Sunday, September 11, 2011

Bird's Eye New York

Birds Eye View Map Of New York And Vicinity 1909

Birds Eye View Map Of New York And Vicinity [1909]

Full colour perspective view from Yonkers to South Norwalk in the north and from Freeport to Ellis Island in the south.

Brown paper covers printed in black entitled "Bird's Eye View Map Of East And North Rivers And Long Island Sound Price 10 Cents - New York C.S. Hammond & Co. Publishers. Scale 1:80,033."



Bird's eye view of New-York & Brooklyn a
Bird's Eye View of New-York & Brooklyn [1851]

Drawn from nature & on stone by J. Bachman[n] and published by A. Guerber & Co.
The lithograph (63 x 82 cm) shows Battery Park and Governors Island in the foreground; with prominent features numbered in a key below the image.

"John Bachmann, Sr. (1814–1896) was a Swiss-born lithographer and artist best known for his bird's-eye views, especially of New York City. He was a journeyman lithographic artist in Switzerland and Paris until 1847. His first known American print [..] appeared in 1848, a view from an imagined point above Union Square in New York, looking south toward The Battery.

In 1849 and 1850, he created and published a series of American views, including views of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Havana. Both directly copied and used as a primary source by other lithographers at home and in Europe, these were the first major bird's eye views (drawn from an imagined perspective), as opposed to panoramic views (views drawn directly from the artists experience) in the United States."

Also see: Maphead and George Glazer Gallery entries ONE & TWO.



New York et Brooklyn--Vue prise au dessus de la batterie - dessiné par Simpson

New York et Brooklyn -- Vue Prise au Dessus de la Batterie [1850s]
Nueva York y Brooklyn -- Vista Tomada en Cima de la Bateria

Drawn by Simpson, lithography by Theodore Muller


Bird's eye view of the city of New York - chromo a
Bird's Eye View of the City of New York - chromo [1880s]

Artist: John Bachmann; published by LW Schmidt

Chromolithographic print showing a bird's-eye view of New York City with the Hudson River and the New Jersey waterfront on the left, New York Harbor and Governors Island in the right foreground, Battery Park, Manhattan, the East River, Brooklyn Bridge, and the borough of Brooklyn in the centre.



Bird's eye panorama of Manhattan & New York City in 1873
Bird’s Eye Panorama of Manhattan & New York City [1873] [source]

Created by George Schlegel lithographers; published by George Degen.

"The Brooklyn Bridge is obviously inaccurate as the bridge wouldn’t be completed for another 10 years" [source]



Theatre poster with map of New York City
Gracie Emmett in her Great Play - The Pulse of New York by Howard P Taylor [1891]

This advertising poster for Emmett's play includes a legend of points of interest on each side of the map with locations related to the play in red.

[this image was spliced together from severed halves]




perspective map of the New York borough of Manhattan
Bird's-eye view of New York with Central Park in the foreground [1873]

Print by George Schegel, published by George Degen.




Grand birds eye view of the Great East River suspension bridge Connecting the cities of New York & Brooklyn - Showing also the splendid panorama of the bay and the port of New York.

Grand birds eye view of the Great East River suspension bridge Connecting the cities of New York & Brooklyn : Showing also the splendid panorama of the bay and the port of New York [1892]

"Construction commenced January, 1870 Completed May, 1873. Estimated cost $15,000,000"

Published by Currier & Ives.



perspective view of new york city

New York [1873]

Created by Ferd. Mayer & Sons, Lithographers; published by Geo. Degen.





The city of greater New York (Charles Hart)

The City of Greater New York [1905]

Created by Charles Hart; published by Joseph Koehler

Bird's-eye view of greater New York with Battery Park on the right and showing the boroughs of Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Richmond, with the Hudson River in the foreground; prominent features and locations are listed below image.



birdsNew York [1874]

Cityscape panoramic print of New York showing the waterfront, Brooklyn Bridge, with Battery Park and Governors Island in the foreground

Produced by John Bachmann for George Schlegel; published by Tamsen & Dethlefs




Port of New York - birds eye view from the battery looking South

The Port of New York: Birds Eye View from the Battery, looking South [1872]

Produced by CR Parsons & LW Atwater and published by Currier & Ives



The Port of New York - birds eye view from the battery, looking South
The Port of New York: bird's eye view from the Battery, looking South [1872]

A breathtaking view of New York Harbour by the celebrated American publishers, Currier & Ives

One of the grand Currier and Ives' lithographs of New York {26 x 37 inches} this sweeping view from Battery Park looks out over a bustling New York Harbour. The view takes us past the Narrows and out to the open sea, where the horizon is punctuated by numerous ships masts. The harbour is also dotted with a myriad of steam ships, sailing schooners, yachts, barges, rowing boats, etc; all proving the city's position as one of the world's most important ports.

