This month marks the 373rd anniversary of the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam’s (AKA New York City) incorporation as a city. This process provided municipal rights as a city, and some degree of independence from the broader Netherland’s colonial authority.

I recently spotted a fascinating early 20th century book on New York City’s early history that I had actually used as a source for a paper on the Dutch settlement while working on an undergraduate degree in History Education many decades ago. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909, by Isaac Newton Stokes. Originally published between 1915 and 1928 by R.H. Dodd in New York City, the grand six volume set abounds with illustrations, maps, and documents compiled from public and private collections.