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Manuscript Maps Collection

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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

This is an open collection of manuscript maps as well as printed maps with significant manuscript annotations. Included are the original eastern section of the Mason-Dixon Line map drawn by Charles Dixon and Jeremiah Dixon, signed by both; several maps of parts of New Jersey dating from before the American Revolution; a set of eight 18th-century maps of areas around Paris; an 1862 Civil War map of the area around Richmond with annotations by Union aeronaut T. S. C. Lowe describing Confederate earthworks as seen from balloons; an 1852 Dutch map of Crete and surrounding islands; an Italian map (ca. 1730) of part of Corfu; a topographical map of the Latakia area of Syria, with manuscript annotations by General Edmund Allenby; and a mid-19th century keyed map of the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean.

Organized by manuscript map number.

Source of original acquisition unclear (AM13937,17071, 17205, 17543, 18045, 19173, 19651, HM1995-11).

Additions of Dutch map of Crete and Italian map of Corfu are a gift of the Program of Hellenic Studies in 2009 (AM2009-124, 2009-125).

Addition of map of "Lands of Yosemite Valley Lumber Company" is a gift of Barry Lawrence Ruderman in 2009 (AM2010-14).

Addition of map of "Island of St. Croix" was transferred from the Graphic Arts Collection in 2012 (AM2012-46).

Purchase, 2018 (AM 2018-114).

This collection was processed by John Delaney in March 2009. Finding aid written by John Delaney in March 2009.

In 2022, restrictions on materials were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.

No appraisal information is available.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Author
John Delaney
Finding Aid Date
2009
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Collection Inventory

"A Map of the Division Line Between the Counties of Middlesex & Somerset Protracted by a Scale of Twenty Chains to an Inch . . . by Azariah Dunham", 1766 May 9. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with some wash color. Scale: 20 chains = 1 inch. In 1765, Azariah Dunham was appointed surveyor of the line between the two counties, which, with a few deviations, followed the route of the King's Highway. The petition requesting the survey states: "The line of the old road is very dubious, by reason of persons altering the road." AM 13937.

Physical Description

1 folder

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"A Map of the Road from Trenton to Amboy Copied (from a Survey Made by John Dalley for James Alexander Esquire) by G. Bancker", 1762 March 8. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with some wash color. Scale: 80 chains = 1 inch = 1 mile. AM 17543.

Physical Description

1 folder

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"A Map of Ezra Black's Homestead Farm Situate in the Township of Chesterfield in the County of Burlington and Province of West New Jersey . . .", 1769 April 5. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with some wash color. Scale: 10 chains = 1 inch.

Physical Description

1 folder

"A Map of the Raritan River & Adjacent Country, with a Plan of the Roads", 1777 February 11. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper. Scale: 2 miles = 1 inch. "To The Honb.le Major General [Nathanael] Greene This Map is presented By his obed.t Friend Jn.o Clark, Jun.r. Morristown, Feb.y 11th 1777." John Clark was an aide to General Greene.

"Note, This sketch of the River Raritan was laid down by a scale of two miles to an inch the general course of the River from the forks to Amboy is supposed due East the meeting of the Road are incorrect but from Brunswick to the fork near the Mouth. The dotted lines from White's Tavern to Millstone Court House is the rout of the Enemy's Light Horse when they took Maj. General Lee near Baskingridge." [Described in Peter J. Guthorn, American Maps and Map Makers of the Revolution (Monmouth Beach, N.J.: Philip Freneau Press, 1966, p. 12)]. AM 18045.

Physical Description

1 folder

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"A survey of Passaick River as it now Runs, Beginning at the Forks of Passaick & Rockaway River, thence Running with the Stream to Pine Brook . . . By Mr. Benj,n Griffith.", 1789 November 11. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with some wash color and colored compass rose, backed on linen. Scale: 20 chains = 1 inch. AM 19173.

Physical Description

1 folder

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"A Copy of a Map of Elizabeth H. Ridgway's Farm in Springfield Township Made by Thomas Haines", 1855 May. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper. Scale: 4 chains = 1 inch.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Draft of fine land", 1830. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper. Scale: 4 chains = 1 inch. Map of land in Burlington County, in an area just north of Friendship, a subsection of Southampton Township. Perhaps related to Black Family.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Topographical drawing executed by Genl. Geo. B. McClellan during his cadetship at West Point . . .", circa 1846. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Engraved map, with manuscript annotations detailing the provenance of the map. "Map of Fort Gordon, near Lerida, Spain, illustrative of Suchet's campaign in the Peninsular War, April 1810" [on card attached to map]. Presented to Princeton by Bernhard K. Schaefer, Class of 1920. AM 17205.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Map Exhibiting the Approaches to the City of Richmond Prepared for Maj. Gen. Geo. B. McClellan. U.S.A.", 1862 June 14. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Mechanically produced map, with manuscript notations. "Ballon camp. June 14th 1862. The red lines represent some of the most important earthworks seen this morning, [?] are located as near as possible, as are also the camps in black ink. As soon as I can get an observation from the Mechanicsville balloon I can make many additions to the map. T. S. C. Lowe." Locations of two balloons shown in red. AM 17071.

