The Manual of the Corporation of the City of San Francisco…

Description

Two Maps That Defined a City’s Future.

A rare survival, this is a fine example of the 1852 Manual of the Corporation of the City of San Francisco, containing both its original maps, which are among the earliest obtainable maps of the city. 

The first map, simply titled ‘Map of San Francisco,’ was printed by B.F. Butler, who had also printed City Surveyor William Eddy’s ‘Official map of the City of San Francisco’ the previous year. The present map shares much with Eddy’s 1851 ‘Red Line’ map, including the numbering of wards, blocks, and lots, the tracing of the original water line, and the inclusion of planned lots on areas of future landfill. But it differs in orientation, appearing here with west instead of north at the top. Butler’s map also notes the location of nine public institutions (post office, customs house, jail, etc.) and thirteen churches, as well as marking ‘lately planked streets.’ Some other minor additions are evident, such as a note near the ‘Government Reserve’ at the waterfront of Washington and Jackson streets, where the government was considering the construction of a canal. 

The second map, rarer and even more significant than the city map, is titled ‘Map of the Northern Portion of San Francisco County’ and dated January 1853, despite the book’s publication date being 1852. It was prepared by County of San Francisco surveyor Clement Humphreys and also printed by Butler. Humphreys is credited, and his office compiled available surveys, but the composition of the map appears to have been undertaken by Polish-born surveyor Alexander Zakreski (1799-1866), a military topographer, draughtsman, and lithographer who fled his native Poland to France and then, in 1848, to California. Zakreski is perhaps best known for producing one of the earliest maps of the city, based on Eddy’s surveys, but the present map is among the earliest and most comprehensive to depict the relationship between the growing city of San Francisco and its hinterland, still composed of ranchos. Its importance is reflected in the fact that the Board of Supervisors rushed to have the manuscript original lithographed for inclusion in the Manual of the Corporation of the City of San Francisco.

Historical Context

At this time, the County of San Francisco was larger than it is today, extending beyond San Bruno Mountain into what is now San Mateo County. At the same time, much of what is now part of the City and County of San Francisco was unincorporated ranchland, while the city was confined to the modern city’s northeast corner (the city lines of 1850 and 1851 are both labeled here). The various ranchos around the city are labeled, vara sizes are with their property lines traced and owners and sizes documented, along with some smaller properties whose size in varas is noted. The collection of military buildings in the Presidio, along with several paths and roads, a nearby telegraph office, Mission Delores, and an abbey in the vicinity of today’s Balboa Park, and multiple lagunas are also recorded, along with illustrated elevation (the heights of Telegraph and Russian Hills listed) and terrain. A dashed line represents the point 2 leagues south of the Presidio. This feature, as with the map overall, is particularly important because it reflects the City of San Francisco’s already growing ambitions to claim the entire northern part of the peninsula. 

Publication History and Census

The Manual of the Corporation of the City of San Francisco was published by G.K. Fitch & Co. in 1852, with both maps printed by B.F. Butler; the second map, compiled by County Surveyor Clement Humphreys and drafted by Alexander Zakreski, bears the date January 1853 despite the volume’s stated publication year.

Both of these maps and the volume are rare. In terms of institutional collections, the entire book is cataloged at fourteen institutions in the OCLC (11791173), though several of these appear to refer to digitized rather than physical examples. At the same time, the individual maps are also sometimes separately cataloged at a handful of institutions (often those also holding the book, cataloging both the book and maps for good measure). 

The individual maps are sometimes sold separately from the book, but, in any event, are very rarely offered for sale. The ‘Map of the Northern Portion of San Francisco County’ has come to market occasionally in recent years, with one example being bought and resold several times among map and book dealers. However, a complete example of the Manual with both maps is exceedingly rare, with only one example appearing at market in the past forty years.

Furthermore, our example has significant provenance, having belonged to Alderman (i.e., Supervisor) C. O. West, who served on the Board of Supervisors between October 1853 and October 1854.