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Brooklyn's Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush viewbook

Call Number

V1986.019

Date

1908, inclusive

Creator

Albertype Co (Role: Printer)
Ditmas, Charles A. (Role: Publisher)

Extent

0.04 Linear Feet in one folder.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The subject of the viewbook is the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, circa 1908.

Historical note

Flatbush, located in central Brooklyn, was one of the original six towns of Brooklyn. First settled by the Dutch in the 1630s, Flatbush was granted a patent of township by Director-General Peter Stuyvesant in 1652. Flatbush then came under British rule when the British invaded New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1664. During the 1670s, Flatbush fell back under Dutch control for a short time before returning again to British rule. The Town of Flatbush was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1894 and the City of Brooklyn was then incorporated into New York City in 1898. For most of its history, Flatbush was a rural community, populated with farms. Today, Flatbush is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn and is comprised of numerous smaller neighborhoods including Midwood, Ditmas Park, Fiske Terrace, Beverly Square (East and West), Prospect Park South, Caton Park, and Albemarle-Kenmore Terraces.

Viewbooks, also called souvenir albums or view albums, are books that contain commercially published groups of photographs depicting a place, activity, or event.

Sources:

  1. Getty Research Institute: Art & Architecture Thesaurus. "Viewbooks." Accessed July 6, 2011. http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=viewbooks&logic=AND¬e=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300026684
  2. Back, Adina and Francis Morrone. Flatbush Neighborhood History Guide. New York: Brooklyn Historical Society, 2008.
  3. Rawson, Elizabeth Reich and John Manbeck. "Flatbush." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, 457-458. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 2010

Biographical note

Charles A. Ditmas (1887-1938) was a descendent of the Lott family, one of the early Dutch families that settled in Brooklyn in the mid-1600s. Ditmas was a local historian and genealogist who, in these capacities, was a founder and president of the Kings County Historical Society, served as assistant librarian at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and wrote and published numerous genealogies of Brooklyn families and histories of local places and events. Ditmas focused his work primarily on the present-day adjoining neighborhoods of Flatlands and Flatbush, which previously had been two of the original six towns of Brooklyn. Today, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park, as well as Ditmas Avenue, denote the influence the Ditmas family had on shaping Brooklyn.

Scope and Contents

The Brooklyn's Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush viewbook consists of non-photographic prints of photographs that have been color tinted. The subject of the viewbook is the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, circa 1908. The photographer and publisher was Charles A. Ditmas (1887-1938), a Brooklyn resident and local historian, and the viewbook was printed by the Albertype Company, a Brooklyn-based publisher. Included in the viewbook are images of residential streets in Flatbush, as well as many views of churches, historic houses, and other buildings in Flatbush. There are also several views of Prospect Park. The viewbook is comprised of 25 pages, with page size measuring 8 x 10, and it retains its original hardcover.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction rights for images from the viewbook have not been evaluated. For information on securing rights to publish or reproduce, please see the Brooklyn Historical Society Reproduction Rights Policy.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn's Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush viewbook, V1986.019, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Miss F. B. Cropsey, date unknown.

Related Materials

Brooklyn Historical Society also holds other viewbooks relating to Brooklyn and New York City, including a duplicate of this viewbook, located in the Charles A. Ditmas collection (ARC.196). This duplicate is available for viewing in its entirety via PastPerfect, the image database located in the library (search V1986.20). Please consult library staff for more information.

Collection processed by

Patricia Glowinski

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:19:59 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English.

Processing Information note

Fully processed to the item level.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: Prints by Accession 47 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201