1882 C. J. Corbin Bird's-Eye View Map of Corning, New York

A striking 1882 Philadelphia Publishing House / J. C. Corbin bird's-eye view of Corning, New York. The view represents Corning at its height as a New York glass manufacturing town.

A Closer Look

From a high-oblique perspective, the view looks north on Corning over the Chemung River. It illustrates a bustling industrial town, with factories belching smoke (a sure sign of progress), and excellent transportation connections via road, river, and railroad. Surrounding the view, vignettes illustrate the elegant homes of local business, political, and religious leaders, as well as important businesses, including Corning Glass Works (still in operation), Corning Brick Works, and Hawkes Rich Cut-Glass Works.

Corning

In the late 19th century, Corning was a thriving industrial and transportation hub known primarily for its burgeoning glass industry. The establishment of the Corning Glass Works (pictured here top left) in 1868 marked the town as a leader in glass manufacturing, producing innovative and high-quality glass products. Situated along the Chemung River and connected by key railroads, Corning also served as a vital link for trade and travel in the Southern Tier of New York. The town's prosperity was further supported by its rich natural resources and skilled labor force, which attracted workers and businesses. Corning's downtown area developed into a vibrant commercial center, with shops, hotels, and cultural institutions catering to the growing population.

American Bird's-Eye City Views

The Bird's-Eye view industry emerged in the United States in the middle part of the 19th century and coincided with the commercial development of lithographic printing. Before the rise of lithography, the ability to own and display artwork in the home was largely limited to the extremely wealthy, but the advent of lithographic printing made it possible for everyone to own visually striking artwork. A robust trade developed in portraits of political leaders, allegorical and religious images, and city views.

City views were being produced in the United States as early as the 1830s, but the genre exploded after the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Bridging the gap between maps and pictures, most 19th-century American bird's-eye views presented cities to the public from high points. Some were imagined, but others were drawn from hot-air balloons or nearby hills. The presentation, combining high elevation, commercial interest, and new printing technology, created a uniquely American art form, as described by historian Donald Karshan,

Some print connoisseurs believe that it was only with the advent of the full-blown city-view lithograph that American printmaking reached its first plateau of originality, making a historical contribution to the graphic arts. They cite the differences between the European city-view prints and the expansive American version that reflects a new land and a new attitude toward the land.

The vogue for bird's-eye city views lasted from about 1845 to 1920, during which period some 2,400 cities were thus portrayed, some multiple times. Although views were produced in many urban centers, the nexus of view production in the United States was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The major American viewmakers were Stoner, Wellge, Bailey, Fowler, Hill Ruger, Koch, Burleigh, Norris, and Morse, among others.

Publication History and Census

This view is unsigned but may be the work of landscape artist Charles Lewis Fussell (1840 - 1909), who collaborated with Corbin on a number of other views (c.f. Corbin / Fussell view of New Brighton, Pa, also published in 1882-83, and Adams, Massachusetts in 1882). This view was published by C. J. Corbin and the Philadelphia Publishing Company in 1882. It is rare and does not appear in Reps' comprehensive catalog Views and Viewmakers of Urban America (University of Missouri, Columbia, 1984). Nonetheless, we have identified examples at the Library of Congress and at the Corning Glass Museum, making this the third known example.