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New York State. SOTZMANN, D.F./EBELING, C.D. New York. entworfen von D.F. Sotzmann. [Hamburg: 1799] 19 ¼ x 25 ½ inches. Original outline & wash coloring; a few stains, including ink or blood? stain lower right, edge soiling & a split, still excellent overall with a strong impression. A very attractive example of a rare map of New York State of remarkable quality for its period. Sotzmann's state maps are "among the rarest of cartographic Americana for the closing decade of the eighteenth century." "Only a small number of American collections, among them the Library of Congress and Harvard University, have copies of all ten published maps" (Ristow). This map was one of only 10 produced by Ebeling and Sotzmann out of a proposed 18 for the Atlas von Nordamerika, which was to supplement a multi-volume history of America. Since the atlas was never completed, the maps were published separately accounting for their rarity. The maps are also marked by a precision and elegance in their engraving that far exceeded that of the maps they were based on. The best information on this map’s sources and the circumstances of its creation can be found in David Allen’s excellent online study of the history of the cartography of New York State (see url below), which we quote in full: “Possibly the best and most intriguing, and certainly the most detailed, map of New York to appear during the 1790s is the so-called "Ebeling-Sotzmann" map, which was published in 1799.[105] This map was created in Germany, and is the result of the collaboration between a teacher at the Hamburg Gymnasium, Christoph Daniel Ebeling, and the Berlin-based engraver and cartographer Daniel Friedrich Sotzmann. Considerable research has been devoted to this collaboration, and it seems likely that Ebeling is primarily responsible for the content of the map, although Sotzmann actually drew it. Ebeling was interested in America, and he devoted himself to writing a multi-volume geography and history of the United States. His map of New York was one of seven maps of American states in a series accompanying that work. As might be expected, given his geographical situation, Ebeling had a difficult time gathering materials for his map, and went so far as to complain about his difficulties in a letter to Noah Webster: "As to New York I am very much at a loss, as I have not but Gathier's [Sauthier's?], Pownall's, Ratzer's (?) maps and one sheet of De Witt's. If there is published any more, I should be extremely rejoiced in getting it. Carey's map I have also, but it is very defective."[106] According to Ralph H. Brown, Ebeling indicated elsewhere that the principal sources for his map of New York were De Witt and Abraham Bradley's 1796 post-road map.[107] Brown correctly observes that Ebeling's map was a collation, but Ebeling's scattered statements about his sources should not be accepted at their face value. In fact, Ebeling's map bears a fairly close overall resemblance Samuel Lewis's map of New York, which appeared in Matthew Carey's atlas, although that must be the map Ebeling described as "very defective." However, Ebeling's map contains a good deal of additional information, most of which is clearly copied from De Witt's "1st Sheet", from Sauthier, and from Pownall's edition of Samuel Holland's map. French place names along the shore of Lake Ontario suggest that Ebeling also borrowed from eighteenth century French sources. It is remarkable that Ebeling's map is as good as it is. This type of collation from multiple sources often leads to cartographic disasters, especially when the compiler is on another continent. Through careful research, Ebeling somehow managed to select the best sources and to avoid glaring errors. The main peculiarity of the map is its strange mixture of outdated and very recent place names. All things considered, the Ebeling-Sotzmann map is "better" (i.e. more detailed and accurate) than any other map of the state that appeared between 1783 and 1802. It would not be long, however, before it would be surpassed.” http://www.dyasites.com/maps/nysbook/Contents.htm (Allen, D. Y.) The Mapping of New York State: A Study in the History of Cartography; Ristow, W. American Maps and Mapmakers, pp. 169-177.
Price: $7,500.00