Physical Description

1 folder

Map of a Region between Passaic and Raritan Rivers, 1741. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map (true copy), pen-and-ink on paper, with some wash color. Scale: 100 chains = 1 inch. Shows area between Staten Island on the east, the Raritan River on the south, the Passaic River on the north, and the north branch of the Passaic River on the east. Elizabeth Town and Newark Bay are noted. A key identifies a dozen other features of the map. On verso, a lengthy note explains the legal purpose of this map made by William Parsons and Edward Scull in a case (James Penn vs. John Chambers) before the Supreme Court, Somerset, 17 August 1741.

Physical Description

1 folder

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Maps of the Environs of Paris, 1700s. 8 folders.
Scope and Contents

Set of 8 18th-century anonymous manuscript maps of villages and towns around Paris, pen-and-ink on paper, with wash color. Place names include Argenteuil, Boulogne, Chambly, Meudon, and Versailles. Some of the maps bear section numbers on the verso, suggesting they were created as parts of a larger map. AM 19651.

Physical Description

8 folders

"Carta della Costa di Toscana, e Torri Adiacenti", undated. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with wash color. Shows coast of Tuscany, Italy, opposite the islands of Gorgona, Elba, and Giglio.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Syria, Ladikiya", 1915. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Photo-mechanically reproduced map, with manuscript annotations. "Compiled from Admiralty Charts . . . Hartmann's Karte . . . Map of the American Expedition of 1899-1900, Preliminary Map by Robert Garrett...D.H.P. Railway Map . . . ." "Reproduced, by the photo-metal process, at the Survey Dept. Egypt 1915." Possibly used by British General Edmund Allenby during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. [File regarding this map is located in the University Archives, Faculty Records, under "Butler, Howard Crosby."] HM 1995-11.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Mino no Kuni ezu" (Japanese map), 1833. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Pictorial map of the Mino region (Gifu prefecture of Japan). Copied in Tempo 4 (1833) from Bikozuseki. Owned by Tomita, Sadanori(?).

Physical Description

1 folder

MS Map 22. "Map of the Madeira River, Brazil, S.A.", 1878. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on paper, with wash color. Shows the Madeira River, from its mouth at the Amazon to the falls at San Antonio, approximately 700 miles. "This map was made from surveys by Robert H. Hepburn & George M. Keasbey, while engaged in towing supplies from Pará to San Antonio, for P. & T. Collins, contractors for the construction of the Madeira-Mamoree Railway, 1878."

Physical Description

1 box

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MS Map 23. "A Plan of the Boundary Lines Between the Province of Maryland and the Three Lower Counties on Delaware, with Part of the Parallel of Latitude Which Is the Boundary Between the Provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania", 1768. 1 box.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink, mounted on linen. Shows the eastern half of the boundary known as the Mason-Dixon Line. Scale: 4 miles = 1 inch. Signed in manuscript, "Chas: Mason" and "Jere: Dixon." [For more information on the map and its provenance, see Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. XVI, pp. 97-99, and Vol. XXV, pp. 153-155.]

Physical Description

1 box

Dutch map of Crete and Surrounding Islands, 1852. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map: Dutch map of Crete and surrounding islands, handcolored in outline, sheet 34.5 x 43 cm.

Physical Description

1 folder

Italian map of part of Corfu, circa 1730. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map: Italian map of part of Corfu, ca. 1730, handcolored, 49 x 70 cm.

Physical Description

1 folder

"Lands of Yosemite Valley Lumber Company", 1911 March 15. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map, pen-and-ink on silked linen, handcolored. Early map of the Yosemite (Valley) Lumber Company lands immediately south of Yosemite Valley and east of the Merced River, depicting the critical link between the Yosemite Valley Railroad and rail lines constructed by the company to bring timber from the company lands to a yet to be constructed mill in Merced, California. Dated March 15, 1911, the map is an important early snapshot of the final chapter of the logging industry within Yosemite National Park lands and includes the longest incline railway ever built, rising 3100 feet above the Merced River.

The Yosemite Lumber Company (which was apparently briefly also known as the Yosemite Valley Lumber Company) was created in the early 20th Century for the purpose of exploiting the rich timber reserves of the Yosemite area. The earliest reference to the tract of land shown in this map appeared on September 2, 1910 in the Merced County Sun: "The Sun has reference to the sale of about 10,000 acres of timber land, known as the Minor tract, to a new corporation known as the Yosemite Lumber Company. The land mentioned lies between the main Merced river and the south fork, on a line between Wawona and El Portal. This Minor tract includes 8000 acres, and other smaller pieces have also been purchased by the company, which will give them altogether about 10,000 acres, containing about 500,000,000 feet of lumber. The deal involves a consideration of a half million dollars and another half million will be immediately expended on development work, so it may be said that it is a million dollar deal. The Yosemite Lumber Company is composed of capitalists headed by F. M. Fenwick, formerly manager of the Hammond Lumber Company of San Francisco, and one of the most prominent lumber operations on the Pacific coast. The company will proceed to establish a mill on the property and get the lumber out to market. El Portal will be the shipping point, and the lumber will be dropped down into the Merced river canyon at that point by means of an incline cable road about a mile in length. This project means a vast deal to the Yosemite Valley Railroad Company and also to Merced City. The existence of that rich body of timber in the mountains was one of the chief factors that led the builders of the Yosemite Valley railroad to invest their capital in that enterprise. It was known that the passenger traffic of the road would not amount to enough, for several years at least, to clear a profit on the investment, but they knew that if the timber possibilities could be developed the road would derive a considerable tonnage from that source. For a number of years this timber was held by several small owners, and about five years ago "Stony" Harris of Mariposa county got the owners to give options, and in this way the property fell into the hands of Mr. Minor and Charles Nelson, both big lumber men. Since the building of the Yosemite Valley railroad, the railroad people and especially Superintendent O. W. Lehmer, have been working energetically to get capitalists to take hold of the timber tract and develop it, and their labors finally resulted in the big deal being consummated in San Francisco last week."

