[Manhattan Island] Two original 1848 manuscript real estate maps detailing the plots owned by Jacob Harsen's estate

Stephen COLBERT. - Jacob HARSEN (1750-1835, landowner on Manhattan Island). - John J. SERRELL (surveyor).

Two original manuscript real estate maps detailing the plots owned by Jacob Harsen's estate, situated between 54th and 53rd street and Broadway and Ninth Avenue, both titled: "Map of the Real Estate in the 12th Ward of the City of New York belonging to the Estate of Jacob Harsen, decd. Surveyed July 1848 by John J. Serrell City Surveyor" wove paper, pen, ink and wash plans, edged with cloth ribbon, backed onto linen, rolled. Both with light creasing, toning, and some light damage with small losses, edging defective (see images).

Comprising:

1. 'Map of the Real Estate...', 26 1/8 x 19 1/2 inches, 9th to 8th Ave, between 54th and 53rd.

2. 'Map of the Real Estate...', 25 1/2 x 18 5/8 inches, 8th Ave to 'Bloomingdale Road ' [i.e. Broadway], between 54th and 53rd.

The present maps represent one of Jacob Harsen's  subsidiary holdings, and cover an area that now includes the the Midtown North Police Precinct building, the Midtown Community Court , as well as Studio 54 and the Ed Sullivan Theater (the home of 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert).  

The main Harsen holding was originally a 94-acre farm, bought for £450 by Cornelius Dyckman in 1701, centered on what is now Broadway and 73rd Street. Dyckman's daughter Cornelia married Jacob Harsen, and the farm eventually passed into Harsen family ownership.

John J. Serrell is the eldest of three brothers who were surveyors or engineers with official connections to New York City. The New York Historical Society hold a number of his other surveys of the city.