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American urban views
[ Non-urban views of the United States ]Other view pages: [ Location Index | Subject Index | Artists ]
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Views of cities have long been popular, with perspective and bird's eye views issued of European urban centers as early as the fifteenth century. Among the earliest prints of the New World were urban views and as American communities were established in what is today the United States, prints of them were published both in Europe and America. By the nineteenth century, such views were in great demand and were issued of cities, big and small, across the country. These prints showed both general views of the cities and also views of specific buildings. Before 1800, many of the urban views were sold to people who had never visited the location depicted, so many were inaccurate, but as the nineteenth century progressed, most of the American urban views were sold to local citizens, putting a premium on accuracy. Thus it is, that many American views provide us with remarkably detailed and accurate images of our urban centers from over a century ago.
George Heap. "The East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia, in the Province of Pennsylvania." From London Magazine, 1761. 6 3/8 x 19 1/8. Engraving. Insets: "the State House," and "the Battery." With folds as issued. Later hand color. Very good condition. Prints of Philadelphia: 3; Snyder: 25.
In 1752, in response to an expressed desire by Thomas Penn to have a perspective view of Philadelphia from the east, George Heap, the author of the view of the State House contained in the Scull and Heap map, made a drawing of the Philadelphia waterfront from the New Jersey shore. This drawing was acquired by Penn, who subsequently had two engravings made from it, a large one in 1754 and a smaller version in 1756, the latter with the addition of views of the State House and the Battery and a city plan. Five years later, a copy of the smaller version was published in the London Magazine, with the two views inserted in the upper corners. Heap's was the first view published of Philadelphia, and it shows the city as a bustling river port of some importance and sophistication. A mile of the Philadelphia waterfront, from present-day South Street to Vine Street, is depicted in considerable detail. It shows the major buildings, a number with stately steeples, standing along streets already giving evidence of Philadelphia's impressively organized grid plan. In the foreground lies the Jersey shore and Windmill Island, and the river is congested with vessels of all types. In the upper corners are insets, one with a view of the Battery and the other with a view of the State House taken from Heap's drawing from the Scull & Heap map. This is an excellent example of Heap's wonderful prospect of nascent Philadelphia. $2,800
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Francois Xavier Habermann. "Debarquement Des Troupes Engloises A Nouvelle Yorck." [Disembarkation of the English Troops in New York.] Title also in German and supertitle printed in reverse. Augsburg, ca. 1776. 9 5/8 x 15 5/8. Etched by Habermann. Original hand color. Very good condition. Cresswell: 266
An eighteenth century view of the English troops landing in New York during the Revolution, but based on a scene not of New York, but of a European city. $1,250
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Views from Cincinnati in 1841. Cincinnati: Charles Cist, 1841. Engravings by Doolittle & Munson. Ca. 3 1/2 x 5 1/4. Very good condition.
Charles Cist's Cincinnati in 1841. Its Early Annals and Future Prospects was an important early account of the Queen City of the mid-west at a time when it was growing rapidly. Included in it are some early engravings showing buildings of note.
Two obscure American artists are credited with producing this lovely American landscape. The only information we can find about Salmon W. Corwin is related to his "brief partnership" with Joseph Whiting Stock who is known as an itinerant portrait painter from Springfield, Massachusetts working from 1838-1847. Stock was a primitive painter and would have made no artistic contribution to this piece, and not enough is known to say how Corwin would have done the original sketches because this picture is the work of an accomplished artist. The quality is similar to the works of artists of stature such as Edwin Whitefield, Jasper Cropsey or Guy Wall. An original drawing or painting was taken to the capable hands of Endicott & Company in New York and perhaps improperly attributed to Corwin. At that lithographic studio any number of highly capable craftsmen, such as Charles Parsons, working on stone might have improved on Corwin's work. This print deserves more research, but for now, we have a superb American landscape celebrating the upper Delaware River Valley in a manner parallel to the larger number of works dedicated to the Hudson at that time. THis is a scarce print not found in Deak Picturing America, Peters, America on Stone or any other reference book consulted. $1,400
"Opera March." Cincinnati: W.C. Peters & Sons; Louisville: Tripp & Cragg; New York: W. Hall & Son; St. Louis: Palmer & Weber; Louisville: D.F. Fouldsac. 1858. Music sheet. Tinted lithograph by Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. Some wear to images and with old tape stains, but overall very good condition.
