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1875 Bailey Bird's-Eye View of Danbury, Connecticut
DanburyCT-bailey-1875$2,500.00
Title
View of Danbury Conn. 1875.
1875 (dated) 21.5 x 27.5 in (54.61 x 69.85 cm)
1875 (dated) 21.5 x 27.5 in (54.61 x 69.85 cm)
Description
This is a striking 1875 O. H. Bailey chromolithograph bird's-eye view map of Danbury, Connecticut, 'Hat Capital of the World'.
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,
A Closer Look
The view looks north on Danbury from a map-like, high-oblique perspective. Although many street names have changed, much remains the same. Main Street runs diagonally across the map, from the upper left to the lower right. It is bisected at center by Liberty and West Street. In the upper right, a passenger train, likely the Housatonic Railroad, steams out of the road station, located much as it is today. There are several large local ponds, including Starr's Pond, and White's Pond, which have long since disappeared. Throughout, 39 locations are identified, including numerous hat factories, and keyed to a table in the lower margins to the left and right of the title.Danbury in the 1870s
In 1875, Danbury was an industrial town, widely recognized as the 'Hat Capital of the World'. Danbury's factories produced millions of hats annually, employing thousands of workers and fueling the local economy. The industry benefited from access to high-quality water, which was essential for hat felting and dyeing. Beyond industry, Danbury was a bustling community connected to major markets via the Housatonic Railroad and other transport networks, which facilitated commerce and trade. The town also featured a vibrant downtown area with shops, businesses, and civic institutions catering to the needs of its residents. Socially and culturally, Danbury reflected the trends of the time, with a mix of New England traditions and the influences of immigrants, particularly Irish and German workers, who contributed to its industrial resilience. Despite its prosperity, the town grappled with challenges common to industrial centers, including labor disputes, public health concerns related to mercury poisoning in the hat industry, and rapid urbanization.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.
Chromolithography
Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process uses multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Generally, a chromolithograph begins with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors are layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired effect. Chromolithograph color can be blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda.Publication History and Census
This view was drawn in 1875 by O. H. Bailey, engraved in Milwaukee by C. H. Vogt, and printed in chromolithograph by J. Knauber and Company for the partnership of Fowler and Bailey. The view is scarce. We see examples at the Boston Public Library and the Library of Congress, otherwise all holdings seem to be reproductions from 1961. The present map is the original from 1875.CartographerS
Oakley Hoopes Bailey (June 14, 1843 - August 13, 1947) was a prolific American viewmaker, artist, and lithographer active in late 19th and early 20th century. Bailey was born in Beloit, Mahoning County, Ohio. He matriculated in 1861 at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, where he studied architecture. At the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) he briefly abandoned his studies for 2 years, wherein he saw combat as a Union solider. After the war, in 1866, he returned to Mount Union to complete his degree. Bailey was the younger brother of another view artist, Howard Heston Bailey (1836 - 1878) and followed his brother into the print business, producing his first city views, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1871. Active from 1871 to 1926, Bailey is known for more than 375 recorded city views, covering more than 13 states 2 Canadian provinces, making him one of the most active viewmakers in American history. In 1875, he settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts and most of his subsequent work focused on Massachusetts and Connecticut. Bailey worked with many other American viewmakers of the period, including his brother, Howard Heston Bailey, Thaddeus M. Flower, and J. C. Hazen, among others. Even his wife, Sarah F. Bailey (1846 - 19??) got into the business, drawing at least one view, of Watkins Glen, New York. Around 1904, by this time in his 60s, Bailey entered into a publishing partnership with Thomas S. Hughes, publishing their 'aero-views' as 'Hughes and Bailey'. Together, Hughes and Bailey revisited the sites of many of Bailey's early views, remaking them sometimes 20 - 40 years later, the idea being to set them beside the earlier views to show how much the respective towns had changed. The partnership lasted until about 1926. Bailey died in his hometown of Alliance at the ripe old age of 103. More by this mapmaker...
Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler (1842 - March 17, 1922) was an American cartographer and the most prolific of all American city viewmakers. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Fowler enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. He was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run and was discharged in February 1863. After his discharge, Fowler made a living by visiting army camps and making tintypes of soldiers. He moved to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1864, to work in his uncle John Mortimer Fowler's photography studio. Fowler likely met Albert Ruger, the famous viewmaker, when he visited Madison in 1867 to work on a view he produced later that year. Ruger had recently lost his last assistant, Eli. S. Glover, who had opened his own publishing firm in Chicago. Ruger probably offered Fowler a job as his sales and subscription agent during this trip, but it is possible that the association between the two men started earlier. Fowler worked for Ruger for two years, as his canvassing and subscription agent in Iowa, Nebraska, and other Midwestern states. It is also likely that Fowler helped Ruger increase his output, since Ruger published around forty views in 1868 and over sixty in 1869. Fowler struck out on his own in 1870 and published two views of towns in Wisconsin: Oconomowoc and Omro. Fowler drew the Oconomowoc view, but Howard Heston (H. H.) Bailey signed the Omro view. Fowler and Bailey would have a professional relationship until Bailey's death in 1878. Bailey's brother Oakley Hoopes (O. H.) Bailey, joined them in 1872. Between 1872 and 1875, the combination of three three names appears almost interchangeably, although Fowler and the Baileys parted ways in 1874. Fowler's name is the only one that appears on lithographs published in 1876. Fowler and O. H. Bailey resumed their professional partnership in 1879 and published several views together, although not all the works are attributed to both men. Between 1887 and 1906, Fowler concentrated on views of Pennsylvania, and produced over 200 lithographs of towns around the state, and his total output during these twenty years exceeded 280 prints. Over the course of his career, Fowler published over 420 prints, of which 248 were of Pennsylvania. Fowler suffered a Fallon an icy street in Middletown, New York, on March 1922 and died a week later on March 17. In his book Views and Viewmakers of Urban America John W. Reps proposes that Fowler was in Middletown promoting the updated view of that town he had recently published. Learn More...
Charles H. Vogt (1823 - 1895) was a Prussian-American lithographer active in Cleveland, Ohio from about 1870 to 1889. Vogt was born Prussia and immigrated to the United States in c. 1860, settling in Iowa. He was established as a lithographer of American city views Davenport, Iowa during the 1860s, then in Milwaukee from 1870 to 1879, then in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1879 to 1889. Vogt worked with his son, Gustav. H. Vogt (c. 1858 - July 12, 1936). Learn More...
Jacob Knauber (1846 – 1905) was a German-American lithographer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Knauber was born in Heidelberg, Germany and emigrated to America as a young man. He apprenticed as a lithographer in St. Louis from 1861. In 1867 he foundered J. Knauber Lithographing Company, which he would eventually run with his three sons, Arthur, Walter, and Richard. The firm specialized in American city views, billheads, letterheads, receipts, and checks. Knauber managed the firm it until his death in 1905. Afterwards it was run by his children until 1946 when it was acquired by Columbia Art Works. Learn More...
Condition
Very good. Minor discoloration lower right quadrant.
References
Library of Congress, G3784.D2A3 1875.B3. Reps, John, Views and Viewmakers of Urban America (University of Missouri, Columbia, 1984), #539.