Price: SOLD
SKU: 102387
ARTIST: Amos Lay
PUBLISHER: Sold by Brown and Stansbury. No. 114 Water Street New York.
MEDIUM: Copper plate engraving,
DATE: 1801.
EDITION SIZE: Segmented case map. Overall 27 7/8 x 32 1/2" (70.7 x 82.5 cm)
DESCRIPTION: A very rare and important separately published map of New York by Amos Lay and Arthur Stansbury. Drawn by A. J. Stansbury, engraved by John Roberts and Sold by Brown & Stansbury, No. 114 Water Street, New York.<br><br> This is the first state of Amos Lay's map of Northern New York and was by far the best general map of the region at the time of issue. It predates by one year Simeon DeWitt's monumental 6-sheet map of New York State. DeWitt's 1802 map extends west to Seneca Lake which is exactly as far Lay's 1801 work shows, strongly suggesting that DeWitt was influenced by this map.<br><br> The map covers the true Northern Part of New York, including the eastern part of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River to Cornwall and St. Regis and all of Lake Champlain and Lake George, and extends south as far as Albany, Cayuga Lake and the south end of Seneca Lake.<br><br> The map is filled with information on land surveys and development, wagon roads and trails, Military tracts, towns and villages, and early Grants and Purchases. Some of the details shown include:<br> In 1792 in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, the state of New York was struggling financially. It opened for sale nearly five million acres of land which state officials, under pressure from land speculators and other business interests, had forced the Iroquois tribes to cede. adjacent to the Mohawk River from Oriskany to Rome. <br><br> Some of the Grants and Purchases are noted below.<br><br> Scriba's Patent, a total of 500,000 acres of land east of the Oswego River. <br> Boylston Purchase. <br> Macomb's Purchase, purchased from the state in 1791 by Alexander Macomb, a merchant during the Revolutionary War He acted as a land speculator, selling off portions of this land.<br> Black River Tract.<br> Totten & Crossfield's Purchase.<br> Penet’s Square.<br> Ten square miles ceded to Peter Penet by the Oneida Indians.<br> Palmer's Purchase. In the Counties of Washington and Montgomery, on the westerly side of the Sacondago [Sacandaga] branch of Hudson's river.<br> Oriskany Patent. Located adjacent to the Mohawk River from Oriskany to Rome.<br> Oneida Reservation, south of Oneida Lake.<br> The map focuses on land divisions, but it also shows county boundaries and includes detailed coverage of roads and hydrography. This first edition was intended as a tool for land speculators, at a time when land speculation in this region was running rampant.<br><br> In his essay on early maps of New York, (https://www.dyasites.com/maps/nysbook/Chapter9b.htm) David Allen notes:<br> “Turning to more ambitious large-scale maps, we can begin with the remarkable series of maps of New York State produced between 1801 and 1826 by Amos Lay (1765 -1851). Lay was apparently born in Connecticut and spent some time in Vermont, but for most of his life he lived and worked in Albany and New York City.<br> Lay started his career as a surveyor and land agent. In 1796, he placed advertisements in several Vermont and New Hampshire newspapers as an agent for sale of land in Lower Canada (now Ontario). A few years later, he was involved in surveying land along the St. Lawrence River in Franklin and St. Lawrence counties. In 1821 he wrote that he 'had been employed for upwards of twenty-six years in exploring and surveying various parts of the United States, Upper and Lower Canada, and also in compiling and publishing maps...'.<br> Lay's first cartographic work appeared in 1801, when he co-authored a map of northern New York. A note on the map describes it as 'compiled from the latest survey by A. Lay; and drawn by Arthur J. Stansbury.' Lay's exact role in the production of this map is unclear. Judging from a description of the map published by his collaborator, Lay did a limited amount of surveying and relied primarily on compiling information from other surveys.<br> Drawn at a scale of slightly more than seven miles to an inch, this map covers New York north of the Mohawk and Oswego Rivers. The details on this map are rather sparse and uneven. It shows fairly detailed hydrography for most areas, and major towns, but no topography. Its most notable feature is its delineation of the boundaries of recent land grants and purchases. Oddly, it is oriented toward magnetic north 'as it was in 1760.'<br> At this point, Amos Lay almost disappeared from view for ten years. He seems to have made his living as a surveyor and land agent, and very likely engaged in some land speculation, which was a common pastime for people with his background."<br><br> Lay re-issued the map in 1812 doubling the coverage of the map to the west and extending it an additional 50 miles to the south. The 1812 edition displayed an area roughly 3 times larger than the 1801 map. Cartographically, Lay dramatically updated the map with a new plate, such that the 1801 and 1812 map bear very little similarity other than the title cartouche. <br><br> Lay would considerably expand his map in 1817, repositioning it as a Map of New York State, not just Northern New York. In his comments on the 1801 map David Rumsey (List No. 2293.000) notes this about the 1817 third edition,: <br><br> In 1817 Lay extended the State map south to include New York City. This map extends only to the Pennsylvania border. Lay's 1801 map covers only the most northern parts of the state. For some reason, his 3 editions of the state map expand coverage from north to south ending with complete coverage in the 3rd edition."
ADDITIONAL INFO: Retains original Olmstead & Levy & Co. Stationers, Corner of Wall and William Streets, opposite the New-York Bank.
CONDITION: Overall in very good condition. Some tiny areas of paper loss. Professionally conserved and backed on new linen. New boards but retains original Stationer's label.
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