This is the most widely utilised sea chart for mariners in the eighteenth century as they navigated the difficult waters of New York Harbour. The Bay and Harbour itself bear numerous depth soundings and record the many reefs which caught out unsuspecting vessels. The chart notes numerous topographical details also including settlements such as ‘Brockland’ and the nearby Ferry serving New York. Newark is shown along with nearby ‘Schyler’s Copper Mine’. Similar industrial content includes the iron mill to the far left. Along the Long Island Sound is West Chester and Flushing. Manhattan itself includes the fort at the Battery and prosperous city of New York along with ‘Blomindoll’ and ‘Harlam’. On the opposite shore of the East River is ‘Bushwyk’.

One of the earliest records found of Mark Tiddeman has him conducting surveys as master of the ‘Tartar’ a Royal Navy ship from 1725-28. Indeed, his logbook has been identified in the National Archives in England. It records the inspection of ships encountered indicating a larger role than just surveying. His published surveying work includes a noted chart of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. After returning to England he undertook surveys of the Highlands of Scotland under Admiral Wagner. I have also identified in the National Archives a will of a Mark Tiddeman dated 16 June 1740 describing him as Master of His Majesty’s Ship ‘Namure’. It seems highly probable that this is one and the same person. In 1743 it appears he was a Lieutenant in the Navy being cited in an account of Admiral Lestock. A Captain Tiddeman commanded the flagship ‘Superb’ in the Siege of Louisburg in 1745.

The chart was first introduced in the ‘English Pilot Fourth Book’ in 1732 at first without recognising Mark Tiddeman in the title. A second state issued shortly after corrected this. This is an example of the third state with the altered imprint of John Mount and Thomas Page introduced and many worn lines retouched for the 1773 edition. Its last appearance was in the 1781 issue. The first and third states are much rarer. Provenance: New England auction July 2003; private English collection. Augustyn and Cohen ((1997) ‘Manhattan in Maps’, pp. 66-7; Haskell (1933) ‘Manhattan Maps’, nos. 254-6; Seller & Van Ee (1981) ‘Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies’, no. 1220; Verner (1957) ‘A Carto-Bibliographical Study of The English Pilot The Fourth Book’, pp. 51-3 & 65-8.