1870 Currier and Ives Bird's-Eye View of New York City

This is a beautiful example of the iconic 1870 Currier and Ives chromolithograph view of New York City, specifically Manhattan. It is the first edition of this famous view to include the Brooklyn Bridge, in the year construction on the wonder began, but 13 years before it opened! This example also has the richest original chromolithograph color we have seen in any example.

A Closer Look

The view looks northeast over Manhattan from a high point in New York Harbor. It is presented from a medium-oblique perspective in brilliant chromolithographic color. From Battery Park, Manhattan stretches into the distance. Major arteries, especially Broadway and Canal Street, stand out. The vertical perspective is exaggerated to highlight church steeples and other significant buildings, thus City Hall and churches are easily recognizable. Hundreds of ships are docked along the Hudson and East Rivers, underscoring New York's role as a bustling port.

The Brooklyn Bridge is shown complete, teaming with traffic crossing the East River to Brooklyn Heights. The bridge would not open for another 13 years, but construction did begin in 1870 and may have been the impetus for this view's issue.

The foreground features several paddlewheel steamers: The City of New York, Bristol, and the Old Colony. Central Park in upper Manhattan and the Palisades across the Hudson are evident in the background.

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 and published by Currier and Ives in 1870. The view first appeared in 1856, when it was drawn by Charles Parsons. It was updated several times. This is the first 1870 edition and the first to include the Brooklyn Bridge - identifiable by references below the map being layered in 5 lines; subsequent versions used 6 lines. It was fully re-engraved and reissued in 1876 to reflect new developments in Brooklyn and different ships in the Harbor. Another issue appeared in 1884.