“Buffalo in 1813” Map Returns from Conservator

Buffalo in 1813 after treatment

Buffalo in 1813 before treatment

The Rare Book Room map, “Buffalo in 1813″ hand drawn by Charles J. North from the original map created by local merchant Juba Storrs just prior to the burning of Buffalo in December of 1813, has returned from our conservator and looks cleaner and crisper than it has in many years.

The original map, known as “Plat of Buffalo Village as it is at this date, April, 1813” has been extant for over 100 years, and similar reproductions on a much smaller scale are held by the Buffalo History Museum and Cornell University Library. Our copy measures 65X51 centimeters, or approximately 1 and a half by 2 feet, and will be on display in the Grosvenor Room this December to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the burning of Buffalo during the War of 1812.

The redrawn map was made in 1917 by Charles North, a poet and former treasurer of the First Presbyterian Society, and he has added the present day names of some of the streets and listed the number of members of the First Presbyterian Church at the time.

Chas J. North, 1917

This truly historical artifact has been preserved thanks to a grant by the Greater Hudson Heritage Network and can be viewed and studied by patrons of the library for generations to come.

A Soldier’s Scrapbook

Selections from a scrapbook compiled in Buffalo by Thelma Hildebrand for her husband, Private Nelson Fischer, 1941-1942. The book documents Nelson’s travels as a soldier, and includes napkins, matchbooks, telegrams, greeting cards, and even bars of soap.

Phase Two of the Artists’ Books Inspired by Science Books Exhibit

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The second installation of artists’ books alongside the science texts that inspired them is on display in the Central Library’s Grosvenor Rare Book Display Room. In this phase of the exhibit artists’ books and science first editions pairings include:

• FAULT LINES BY DOUG BEUBE, 2003, with BRITANNIA: OR, THE KINGDOM OF ENGLAND AND DOMINION OF WALES, ACTUALLY SURVEY’D BY JOHN OGILBY, 1698.
• BERNOULLI’S EQUATION FOR UNSTEADY FLOW BY AMANDINE NABARRA-PIOMELLI, 2008, with ARS CONJECTANDI, OPUS POSTHUMUM. BY JAKOB BERNOULLI, 1713.
• DE RERUM BY TIM FRERICHS, 2013, with PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY BY (3 VOLUMES) BY SIR CHARLES LYELL, 1830-33.
• POWERBOOK #2 BY RICHARD KEGLER, 1996, with BIBLE, OLD TESTAMENT [LEAF FROM BOOK OF JOB] PRINTED BY JOHANNES GUTENBERG, C. 1450-1455.