New York in 1838 - New York City, Albany, Buffalo

This New York map comes from An Illustrated Atlas, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical of the United States and the Adjacent Countries, compiled by Thomas G. Bradford and published in 1838 by Weeks, Jordan & Co. of Boston and Wiley and Putnam of New York. Engraved by George W. Boynton, it's considered Bradford's finest atlas, a first edition of thirty-nine maps, each paired with its own descriptive text.

The New York sheet is hand-colored by county at a scale of about 1:1,850,000, each county rendered in its own distinct color for easy reference. The map traces the state's rivers and lakes and marks its borders with neighboring states and Canada, along with a scale bar and the roads connecting New York's towns. Engraved on copper or steel and finished by hand, it reflects the careful, labor-intensive printing methods of American atlas-making before mass production took hold later in the century.

TheMapVault also carries an 1883 Cram atlas map of New York with a Long Island and New York City inset; this Bradford sheet predates that one by forty-five years and is engraved and hand-colored in an entirely different style, county by county rather than as a general outline map. This print suits anyone with New York roots, a family with ties to the counties shown here, a transplant who left the Empire State, or a collector of early American state atlases. It also makes a fitting housewarming, birthday, or anniversary gift. Every print ships unframed and comes in multiple sizes.