Along the walkways of Battery Park, crowds stroll or stand and marvel at the bustle of the river. Castle Garden sits prominently in the right foreground and is surrounded by numerous outbuildings. "From 1855 to 1900, Castle Garden was used as an immigration depot, processing more than 7.5 million people."

Bedloe's Island can be seen in middle-distance, sans the Statue of Liberty, which was erected in 1885. Forty-eight landmarks are listed below the image including Greenwood Cemetery, Bergen Bay, and Ellis Island. This fascinating print is one of the most picturesque of all the Currier & Ives views of Manhattan. The lithographers' and artists' careful attention to detail and the beautiful overall composition all make this one of the greatest of all the images issued by this prolific American printing house.

Currier and Ives are the most famous lithographic print publishers of the nineteenth century. Among their vast body of work are a number of topographical views; these are usually restricted to the large metropolises, especially New York, which was not only their home town but also their largest market. Their strategy to attract their audience appears to have been to create very large, highly detailed views from a breathtaking bird's-eye perspective, and to issue new editions of their views as frequently as was necessary to keep up with the ever-changing skyline of the city. Parsons and Atwater produced almost all the city views published by Currier & Ives in the years following the Civil War. In particular they were responsible for creating almost all the views of New York published by the firm between 1872 and 1892.

Source cites: Gale, Currier & Ives: A Catalogue Raisonné, 5257; Reps, Views and Viewmakers of Urban America, 2711, p. 196-198; & more.



The Port of New York--Birds eye view from the Battery, looking south

The Port of New York: bird's eye view from the Battery, looking South [1892]

Hint: small addition in the background



Bird's-eye-view of the borough of Brooklyn showing parks, cemeteries, principal buildings, suburbs. (signed Geo Welch)
Bird's-eye-view of the borough of Brooklyn showing parks, cemeteries, principal buildings, suburbs. [1897]

Perspective map, not drawn to scale. Signed "Geo. Welch"



Proposed site for World's Fair in 1883 - between 110th and 125th Streets, Morning Side and River Side Parks, N.Y. Area 300 acres.

Proposed site for World's Fair in 1883 - between 110th and 125th Streets, Morning Side and River Side Parks, N.Y. Area 300 acres.

As published in Demorest's Illustrated Monthly magazine from 1879

"The World’s Fair That Never Was"




The vast majority of images in this post were sourced from the Library of Congress. All the images above have been uploaded in very large jpeg format, but the original [enormous] .tiff files should be sought if you want print quality.
Searching on the image titles listed above turns up the Library of Congress results fairly easily in any event.

Other source or helper sites: Rumsey Maps; Boston Library; Ward Maps; NYPL; Columbia; the Big Map Blog. [also, interactive 1865 lower Manhattan]

There is also a fair choice of New York bird's-eye images at Amazon.

The images below are much smaller, comparatively speaking.




City of New York - sketched and drawn on stone by C. Parsons.
City of New York - sketched and drawn on stone by C. Parsons [1856]

Bird's-eye view of New York City with Battery Park in the foreground and Brooklyn Heights in the lower right corner. Published by N Currier. {larger versions are available}





bird's eye view map of nyc
View of the city of New York and vicinity [1907]

Bird's-eye view from the south by August R. Ohman, map publisher, draughtsman & engraver {larger version}




birds eye view map of new york

New York: a birdseye view from the harbor, showing Manhattan Island in its surroundings, with various points of interest in the city and the location of Rogers, Peet & Co.'s building, the exact center of the clothing trade in New York City. Published by Rogers, Peet & Co. Wholesalers and Retail Clothiers 1879. [Printed by Currier & Ives]


On general principles, see - Bowsprite : A New York Harbor Sketchbook.

