Edward Wiltsie Spofford (August 29, 1863 - January 4, 1946) was an American commercial artist. He was born in Groveland, Massachusetts, in 1863. We have no record of his early education, but he appears as an engraver in Boston directories as early as 1883. He lived for a time in Chicago, but was active in New York from at least 1909, when he issued a series of views of Manhattan as seen from the deck of the Singer Tower. Spofford is noteworthy for developing a unique style of realistic high-perspective aerial view, which he called the 'supervue', likely based on the development of aerial photography in the early 20th century. His earliest view is a series of 1909 views of Manhattan as seen from the Singer Tower. Around this time, he also produced a view of Baltimore. He is best known for his 'Supervue of Manhattan', which enjoyed wide circulation in many formats from 1932 to the 1950s. His son, Edward V. Spofford (June 1894 - May 21, 1940) was also a commercial artist and may have collaborated with is father until his untimely 1940 death from a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.



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