Plan of City of New York by Bernard Ratzer

Original title: Plan of the City of New York in North America: Surveyed in the years 1766 & 1767. It was owned by George III, King of Great Britain (1738-1820). Source: British Library.

Surveyed and laid down by Bernard Ratzer, "Lieut^t. in His Majestys 60^th. or Royal American Reg^t.". Engraved by Thomas Kitchin (1718-1784). Dedicated to Sir Henry Moore (1713-1769) "Captain General and Governour in Chiel, In and Over His Majesty's Province of New York". Relief is shown by shading. References and enlargement of the center are below.

Bernard Ratzer served as assistant engineer in January, 1767, during the war with France. Ratzer became a captain in 1773.

The map is undated but it is believed to be published about 1770 based on an advertising for its sale by publisher Kitchin on October 15, 1770, in the New-York Mercury, the insertion reading: "To be sold by the Printer hereof,

A Plan of the City of New-York, and its Invirons, surveyed and laid down in the Years 1766, and 1767, with a South Prospect of the same, taken from the Governor's Island. In this Plan is taken in Powlis-Hook, Red-Hook, the Long Island Shore, and the Islands in our Bay &c. &c."

But, before that, what seems to be an early issue of this map was announced on August 21, 1769, in the The New-York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury:

"Just published, and to be sold by H. Gaine,

(Price, 16 s. coloured, and 8 s. plain)

A Plan of the City of New-York, Dedicated to His Excellency Sir Henry Moore, Bart. The above Plan is done on a Sheet of Imperial Paper, the Streets laid down very exact, with the Names of each, the Wards, Wharfs and all the publick Buildings in and about the City properly distinguished, and the whole carried considerably farther than Corlear’s Hook."

On January 4, 1773, the same Hugh Gaine announced in the same newspaper and in subsequent issues: "Ratzer’s large and small Plans of the City of New York, to be sold very cheap by the Printer hereof."

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The following are comments from Stokes (Iconography of Manhattan Island, ...1915) about maps based on Ratzer's survey:

Added to the fact that the first newspaper advertisement undoubtedly refers to the Ratzen Plan [as Stokes called the map with an engraver’s error, "Ratzen" instead of Ratzer], its priority to the Ratzer Map is apparent on a careful examination of the plans themselves. For instance, the Methodist Meeting, which was completed in 1768, is not shown on the Ratzen, but is found on the Ratzer Map. Beekman Street, incorrectly written ‘‘Deekman’s” Street on the Ratzen, has been corrected on the Ratzer; and this is also true of Cliff Street, which on the Ratzen Plan is written ‘‘Clist” Street. “Wyne Coop” Street, on the Ratzen Plan, has been changed on the Ratzer Map to the more modern appellation of Bridge Street. Many unnamed streets in the neighbourhood of Delancey Square, called Great Square on the Ratzen Plan, are designated by name upon the Ratzer Map. We know from Major Holland’s Plan of the City in 1776 that as late as that year Delancey Square retained its name.

This last-mentioned plan, which was engraved for Sayer & Bennett and issued by them in August, 1776, as an inset to a large map entitled “The Provinces of New York and New Jersey with part of Pensilvania” (etc.), was reproduced in Valentine’s Manual for 1863. The Map and Plan were also included in Jefferys’ American Atlas of 1778. The ‘‘Ropewalk,” shown on the Ratzen Plan, extending along the line of Division Street, has disappeared on the Ratzer Map, and Judith Street, on the former, has, on the latter, been merged in Anne Street. According to Post (Old Streets, etc., p. 25), “‘Judith” was never accepted by the city authorities as the name of this street and was in use only for a brief time. Many other points might be cited, indicating the priority of the Ratzen Plan over the Ratzer Map.

In the author’s collection, there is a colored copy of the Ratzen Plan, which once formed part of a small collection of maps belonging originally to Montresor. On this copy of the Ratzen Plan are laid down, in manuscript, a number of fortifications, probably those erected during the Stamp Act Riots, and referred to by Montresor in his Journals. They are found on the Battery and scattered all through the city. On this plan is also shown, in manuscript, the extension of the East River front at Hunter’s Key, which extension was ‘‘allowed” in 1767 (Minutes of the Common Council).

The priority of the Montresor to the Ratzen Plan is clearly proved by a comparison of the two. Note, for instance, that on the Montresor Plan “Delancey’s Great Square” has not yet been laid out, nor Division Street opened. It was not until October 31, 1765 (Liber Deeds), that Rutgers and De Lancey agreed on the division line between their properties. The street was in part laid out during the succeeding year, for it shows on the Ratzen Plan of 1766-7, and is laid out in its entirety on the Ratzer Map. Note, also, that streets have not been cut through the “‘overflow” in the Montresor Plan.

The New Presbyterian Meeting, in the Vineyard, begun in the autumn of 1766 and completed by January 1, 1768, is not shown on the Montresor, although it is found on both the Ratzen and Ratzer Plans. This is also true of the Theatre on John Street, finished in December, 1767; the new Dutch Church on William Street, between Ann and Fair (Fulton), the corner-stone of which was laid on July 2, 1767, and which was dedicated on May 25, 1769; the German Lutheran Church on the corner of King George (William) and Frankfort Streets, established in 1767, etc.

The Ratzen and Ratzer Plans are the most accurate and reliable which we have of New York at this period, and are even to-day much used in searching titles,

Reproduction: Valentine’s Manual, 1854, Frontispiece.

On the right, enlargement of the center from a black and white reproduction of the same map, published in London by Jefferys & Faden, in January 1776.