Perris, William

Lithographed wall map (36 x 49 in.; 914 x 1,245 mm), on two sheets joined, by Mayer & Korffs, contemporary hand-coloring, large inset view of the city from Governor's Island, 8 lists of references, ornamental border. 

Backed onto archival linen and edged with burgundy silk.

A VERY RARE MID-19TH CENTURY LARGE-SCALE MAP OF NEW YORK PUBLISHED TO BE HUNG IN THE CITY'S FIRE STATIONS.The map extends from the tip of Manhattan as far north as 42nd Street. The general key lists 24 different symbols used to identify churches, schools, hotels, places of amusement, public buildings, newspaper offices, parks, cemeteries, etc. The New York and Harlem Railroad runs down Fourth Avenue while the Hudson River Railroad approaches via Tenth Avenue and West Street. Numerous individual sites are marked and indexed under various lists of references: "Places of Amusement" (American Museum, Broadway Theatre, Chinese Museum, etc.); "Public Buildings etc." (City Hall, Hall of Records, Croton Aqueduct department, Prison, etc.); "Colleges, Universities and Literary, Scientific and Benevolent Institutions" (Columbia College, American Art Union, Home for the Friendless, etc); "Banks" (American Exchange, Bank of New York, Bank of America, etc.); "Markets" (Washington, Fulton, etc.); "Hotels (Delmonicos', Tammany Hall, Carlton House, etc); "Churches" (Reformed Dutch, Friends, Jews, Unitarian, etc.) and "Public Grounds" (The Battery, Union Square, Madison Square, etc). Of particular interest is a hachured line marking in the river adjacent to the Battery depicting the boundary of the 'Proposed Enlargement' - i.e. present-day Battery Park.

However, the most important element of this map is its association with fire fighting in New York. The locations of each of the city's engine, hose and hook-and-ladder houses are shown and the city is clearly divided into eight numbered fire districts via bold red lines.

This map is a significant rarity. It is unrecorded in any of the usual references on the mapping of New York and OCLC locates ONLY A SINGLE EXAMPLE IN THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.