May 11, 2023 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
325
Estate / Collection: Collection of a New York Surveyor
[MAP - NEWGATE PRISON]
SMITH, GEO[RGE] B.; after A[BEL] CORNING. [Survey Map of Newgate State Prison in the West Village]. "New York. Surveyed / by A. Corning 1808 / taken from the original / Aug 22nd 1821 / by Geo. B. Smith." Manuscript map in ink on paper, hand colored, old linen backing. Sheet measures 14 7/8 19 1/8 inches (38 x 48.75 cm). Lightly toned, dust soiling along right edge, cracks and creases mostly to margins, loss to paper at upper left corner outside the neatline, a few small faint stains, linen fraying along edges, later manuscript pencil and blue crayon annotations to recto, old and modern ink annotations and ink stamps to backing.
A rare survey showing Newgate prison, New York City's first state penitentiary. The prison was built in 1797 after designs by Joseph-Francois Mangin. It was located on the outskirts of the city next to the Hudson River in what was then the village of Greenwich. It would now be near the intersection Weehawken and Christopher Streets in the West Village. When it opened, Newgate prison was run by a Quaker reformist, Thomas Eddy, who subscribed to a new concept of retribution and rehabilitation - corporal punishment was banned in favor of hard work and classroom education. As New York City's population grew, Newgate became intolerably overcrowded, dangerous, and dirty, so the prison was demolished in 1829, and the prisoners moved to Sing-Sing. This map gives the dimensions and shows the outline of the prison wall, the Hudson river shoreline, and gives the location of Washington Street (mislabelled as Greenwich Street). The later pencil markings, dated 1945, are from a surveyor, and give the location of West Street.
Estate / Collection: Collection of a New York Surveyor
[MAP - NEWGATE PRISON]
SMITH, GEO[RGE] B.; after A[BEL] CORNING. [Survey Map of Newgate State Prison in the West Village]. "New York. Surveyed / by A. Corning 1808 / taken from the original / Aug 22nd 1821 / by Geo. B. Smith." Manuscript map in ink on paper, hand colored, old linen backing. Sheet measures 14 7/8 19 1/8 inches (38 x 48.75 cm). Lightly toned, dust soiling along right edge, cracks and creases mostly to margins, loss to paper at upper left corner outside the neatline, a few small faint stains, linen fraying along edges, later manuscript pencil and blue crayon annotations to recto, old and modern ink annotations and ink stamps to backing.
A rare survey showing Newgate prison, New York City's first state penitentiary. The prison was built in 1797 after designs by Joseph-Francois Mangin. It was located on the outskirts of the city next to the Hudson River in what was then the village of Greenwich. It would now be near the intersection Weehawken and Christopher Streets in the West Village. When it opened, Newgate prison was run by a Quaker reformist, Thomas Eddy, who subscribed to a new concept of retribution and rehabilitation - corporal punishment was banned in favor of hard work and classroom education. As New York City's population grew, Newgate became intolerably overcrowded, dangerous, and dirty, so the prison was demolished in 1829, and the prisoners moved to Sing-Sing. This map gives the dimensions and shows the outline of the prison wall, the Hudson river shoreline, and gives the location of Washington Street (mislabelled as Greenwich Street). The later pencil markings, dated 1945, are from a surveyor, and give the location of West Street.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, May 11, 2023
