Anonymous
1890

Surveyors manuscript trace plat of Little Nahant Island, Massachusetts

Sketch plan of lots at Little Nahant.

DESCRIPTION: Very rare unrecorded, manuscript surveyors' trace plat map of lots on Little Nahant Island, Massachusetts which lies north-east of Boston in Nahant Bay. The pen and ink trace, on supple surveyor's "tracing cloth" would have been used as a master to create blueprint copies.

Carries pencil surveyor's collation number 2013. Includes a fine late 19th century compass rose at bottom right. Estimated date ca. 1885.

Anonymous trace map but stylistically similar to those of W. H. Whitney from the 1890's.

The illustration and quotation on this trade card were not unique to John Cosgrove but rather part of a stock design widely used by 19th-century printers who specialized in producing humorous or sentimental advertising cards. Lithographers commonly kept catalogs of ready-made comic scenes—like this seaside mother-and-child vignette with the line “It’s a wise child that knows its own mother at the sea side”—which merchants could customize by adding their own business imprint below. In this case, the printer simply inserted Cosgrove’s name, trade description, and Poydras Market address into the blank advertising panel at the bottom, allowing a small New Orleans fish dealer to benefit from professionally printed imagery at a fraction of the cost of commissioning original artwork.

CREATOR: Anonymous

PUBLICATION DATE: 1890

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: Nahant Bay

CONDITION: Very good. Clean, bright, without issues.

COLORING: None

ENGRAVER:

SIZE: 12 " x 9 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 13

PRICE: $750

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