Part 17. Maps Engraved by Cornelius Tiebout
An observation about Cornelius Tiebout's maps is that their dates of first publication all precede his move from New York City to Philadelphia in 1800. The maps, with dates ranging from 1789 to 1799, are described here, with images in the carousel below. The image shown here of Tiebout's map of Spain and Portugal also appears in the carousel, where it can be zoomed repeatedly to show details.
17.1 Plan for the City of New York
This map appeared in New York City Directory for 1789, and was reproduced in directories for 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1795, and 1796. Copies of these directories can be viewed at the New York Public Library. Tiebout's Plan for the City of New York is also shown and discussed in Part 1.
17.2 Christopher Colles's 1789 Survey of the Roads
Although the title page of Colles's Survey of the Roads of the United States of America is signed by Tiebout, the 83 maps themselves show no signatures. It seems likely that Tiebout engraved these maps or supervised the work of Colles's daughter, Eliza. Possibly Colles himself had a hand in engraving some of the maps. (That he was an engraver is established by a few signed pieces that appeared in the New York Magazine beginning after Tiebout's last engraving in the Magazine—before Tiebout moved to London late in 1793.)For details regarding Christopher and Eliza Colles, see Part 1. See also Lloyd W. Griffin, "Christopher Colles and His Two American Map Series" (The Papers of the Bibliographic Society of America vol. 48, no. 2, 1954, pp. 170-182); available at JSTOR. Griffin describes the context in which Colles's Survey became the first American road atlas.
The titles of the maps are listed below in Part 17.2 Appendix. Another collection of these maps can be viewed at the Library of Congress, where it is noted that "maps no. 34-39 are believed to never have been engraved as they are wanting in all known copies."
17.3 Southern States, 1789
The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment, of the Independence of the United States of America; Including an Account of the Late War; and of the Thirteen Colonies, from their Origin to that Period is a three-volume work by William Gordon (1728-1807). It was first published in London in 1788. The first American edition was published in 1789 in New York by Hodge, Allen, and Campbell. The New York edition includes two maps engraved by Cornelius Tiebout.According to the British Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Gordon was born in England and was ordained as an independent minister in 1754. He moved to America in 1770. During his fifteen years in America he received the Doctor of Divinity degree from College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Also during his American years, he wrote most of his History. On 24 September 1788, Gordon wrote to George Washington regarding the History. The letter, with appended historical notes and a biographical sketch of the Rev. Gordon, can be read here: Founders Online.
The full name of Tiebout's map of southern states in Gordon's History is New Map of the States of Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, Including the Spanish Provinces West and East Florida, From the latest Surveys. (Commas have been inserted.)
17.4 Northern States, 1789
Continuing from 17.3, the full name of Tiebout's map of northern states is New Map of the States of Pensylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, Including Nova Scotia and Canada, From the latest Authorities. (Commas have been inserted. Regarding the spelling P-e-n-s-y-l-v-a-n-i-a, see Part 1.)
17.5 New Discoveries from Lake Superior to Cook's River, 1790
Shown below in the carousel is the contents page of the December 1790 issue of the New York Magazine, including the words "Embellished with an accurate Map of New Discoveries from Lake Superior to Cook's River." Engraved by Cornelius Tiebout, the map appears without an accompanying article. Actually, the article, "Descriptions of the Country from Lake Superior to Cook's River", had appeared in a British magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine in March 1790, pp. 179-199, as an extract of a letter from an unidentified person of Quebec, Canada, to a Friend in London. The extract describes the explorations of Captain James Cook (1728-1779). A representative "discovery" follows:There is no wood to the Northward of Slave Lake; there is only a little low brush, which is filled with a species of buffaloes, that have no tails, but have long hair on the backs of their thighs and legs, which resembles a tail, and they are smaller than the common buffaloes.It was more than a century later that these far northern buffalo were given a scientific name, by Samuel Nicholson Rhoads (186201959) in "Notes on living and extinct species of American bovidae" (Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia vol. 49, pp. 483-502). The current—since 2005— taxon for this mammal is Bos bison athabascae. The common name is "wood bison" or "wood buffalo". These animals are classified as a threatened species, protected to some extent in the Wood Buffalo National Park. See also Wikipedia: Wood bison and BC Species & Ecosystems Explorer.
Another "discovery" described in the article and labeled on the map engraved by Tiebout is the river that was named Cook's River, some years after Captain Cook "traced the river as high as latitude 61 degrees 30 minutes north, in hopes of finding some communication with the Polar Sea."
17.6 Newark to Paulas Hook, 1791
The inscription on this map is transcribed as follows:A MAP of the Ground & different routs from Newark to Paulas Hook. Surveyed by order of John Neilson, Samuel Tuthill, William Maxwell, Robert Kemble & John Pinlard, Esq. Commissioners for erecting Bridges over Hackinsack & Possaick Rivers—by Casimir Th. Goerck. Feb 1791.The drawing of the map, as a basis for Tiebout's engraving, was by Casimir Theodor Goerck, one of the official surveyors for New York City. The map was published in the New York Magazine, July 1791. The map and two-page accompanying article can be viewed here: NYM Volume 1791. (Modern spellings: r-o-u-t-e-s and P-a-u-l-u-s.)
