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1871 S. F. Bailey Bird's-Eye View Map of Watkins Glen, Seneca Lake, New York (woman artist)
WatkinsGlen-bailey-1872$1,250.00
Title
Bird's Eye View of Watkins, N.Y.
1872 (undated) 22.5 x 27.5 in (57.15 x 69.85 cm)
1872 (undated) 22.5 x 27.5 in (57.15 x 69.85 cm)
Description
This is a striking Sarah F. Bailey chromolithograph bird's-eye view map of Watkins Glen, located at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, of New York's stunning Finger Lakes. This view is notable as being the only 19th-century American bird's-eye view we are aware of to be drafted by a woman, Sarah Bailey, wife of prominent viewmaker O. H. Bailey. When this view was made, Watkins Glen, which refers more specifically to the stunning river gorges just west of Watkins, was widely promoted as a natural wonder.
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 northwest on the town of Watkins, with Seneca Lake on the right and the famous Watkins Glen gorges on the left. The view presents Watkins as a bustling resort village with beautiful tree-lined streets, grand hotels, steamer service on Seneca Lake, and a Northern Central Railroad depot. Just outside of the town, the famous gorges are dramatically illustrated. Watkins Glen House, with its iconic suspension bridge across the gorges (the bridge still stands), is prominent (no. 7). Another grand hotel (no. 3) appears nearby on Lake View Avenue, but all trace of this hotel has long vanished. Promotional text at the bottom right describes Watkins Glen's gorges with glowing praise and details access points by ferry and railroad. Gren Mountain House is illustrated at bottom left. Also at the bottom left is a list of references, although curiously, only 4 of the 8 numbered sites are noted.Watkins Glen
In the late 19th century, Watkins Glen emerged as a popular tourism destination known for its stunning natural beauty and dramatic gorges. The area became particularly famous after the 1863 opening of Watkins Glen State Reservation, which allowed visitors to explore its picturesque waterfalls, rugged cliffs, and lush vegetation - all located just outside of town. The construction of railroads made Watkins Glen more accessible, and local entrepreneurs capitalized on its appeal by building hotels, inns, and other tourism facilities. The Glen also gained a reputation as a place for leisure and artistic inspiration, often featured in paintings and writings of the time. It was a symbol of the era's fascination with natural wonders and the growing trend of outdoor recreation.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 P. Croisey for advertising and propaganda.Publication History and Census
This view is undated, but most have been published 1872 - 1875, when the printer 'Jones and Postdamer' was active. This suggests that Sarah Bailey must have drawn the view shortly after her 1871 marriage to Oakley Hoops Bailey. No other work by Sarah Bailey is known. This view is exceedingly rare. Reps notes only one example, at the Canal Society of New York State Library in Syracuse. We see another example at the Library of Congress and the Huntington Library's Jay Last Collection. All other known examples are not notably poor condition.CartographerS
Sarah F. Bailey (October 27, 1846 - 19??) was born Sarah F. Kelly. Sarah was born in Vermont, and little is known of her early life or education. In 1871, she married the bird's-eye view maker Oakley Hoopes Bailey (1843 - 1947). Her name is associated as the artist of a single bird's-eye view, of Watkins Glen, New York, drawn around 1872 and published by Bailey and Fowler. She is one of the very few female view artists active during the Golden Age of American Bird's-Eye Views. More by this mapmaker...
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. Learn More...
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...
Alfred T. Jones (July 4, 1822 - October 3, 1888) was an American-Jewish lithographer active in Philadelphia from the mid to late 19th century. Jones was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and began his career as a textile merchant. He relocated to Philadelphia c. 1842. Around 1859, Jones was listed as a partner with Prussian-Jewish immigrant Rudolph Stein (1823 - January 11, 1871) in the Jewish lithography firm of 'Stein and Jones', specialists in trade cards. Jones withdrew from the partnership in 1868, but Stein remained active until his 1871 death. In 1869, Jones partnered with John Gihon in a photographic studio. When Stein died in 1871, Jones returned to the printing business, partnering with Theodore B. Potsdamer (1841 - 1919) to establish 'Jones and Postdamer'. This partnership was dissolved in 1875, when Jones cashed out to establish a new magazine, The Jewish Record. Published from 1875 - 1886), this was the first successful Jewish periodical in Philadelphia. Postdamer continued the printing company as 'Postdamer and Co.' Jones was an active Mason of the Shekinah Lodge. He was also a prominent philanthropist for Jewish causes, taking part in the Association of Jewish Immigrants of Philadelphia. Jones was married to Jessica Jones (c. 1823 - 1894), with whom he had four children: Rebecca (c. 1856- 1894), Andrew (b. ca. 1849), Ida (b. c. 1854), and Frank (b. c . 1857). Learn More...
Condition
Excellent.
References
Library of Congress, G3804.W415A3 1873.B3. Huntington Library, Jay Last Collection, priJLC_VIEW_000535.