A detailed image of Opera Hall in Cincinnati on the cover of a music sheet issued in 1858. The tinted lithograph shows the front Pike's Opera Hall, a building that housed a number of businesses, including the Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. firm that produced the lithograph. $65
“State House, Columbus, Ohio. As remodeled by Isaiah Rogers, Architect.” Cincinnati, ca. 1861. Credits read: “Isaiah Rogers, Architect and Superintendent,” Photographed by Heritage Winchester Rooms,” and “Chromolithography of Ehrgott & Forbriger, S.W. Cor. 4th. & Walnut St. [Cincinnati].” 13 1/2 x 20 (image) plus full and generous margins. Some few old stains and text lightly printed. Conserved and stable.
The town of Columbus was founded in February 1812 and the borough was officially established in 1816. Not until after the National Road in 1831 complemented the Ohio & Erie Canal was a charter granted the city so that with the statehouse begun in 1839 the transient capital’s permanent location was set. In 1850 the Columbus & Xenia Railroad was the first of many into the central city of Ohio so that after seven architects worked on the building, it was opened to the public on 7 January 1857. Isaiah Rogers (1800-1869) was a Boston architect who later did work in Washington, D.C. and then moved to the mid-west locating offices in Cincinnati and Louisville. He, in partnership with his oldest son, completed the building in 1861. A scarce and wonderful print of Ohio from Ohio. $2,100
"San Francisco. 1854." New York: Henry Bill, 1857. From The History of the World. 8 x 16. Tinted lithograph. Folded as issued. Margins as issued. Minor stains in sky; short tears in margins. Else, very good condition.
A bird's eye view of San Francisco within five years of the Gold Rush. Though by this time San Francisco was a bustling, robust settlement, it was still quite a small community, with the buildings merging rapidly into the rural surrounding hills. This print was issued in Bill's History of the World, and this explains the folds. Though quite a number of these prints were issued, few have survived in good condition. This a lovely and most desirable print of San Francisco. $625
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Louis Kurz. "Custom House." From Chicago Illustrated. Chicago: Jevne & Almini, 1866. With literary descriptions by James W. Sheahan. Tinted lithograph by the Chicago Lithographing Company. Ca. 8 1/4 x 12. Overall very good condition.
Beginning on the evening of October 8, 1871, Chicago suffered a devastating fire, after which about 300 citizens were dead, nearly 100,000 were homeless, and the city had suffered property loss of around $200 million. Its geographic position and the survival of the transportation network meant that Chicago was soon rebuilt, but much of the pre-fire city was lost forever. Luckily, just five years before, an enterprising group of men had produced an unparalleled portrait of pre-fire Chicago. In the period after the Civil War, there was a spirit of civic boosterism in Chicago and this inspired Otto Jevne and Peter M. Almini to embark on the publication of an elaborate work to illustrate the scenes and buildings of the city. In 1865, Jevne and Almini joined with three lithographers, Louis Kurz, Otto Knirsch, and Edward Carqueville to form the Chicago Lithographing Co.. Kurz, later to form the famous Kurz & Allison firm, drew and lithographed the prints for the ambitious Jevne and Almini portfolio, entitled Chicago Illustrated. The portfolio was to consist of twenty-five part, each of which was to contain at least four tinted lithographs, accompanied by text description, and when completed it was to be accompanied by a "General View of the City." The parts were issued, at $1.50 per fascicle, between January, 1866, and January, 1867, when the project abruptly stopped. The views showed street scenes, transportation sites, and major buildings throughout the city. Only fifty-two images were completed, but they provide a fascinating documentation of pre-fire Chicago. These rare views are among the most desirable nineteenth century images of any American city. This print shows the Custom House at the corner of Dearborn and Monroe, the location of various federal offices, such as Customs, the Post Office, the Internal Revenue and U.S. Marshalls. It was claimed to be "perfectly fireproof," but it was almost completely destroyed by the great fire of 1871, with only the walls left standing. $750
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George H. Ellsbury. "St. Paul, Minn." Chicago: Chas. Shober & Co., 1874. Copyrighted by G.H. Ellsbury and Vernon Green. Chromolithograph. The lithographer's name "Hoffman" is in the plate at lower right corner. 15 1/4 x 29 1/4. Two vertical creases, repaired, perhaps as issued. One 1" tear into the title, expertly repaired. Overall, very good and attractive. Ref.: Reps: 1951.
