First map depicting only New Jersey to be printed and published in America • 1784

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“State of New Jersey” map (58.5 x 28.5 cm) facing verso of final printed leaf of The Petitions and Memorials of the Proprietors of West and East-Jersey, to the Legislature of New-Jersey New-York: Printed by Shepard Kollock, no. 156, Water-Street., [1784] Call number: Ex 1174.271.2 c.1. Copy with ownership signatures of John Rutherfurd (1760-1840), who compiled the text of Petitions and Memorials.
❧ Joseph J. Felcone in his New Jersey Books 1698-1800 (1992) covers the publishing history of this book (entry 22). He states “It is the first map depicting only New Jersey to be printed and published in America.” Alas, the identity of the mapmaker is not known, but there is evidence to suggest it was John Hills. As of 1991, the original copper plate survived and owned by Howard Sereda of Edison, NJ.