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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.
An unusual and scarce steel engraving from The Ladies' Repository. This mid-nineteenth century periodical was produced in Cincinnati by members of the Methodist Church. It was a magazine "Devoted To Literature and Religion," containing articles, poetry, fiction, and notes of interest to its readers. One of its most interesting aspects was the inclusion of steel engravings. Many had a religious or "genre" theme, but others were topographical views of different parts of the United States. This magazine had a limited circulation and so these prints are quite a bit more scarce than most steel engravings of the period. Some of the views are based on images by W.H. Bartlett, but others are taken either from some of the large folio views of the period or are drawn first hand for The Ladies' Repository. Whatever their source, these are among the most interesting and hard-to-find American views of the middle of last century. This view is a fine example from the magazine, based on a large view issued by the Smith Brothers of New York City. $150
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"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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After Theo R. Davis and J.A. Williams. "Newport, Rhode Island." New York: Supplement to Harper's Weekly, August 30, 1873. 9 3/8 x 30 3/4 (image). Wood engraving. With folds as issued. Some separation at folds, stabilized on verso with archival tape. Else very good condition.
A handsome bird's eye view of Newport from Narragansett Bay. This image was composed from drawings by Theo Davis and photographs by J.A. Williams for a supplement to Harper's Weekly. Prominent sites are identified above and below the image, among them Fort Adams and the Dumplings. In addition, there is a four column narrative description and history of the city in the text below the image. $375
"Another Page of Illustrations of the Buildings in which the Principal Industries of the city are carried on, with Portraits of the/ Mayor and the President of the Boston and Albany Railroad. [by] Our Artist in Springfield, Mass." From The Daily Graphic. New York: March 11, 1874. 12 x 17 7/8. Wood engraving. Very good condition.
A collage of 22 vignettes of factories, mills, business logos and portraits of political and business leaders in Springfield, Massachusetts in the late 19th century. $75
After Currier & Ives. "The City of Chicago, Showing The Burnt District." From Harper's Weekly. New York: August 1, 1874. Wood engraving. Good margins. Very good condition.
Harper's Weekly remains one of the best sources for lively, informative images of 19th-century America. Each issue was filled with popular genre and detailed historical prints through which much of the country got its visual information about their world. Views of American cities were amongst the most popular of prints of the period, and this is a particularly nice example of that genre. The print shows Chicago three years after the great fire of 1871, based on a Currier & Ives print of the same year. The burnt districts are indicated by shading, and the point of the print was to indicate how fully Chicago had recovered from this disaster. An excellent item of Chicago interest. $325
"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 Hartford. 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 northwest 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
J.W. Hill. "Boston." New York: F. & G.W. Smith, 1857. Excellent, early hand color. Engraving by C. Mottram. Printed by McQueen, London. 24 1/2 x 38. With tear at left into image and other marginal tears. 1 1/2" missing section at bottom edge. Expertly conserved. Overall, very good condition and fine appearance.
A very large and finely detailed panoramic view of Boston. The Smith brothers, Francis, George W., David C., and Benjamin F., grew up in Maine working on their father's farm. By 1846, Francis and George became involved as agents and salesmen for Edwin Whitefield, who had recently started his series of American views. Shortly thereafter, Benjamin also joined Whitefield, possibly helping him with the drawing on some of his prints. In 1849 the Smiths established their own print publishing firm and proceeded to produce some of the most impressive American city views of the nineteenth century, including this lovely image of Boston. This print was drawn by J.W. Hill, with C. Mottram engraving it onto steel. It is interesting to note that though the Smith brothers' views were generally lithographs, this was done as an engraving, and was printed in London. The perspective is convincingly rendered and the detail is excellent. As John Reps says, "the Smith brothers' views achieved a standard that equaled or surpassed the best work of its kind." [Reps, Views and Viewmakers of Urban America p.207] $6,200
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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
Anton Schutz. “Cleveland Public Square.” 1927. 11 3/4 x 9. Signed in pencil. Very good condition.
Anton Joseph Friedrich Schutz, was born in Berndorf, Austria in 1894 and died in 1977. He came to the United States in the 1920s and became a documentary print maker depicting American cities, especially New York and vicinity, in his time. He toured Europe billed as an “American artist.” His etchings can be found at the Metropolitan Museum; the Chicago Museum; Washington D.C.; National Library, in Paris; and the British Museum. He was the founder and director of the New York Graphic Society and was the author of a book published in 1939 titled New York Etchings. $450
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