As noted in an article which appeared in the Mariposa Gazzette on April 1, 1911, the lands shown on this map and the railroad line and tramway depicted were an integral part of the development of the logging operations in the area: ". . . The Yosemite Lumber Company, which last year purchased 15,000 acres of timber land on the north fork of the Merced river in Mariposa county, has about completed arrangements for the development of the property. The plans include the construction of an incline railroad and establishment of a mill and a sash and door factory. The incline railroad, which will be about six miles in length, will be built from the Yosemite Valley Railroad at a point near El Portal to the high tableland in the mountains between El Portal and Wawona, the power for transmission of the cars being furnished by a hoist at the top of the incline."

As described in the Mariposa Gazette, the map depicts (upper right corner) the El Portal terminus of the Yosemite Lumber Company's line at the point where it meets the Yosemite Railroad Company's line into the valley, along the with the surveyed and unsurveyed portions of its railroad lines within its tract of land, logging roads and a number of other points of interest.

On July 1, 1911, the Merced Evening Sun noted the further progress of development of the line: "Contracts for the building of the inclined railroad from the Merced river at El Portal to the top of the mountain and into the timber belt on the high plateau above the canyon have been let to L. J. Scooffy of San Francisco. Mr. Scooffy's outfit of men and teams will pass through Merced to El Portal on or about July 8, and the work of grading and building the incline railway will be commenced in earnest as soon thereafter as camp is established. Engineer G. H. Nickerson has a corps of men now in the field working out all of the field and grade notes, setting the line and grade stakes and doing such other work preliminary to the grading and building of the road. The contracts held by Mr. Scooffy aggregate in the neighborhood of $150,000. The incline railroad from a point on the Merced river to the top of the mountain will be approximately 8000 feet in length, and will have a maximum grade of 30 percent."

In a later article on August 11, 1911, the Merced Evening Sun noted another of the features depicted on the map: "The first logging station in the woods will be located about two miles from the hoisting station. About four miles of logging road will be built into the timber this year, together with the necessary spurs and landings required in large logging operations. This road will be extended in length as required and will eventually reach a point in the vicinity of Wawona. The incline railroads, hoisting plant, logging roads and permanent camps in the timber are to be ready for logging operations to commence about May 1, 1912.

The line opened in August 1912 and was heralded as a great success and by mid -1913, the Yosemite Lumber Company had acquired more than 50,000 addition acres of land, resulting in a period where the lands were logged very actively by the company. With only a few years, interest in preserving the land against logging galvanized at the local and Federal level, resulting in the commencement of a program to trade lands within the park for lands outside the park. The land shown on this map was, for instance, the subject of a section of the Report of the Director of the National Park Service to the Secretary of the Interior (1921), wherein the Director reports at page 195: "While the exchange [of timber lands] with the Yosemite Lumber Co. . . . has not been consummated, it is still in negotiaton, and without doubt before another season opens will be completed. This exchange contemplates an exchange of a considerable block of standing timber owned by the Yosemite Lumber Co. in the Grouse Creek watershed and in the lower Indian Creek Valley for Government-owned timber of equal value in less valuable park areas in the western part of the reservation. The consummation of this exchange means the complete preservation of an effective timber screen along Wawona Road, which area would have been completely denuded of all timber had not exchanges been made with the Yosemite Valley Lumber Co., who originally owned both land and timber in this area." [historical text supplied by dealer]

Physical Description

1 folder

"Island of St. Croix", circa 1847. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map: pen-and-ink map by Rev. Edward Livermore, on sheet with key (112 named locations)

Physical Description

1 folder

"Plan del R1 de Minas de Sta Cruz de Caylloma", 1789. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Manuscript map: folding hand colored map which shows the locations of "trapiches" (mills used to crush rock) and lists their names, and the names of the owners of the stone quarries.

Physical Description

1 folder

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"Real Asiento de Minas de Plata de Rivera de Caylloma", 1786. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Folding table which lists 37 mines with the names of their 21 owners as well as other statistics about the silver mines in Caylloma area of Peru.

Physical Description

1 folder

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Letters and Documents, 1789. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Letters and documents concerning silver mining in Caylloma.

Physical Description

1 folder

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