Unattributed “View from The Green Woods towards Canaan and Salisbury, in Connecticut”

Unattributed.  “View from The Green Woods towards Canaan and Salisbury, in Connecticut.” 

From The Columbian Magazine.  [1789]-19th century re-strike.  3 7/8 x 7.  Full margins.  Engraving.  Wove paper.  Light foxing in margins.  Good condition

This print is a 19th century re-strike from the original plate.     

One of the new formats of publishing that appeared in America shortly after the Revolution was the illustrated magazine.  Publications of this type were intended to emulate the success of similar ventures in England, including Gentleman’s Magazine and London Magazine.  A number of the illustrations in these American magazines were among the earliest printed images of American frontier landscapes.  The first American monthly magazine was the Columbian Magazine, which began publication in Philadelphia in 1787.   This interesting, unsigned view shows a rural scene near Salisbury and Canaan in the northwest corner of Connecticut.  A traveler is shown leading his horse down a steep path towards a town in which a steeple can just be seen in a valley ahead.  Two smoke columns are depicted, probably from the foundries in Salisbury, one of the early American centers of iron working.