Burr Map of New York State 1839 — Antique Map Print

The story of this map

David H. Burr had already mapped New York county by county as the state’s official topographer, so when he compiled his American Atlas at the end of the 1830s, published in London by John Arrowsmith, the New York sheet was the work of someone who knew the ground. This 1839 map is that sheet: large, detailed and made for the age of the mail coach and the canal boat.

Its title says what it is for. Every post office and post road is marked, the Erie Canal runs its full length from Albany to Buffalo with the lateral canals branching off, and the earliest railroads appear as fresh lines across the counties. The counties are washed in colour, the Hudson, the Finger Lakes and the Adirondack country are handsomely drawn, and along one edge a long inset shows New York City, Brooklyn and Jersey City as they were when Manhattan barely reached past 14th Street.

It is a map for upstate farmhouses and Hudson Valley kitchens, for Brooklyn apartments and Manhattan offices, and for anyone who wants to find the village their family came from. It belongs to our Antique Maps of US States collection and pairs well with the Scull map of Pennsylvania and the 1795 map of Maine.

Printed to order on archival matte paper and framed in the country of delivery.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Burr Map of New York State, 1839: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration plan: crop scan margins, balance colour cast and levels while keeping the paper tone, remove library stamps and scanner artefacts if present, gentle sharpening. No repainting of original content.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

Is this an original antique map?

No. It is a new archival print of a restored high-resolution scan of the 1839 map held by the Library of Congress. We never sell originals.

What is actually printed on this map?

The whole State of New York with its counties in colour, every post office and post road, the Erie Canal and the other canals, the first railroads, the Hudson, the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks, plus a long inset of New York City, Brooklyn and Jersey City along one edge.

How big is the map on the sheet?

The original is about 91 x 124 cm (36 x 49 in), landscape. Our prints run from 12 x 18 in to 24 x 36 in; at the larger sizes the post-office names are readable.

Does it come framed?

Choose it. Every map comes as an archival matte paper print, a stretched canvas, or framed in black, white or natural oak. Framed prints are made and framed in the country of delivery, ready to hang.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Pairs well with

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print

Scull Map of Pennsylvania, 1770

William Scull · Library of Congress

$129 24×18 in framed · paper from $35

Antique Map of Maine, 1795

Osgood Carleton · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

The discount is applied automatically at checkout when two or more framed prints are in the cart.

Size	Metric	Best for
16×12 in	41×30 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
18×12 in	46×30 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
20×16 in	51×41 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
24×16 in	61×41 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
24×18 in	61×46 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
30×20 in	76×51 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
30×24 in	76×61 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
32×24 in	81×61 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
36×24 in	91×61 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
40×30 in	102×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
48×32 in	122×81 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office

Burr Map of New York State, 1839

Before and after

Restoration notes

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print