Customer Reviews

Manhattan in Maps: 1527-1995

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While I agree with one reviewer that the maps depicted in the book are small and difficult to read (more due to the apparent custom of making 17th and 18th century maps totally illegible in any case rather than the editors' layout of them), the commentary accompanying the maps is very illuminating and interesting. The authors also chose to use maps highlighting, for example, '70s-era police practice, '20s-era political classifications and a map of the subway along with the more conventional surveyor's maps; truly a very interesting collection. A good companion to any history of pre-20th century NYC, such as Gotham.

This is a wonderful book. Wonderful in conception and wonderful in execution. It reminds me of the book by Phil Jenkins, An Acre In Time, about one space of land near Ottawa, Canada. To see our spaces over the course of centuries is a revelation, an education, a memory and a warning. The production is excellent and the book should be included with every college level history course.

The maps are miniscule, reproduced to fit into a single spread, where they are squeezed between commentary. The type on them is so small and blurry that it was impossible to read, even with serious magnification. This book was a complete and total disappointment. Instead of an informative, legible reference, Manhattan in Maps is nothing more than a "coffee table" book, and not a very good one at that. If you're looking for maps you could actually refer to and learn from, this is not the book for you. Hopefully, someone will get the hint and put out a quality folio of these valuable maps.

I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon here, but the maps are disappointing because they're too small to be scrutinized. The text, however, compensates greatly for this flaw. The chapters are concise but not a word is wasted. I found the section on the British invasion of Brooklyn as well-written and gripping as any thriller. I can only hope that they are planning to come out with a larger edition for the illustrations.

This is a beautiful book for both those who are fascinated by maps and those with a deep interest in the history of New York City. The preface explains that, "The richness of New York's cartographic heritage is unique among the major cities of the world." It goes on to outline a number of reasons for this, including the city's founding by mapmaking mavens (the Dutch) during a cartographic boom time, its initial status as a commercial interest, its later status as a Revolutionary War battleground, and so on. The selections are spread more or less evenly throughout the four and a half centuries and each is accompanied by an excellent elucidating essay. My own favorites are some of the later, more thematic ones such as an 1834 fireman's guide, an 1842 water pipe diagram, an 1853 insurance company survey, the 1920 ethnic survey, and the 1973 midtown vice map.

Some reviewers have referred to this in an apparently derogatory manner, saying it is a mere "coffee-table" book, to which one can only say that it would be a welcome addition to any New Yorker's coffee-table. It certainly won't satisfy ultra-serious cartographers or historians, but the quality of the writing and research is well beyond what is commonly found in so-called mere "coffee-table" books. In addition to the usual sources (Library of Congress, British Library, New-York Historical Society, New York Public Library), the authors have tracked down maps in archives in Spain, Italy, Holland, and perhaps most impressively, about a third of those presented in the book reside in private collections. Indeed, it's somewhat baffling that people complain about the size of the reproductions -- just be glad they were made available to be seen at all! Not to mention the practical limitations of reproduction: the original dimensions of most of the maps range from 12" x 18" to 90" x 135". These maps were made to cover walls, general headquarters planning tables, no book could possibly make them legible! In some cases, portions of maps are blown up for a detail view, but these don't reproduce very well. The original photos and scans simply don't support the detail and the results are pixilated. This small production problem aside, the book is beautifully produced from a typographic and color standpoint, and is well worth having or giving as a gift to your favorite Manhattanite.

I was pleasantly suprised by the range of the maps sellected and the concise analysis of each one.

I only wish I had the access to the maps that Augustyn and Cohen had in the preparation of this book. Unfortunately for the reader, these maps are not in the book. What's in "Manhattan in Maps" are photographs of maps which in the case all but 6 of the maps are reproduced in a manner which lets you see the outline of Manhattan and no detail in the map whatsoever. There should have been someone involved in the production of the book who was familiar with other books of this type and included for each map some section enlarged to actual size. Some of the maps featured appeared to have been reduced 10x such as a 72 inch map shrunk to 7 inches. The text is wonderful. If the book is every republished, I hope the editors take heed of the reviews here.