Donald Hall Youth Hand-Drawn Ink Map of Greater New York (1910)

Original pen and ink hand-drawn map of Greater New York drafted and signed by Donald Hall in 1910 at age twelve. — Donald Hall Youth Hand-Drawn Ink Map of Greater New York (1910) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

An extraordinary early document of cartographic prodigy from the Donald A. Hall Estate Collection: a pen-and-ink hand-drawn map of Greater New York, inscribed and dated in script at the bottom: "Donald Hall. 1910." Drafted when Hall was approximately twelve years old, the map accurately outlines Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Richmond (Staten Island), the Hudson River, and the Atlantic approaches. The precision linework, lettering, and spatial control provide evidence of Hall's mechanical aptitude seventeen years before he engineered the Spirit of St. Louis.