John M. Delaney

John Delaney’s Nova Cæsarea: A Cartographic Record of the Garden State, 1666–1888 features a collection of New Jersey maps. This book was a companion to the exhibit of the same name that Delaney curated for Princeton University, both in their main gallery and online. He and the Princeton University Library created this exhibition in commemoration of the sesquarcentennial of New Jersey’s naming following the British annexation of the colony from the Netherlands in 1664. The title itself comes from one of the first coins minted in New Jersey.

Like both the physical and online exhibits, Delaney’s work begins with an introduction about New Jersey’s founding heritage and a discussion about land surveying. From there, he features historical background maps including coastal charts, road maps, and state maps. The second main section examines wall maps and atlases of the State of New Jersey. The largest section of the book focuses on maps from each of New Jersey’s counties. Some of these depict the entire county and others highlight specific areas, farms, roadways, or other developments. Nova Cæsarea focuses on changes in the land, to borrow a phrase from historian William Cronon. Delaney’s historical interpretation combined with high-resolution scans and photographs of the maps from Princeton’s collection as well as inset images of historic cartographic equipment will interest those seeking to learn more about historic mapmaking and the history of European colonization in New Jersey.

At times, the book reproduces colonial violence. For example, it portrays the future State of New Jersey from the coast heading inland as though the land were largely unoccupied prior to Europeans’ arrival. Greater discussion of the Lenape people and their understanding of the landscape would have provided a more balanced approach. That caveat in mind, the mapmakers were generally middle-class or upper-middle-class Euro-American men, so the historical record reproduces their biases.

Those interested in New Jersey’s history and the history of mapmaking in the United States will find this book of particular interest. The book beautifully reproduces the maps in full-color. Also included in this volume is a fold-out copy of Thomas Gordon’s A Map of the State of New Jersey from 1828 in a pocket located in the back cover. Delaney’s Nova Cæsarea is worth picking up for anyone in New Jersey or with a connection to the state.… (lisätietoja)