Wild, J.C. “The State House.” From "Views of Philadelphia and its Vicinity"

J.C. Wild. “The State House.”  From Views of Philadelphia and its Vicinity. 

Philadelphia: J. T. Bowen, 1838.  Third edition.  5 1/8 x 7.  Lithograph by J.C. Wild.  Hand coloring.  Some soiling in the margins.  Else, very good condition. A/A

A lovely print of the State House, now Independence Hall, from Chestnut Street by J. Caspar Wild.  Wild was a Swiss artist who studied in Paris, and then came to Philadelphia around 1832.  Soon after he moved to Cincinnati and then back to Philadelphia in 1837.  At that time he formed a partnership with J.B. Chevalier to publish a series of small lithographs illustrating the city of Philadelphia.  The prints were all issued in 1838, and when completed they were sold in a bound volume.  The complete work consisted of twenty lovely scenes of Philadelphia and four additional larger prints that show the views from Independence Hall tower in the four cardinal directions.  The project was not, however, a success for Wild, and in that year he sold the plates to J.T. Bowen, who issued a third edition of the series in 1838 after Wild had left town.