A elevated view of a bustling St. Paul from across the Mississippi River. The drawing is by George H. Ellsbury (b. 1840 NYC-d. 1900 Centralia, WA), cited by Who's Who in American Art as a Minnesota artist who later moved to Washington state. This example of Ellsbury's work is a superbly rendered document with fine detail of the city, the activity on the Mississippi River and banks, the monumental bridge, and with lovely genre elements on the near shore. Reps indicates that this is part of the bird's-eye view tradition in American art, but it is actually a profile view with some elevation. The bird's-eye views were unabashed examples of boosterism sponsored by chambers of commerce, but this one is different. Ellsbury the artist is here marketing his own fine art that might have advanced the commercial interests of the city, but it is also a most aesthetically pleasing picture. $1,800
"Hartford Fire Insurance Company's Building, Hartford Connecticut." Ca. 1890. Steel engraving by John A. Lowell & Co. 20 1/4 x 27. Some light stains, but overall very good condition.
A handsome steel engraving of the Hartford Fire Insurance Co.'s building at 53 Trumbull Street in Harford. This company is the oldest insurance firm from Hartford, founded in 1810, it survived through the many disasters of the nineteenth century and still exists, though in modified form, as the Hartford Financial Services Group. This was probably issued shortly after the their new building was built. The structure was located on the northwst corner of Pearl and Trumbull, and the Pearl Street trolley is shown at left. Also documented are many dapper Hartford citizens, on foot, riding bicycles, or in carriages. $350
A. Ruger. "Portsmouth. Buckingham Co. New Hampshire. 1877." Madison: J.J. Stoner, 1891. 19 1/4 x 26 1/4. Lithograph by D. Bremner in Milwaukee, WI. Full margins, with a few slight stains. Otherwise, fine condition. Reps: 2265.
A fine example of the American bird's eye view of the nineteenth century. Beginning after the Civil War, the bird's eye view became one of the most popular of print genre. This was a period of significant urban growth throughout the country, and the civic pride which proliferated provided a fertile field for print publishers to market these visual vistas of American cities and towns. According to John Rep's seminal Views and Viewmakers of Urban America (Columbia, 1984), publishers sent their artists out into the field throughout all parts of the country to draw and market the views. The artist would walk the streets of the town or city, drawing all the buildings and encouraging the citizens to subscribe to the view that would be produced. Once the entire area was sketched and enough subscriptions obtained, the artist would use a standard projection to turn his street-level images into a bird's eye view of the town. Because these views were primarily sold to citizens of the place depicted, they had to be accurate and all buildings shown, lest an owner were to be insulted. Thus these views are not only highly decorative, but are also detailed and accurate pictures of each place shown, providing us with a wonderful documentation of nineteenth century urban America. $2,100
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T.M. Fowler. "Clarksburg, West Virginia." Morrisville, PA: 1898. Ca. 18 x 27 1/4. Tinted lithograph. Repaired tear at left just into border. Otherwise, very good condition.
A nice example of a nineteenth century bird's eye view, this showing this central West Virginia city. Homeowners and businesses that paid a bit extra had portraits of their buildings included in vignettes surrounding the main image. $975
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