17.7 First Sheet of De Witt's Map of New York State [1792?]
Simeon De Witt (1756-1834) served as Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army, led by George Washington. He was also Surveyor General of the State of New York from 1784 to 1834. Cornelius Tiebout was the engraver of the First Sheet of De Witt's Map of New York State, published about 1792. The map shows locations of Indian reservations and land ceded to Massachusetts. No further sheets—in what was intended to be a series—were published, although the 1792 first sheet served as a model for De Witt's map of New York published in 1802.17.8 The Seven United Provinces of Holland, 1793
One of the many books that had been repeatedly published in several different editions in England before it was published in America is A New Geographical, Historical and Commerical Grammar and Present State of the Several Kingdoms of the World: Containing I. The figures, motions and distances of the planets, according to the Newtonian system, and the latest observations &hellips;, which are added, I. A geographical index, with the names of places alphabetically arranged. II. A table of the coins of all nations, and their value in English money. III. A chronological table of remakable events, from the creation to the present time, by William Guthrie (1708-1770). See also list of online books by William Guthrie.The first American edition was published in two volumes by Mathew Caray in Philadelphia during 1794-1795. Although Cornelius Tiebout was living in London during 1794-1795, he had already engraved three of the European maps that were published with the date 28 January 1794 by Carey under the title General Atlas for the Present War; the title page appears in the carousel below. These maps also appear in Carey's General Atlas, dated 1 May 1796. One of three maps is identified on the 1794 title page: "The Seven United Provinces of Holland, Friesland, Groningen, Overyssel, Gelders, Utrecht, and Zealand. Engraved by Tiebout."
17.9 Spain and Portugal, 1793
(See 17.8.)17.10 Italy and Sardinia, 1793
(See 17.8.)17.11 The State of Massachusetts, 1799
17.12 The State of New Hampshire, 1799
17.13 The State of Vermont, 1799
Cornelius Tiebout's uncle Dr. Thomas Young, is credited with the naming of Vermont. See Renwick K. Caldwell, "The Man Who Named Vermont," Vermont History XXVI (October 1958) 294-300.17.2 Appendix: List of Maps in Colles's Survey of the Roads
The David Rumsey Map Collection presents an Index to the Plates in Christopher Colles's Survey of the Roads . Here's how it works: each of the 83 road-maps in the Survey covers about 12 miles, and each of these lengths matches a map number. When you click a number, the result is an enlarged stretch of the corresponding road, as listed here and shown in the carousel below.
Map 1. New York to Stratford
Map 2. New York to Stratford
Map 3. New York to Stratford
Map 4. New York to Stratford
Map 5. New York to Stratford
Map 6. New York to Stratford
Map 7. New York to Stratford
Map 8. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 9. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 10. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 11. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 12. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 13. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 14. New York to Poughkeepsie
Map 15. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 16. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 17. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 18. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 19. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 20. Stratford to Poughkeepsie
Map 21. Poughkeepsie to Albany
Map 22. Poughkeepsie to Albany
Map 23. Poughkeepsie to Albany
Map 24. Poughkeepsie to Albany
Map 25. Poughkeepsie to Albany
Map 26. Albany to Newborough
Map 27. Albany to Newborough
Map 28. Albany to Newborough
Map 29. Albany to Newborough
Map 30. Albany to Newborough
Map 31. Albany to Newborough
Map 32. Albany to Newborough
Map 33. Albany to Newborough
Map 40. New York to Elizabethtown
Map 41. New York to Brunswick
Map 42. New York to Brunswick
Map 43. New York to Kingston
Map 44. New York to Trenton
Map 45. New York to Bristol
Map 45*. New York to Cranberry
Map 46. New York to Frankford
Map 46*. New York to Allen Town
Map 47. New York to Philadelphia
Map 47*. New York to Blackhorse
Map 48. New York to Mount Holly
Map 49. New York to Philadelphia
Map 50. New York to Philadelphia
Map 51. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 52. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 53. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 54. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 55. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 56. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 57. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 58. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 59. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 60. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 61. Philadelphia to Annapolis
Map 62. Philadelphia to Bladensburg
Map 63. Philadelphia to Bladensburg
Map 64. Annapolis to Alexandria
Map 65. Annapolis to Alexandria
Map 66. Annapolis to Dumfires
Map 67. Annapolis to Fredericksburg
Map 68. Annapolis to Fredericksburg
Map 69. Annapolis to Todd's Ordinary
Map 70. Annapolis to Bowling-green Ord'
Map 71. Annapolis to Head Lynchs Ord'
Map 72. Annapolis to Hanover Court-house
Map 73. Annapolis to Hanover & New castle
Map 74. Annapolis to New Kent Court-house
Map 75. Annapolis to New Kent Court-house
Map 76. Annapolis to Williamsburgh
Map 77. Annapolis to Williamsburgh
Map 78. Annapolis to York
Map 79. Annapolis to York
Map 80. Williamsburgh to Ayletts Warehouse
Map 81. Williamsburgh to Ayletts Warehouse
Map 82. Williamsburgh to Sneed's Ordinary
Map 83. Williamsburgh to Port-Royal
Map 84. Williamsburgh to Port-Royal
Map 85. Williamsburgh to Hooe's ferry
Map 86. Williamsburgh to Hooe's ferry
