large, color-printed lithographed maps of the five boroughs (Manhattan & the Bronx; Brooklyn; Lower Queens; Upper Queens; Richmond), each folding out to substantial format and mounted on linen as issued. Original publisher’s cloth-backed boards, gilt-stamped upper cover. INVEC50AWRB

An extremely rare and historically significant production—this is the earliest map we are aware of to depict New York City in its modern, fully consolidated form, following the unification of the five boroughs on January 1, 1898. Issued in the very year of consolidation, the map’s bold subtitle—“Imperial City of the New World”—captures the ambition and civic identity of the newly expanded metropolis. Preceding Louis Risse’s monumental plan of 1900, this work stands as the first comprehensive cartographic statement of Greater New York. Produced by Hyde & Company, noted Brooklyn map publishers specializing in detailed survey-based cartography, the atlas reflects an extraordinary level of precision. The maps delineate transportation systems (including trolley, elevated, and rail lines), property divisions, street grids, topographical features, wetlands, and patterns of urban development across all five boroughs at the moment of their political and geographic union.

Condition:
Binding heavily worn, with substantial loss to cloth at spine and corners; boards rubbed and exposed. Internally, the maps are generally clean and well-preserved, retaining strong original color. Fold lines as issued, with occasional minor splitting or tenderness at folds, but no major losses observed. Light toning and handling wear in places. Institutional ink stamps (“Library of the New York Law Institute”) to section titles. Despite the worn binding, the cartographic content remains notably well-preserved and highly presentable.

Price: $9,500.00