Views of America
€ 229
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Good condition for its age with light age toning and occasional minor spotting mainly in the margins. Plate mark visible. Paper remains stable and well preserved.
Albany on the Hudson River, an original steel engraving from Meyers Universum, published by the Bibliographisches Institut in Germany in the mid-19th century. The plate is printed in black and lettered below the image "Albany, in New-York, Vereinigte Staaten v. N.A.," with the artists' credits in the lower margin.
The view is a quiet river landscape rather than a cityscape. In the foreground a small ferry-like boat carries a horse and two figures across the calm water, with a large tree overhanging the right bank and low trees and a mill-like building at the left. The town itself appears only as a faint skyline, with buildings and spires, on the far shore under a soft sky.
Albany was founded by the Dutch as Fort Orange and became New York's state capital. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 made it a major hub where the canal met the Hudson, passing the farm produce of the interior down to New York City.
