Avery's New York City Atlases
| Avery Library is delighted to announce the installation of oversize shelving for one of our most important and heavily used resources. New atlas shelving has been installed in Room 222, commonly known as the Graduate Reading Room, located in the southwest corner of the 200 level. The atlases are now found on the east side of Room 222, conveniently located next to a large reading table. |
Click on any image to enlarge.
Battery Park, 1890s.
Atlas of the City of New York.
3rd ed. New York: E. Robinson, 1890-1893.
(Avery AA735 N4 R56 FF) |
West Village, 1890s.
Atlas of the City of New York.
3rd ed. New York: E. Robinson, 1890-1893.
(Avery AA735 N4 R56 FF) |
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Dating from the 19th and 20th centuries these historic maps serve as a critical source of information for students of historic preservation, urban history, urban planning, and architecture. Many of these atlases were intended for fire insurance purposes. Therefore they document structural details, building materials, building footprints, building type and other information crucial to the study of New York City’s built environment over the past two centuries.
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Bloomingdale Insane Asylum,
future site of Morningside Heights
campus, ca. 1891.
Atlas of the City of New York,
Manhattan Island.
Philadelphia: G.W. Bromley, 1891.
(Avery AA9127 N4 B781 FF) |
Morningside Campus, early years, ca. 1898.
Atlas of the City of New York,
borough of Manhattan.
Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley, 1898-1899.
(Avery AA9127 N4 B78 FF) |
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Morningside campus, ca. 1927.
Land book of the Borough of Manhattan,
City of New York.
New York: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1927.
(Avery AA9127 N4 B782 1927a F)
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Avery Library continues to receive, to this day, the important, annually updated New York City atlases universally known as the “Sanborn Maps.”
The current land book for Manhattan is kept on Reserves (Avery AA9127 N4 Sa535 FF), and the current land books for Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are available on microfiche only and are located in the cabinets behind the Service Desk (Avery Fx3 4118).
For a complete list of Avery’s collection please see:
New York City Atlases & Land Books held in Avery Library
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For further information on the history and use of these kinds of atlases see:
Keller, William B.“Collecting and Using Fire Insurance and Real Estate Atlases: An Individual Perspective.” Art Reference Services Quarterly, vol.1, no.3, 1993, p.31-48. (N1 Ar7715)
Keister, Kim. “Charts of Change [Sanborn Map Co.].”
Historic Preservation, 1993 May-June, v.45, n.3, p.42-49,91-92. (Avery AB H623)
Oswald, Diane L. Fire insurance maps: their history and applications. College Station, Tex.: Lacewing Press, 1997. (Avery AA2000 Os9)
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Morningside campus, ca. 1955.
Manhattan land book of the City of New York.
New York: G.W. Bromley, 1959
(originally published in 1955).
(Avery AA9127 N4 B782 1955 F)
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Morningside campus, 1962.
Manhattan land book of the City of New York.
New York: G.W. Bromley, 1962
(originally published in 1955).
(Avery AA9127 N4 B782 1955 F c.2) |
Columbia University's current Morningside campus, 2007.
Sanborn Manhattan land book of the City of New York.
Weehawen, NJ: TRW REDI Propery Data, 2007.
(Avery Reserves AA9127 N4 Sa535 FF) |
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