See also: Geographicus.

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Antiquarian Tableware

table stand design: satyr atop turtle atop eagle-clawed base



bizarre jug design; man bent in half (upside down) with liquid plate between legs



dolphin-based stand with mythical Greek metal smith, Hephaestus, (and his tools) on the top



design for ornate oil lamp or jug, festooned with putti



oil lamp or vessel design, with horse and rider ornament top



cow-head vessel with head of distressed man - as jug handle - straddling cow head



engraved design of oil lamp or candleholder with birds head and a grotesque



oil vessel shaped from quadruped's body and human head



design for oil or wine jug made up of up-turned satyr's head, with horns; spout in beard



wine jug design - caped man with giant penis-esque pouring spout



ornate wine goblet or food container shaped from animals, real and mythical


'De Lucernis Antiquorum Reconditis Libb. Sex: In Quibus Earum Recens Inventarum adhuc ardentium observationes multæ primum afferuntur: Aliorum opiniones omnes de ipsarum attributis dein expenduntur: Earum causæ, proprietates, differenti, æque singulæ deinceps ex rei natura deteguntur: Pluresque dubitationes e traditiis emergentes demum eluuniur. Explicatis diligenter abditissimis Quæstionibus De Ignium causis, origine, vaietate, duratione, motu, & extinctu: De Antiperistasi, Fumo, Cinere, Lentore, Mistis incombustibilibus, Brutorum Funeribus, & aliis Naturæ Arcanis. Declaratisque plurimis Antiquitatis ritibus Lychnos supra centum effigiantibus: Cum Indicibus locupletissimis. Autore Fortunio Liceto Genuense Ex L. Com. Phil. Medico in Academia Patau. Theorico supremo' 1653, was recently uploaded by the University of Heidelberg (click anything below 'Inhalt' and then 'Vorschau' for thumbnail page images) {see}

My Latin being next to non-existent (except when I pretend it isn't), I'm only vaguely of the belief that the Liceti designs of Greek and Roman houseware items, from the antiquities, come from actual objects. They may well have been sketched after paintings or chiselled designs found in ruins. Such is the depth of my comprehension at this late hour. And pay little notice to the image titles on mouseover: it's mostly snipped text from the same page, rather than being pertinent.

None of that, of course, diminishes one's capacity to marvel at the twisted imaginations of the designers bringing delightful satyrs and grotesques to the domestic table.

The author, Fortunio Liceti (1577–1657) is best known for his works on malformed embryos, particuarly 'De Monstruorum Natura', which has never really been my thing.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Memoirs of Babur

Baburnamah : a 16th c. autobiographical, illuminated, Persian / Islamic manuscript (copy), courtesy of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

The manuscript miniatures below are cropped: please click through to the full-sized, full-page images hosted in Walters' Flickr set.



Mughal manuscript miniature of battle

The Fall of Samarkand




Mughal manuscript miniature of a Persian battle
The battle of Sultan Ḥusayn Mīrzā against
Sultan Masʿūd Mīrzā at Hiṣṣār in the winter of 1495




Indian mughal miniature of castle siege
The siege and battle of Isfarah




Islamic manuscript miniature of Sultan receiving guests; falconry
Ḥamzah Sulṭān, Mahdī Sulṭan and Mamāq Sulṭān pay homage to Babur




Islamic manuscript painting; rural setting, sultan on horseback
Foray to Kuhat (Kohat)




Persian manuscript miniature of date palms, birds and dogs
Date Trees of Hindustan




MS miniature from India - people on raft on river
Babur, during his second Hindustan campaign, riding a raft from Kunar back to Atar




Islamic battle in Hindustan in manuscript painting
The battle of Panipat and the death of Sultan Ibrāhīm, the last of the Lōdī Sultans of Delhi




Islamic MS miniature of horse/rider procession into castle
Babur entering Kabul




Indian mughal MS miniature of Hindu devotees outdoors partly clothed
Babur and his warriors visit the Hindu temple Gurh Kattri (Kūr Katrī) in Bigram


MS miniature - Turkish/Islamic/Persian/Indian : hunting
Babur and his party hunting for rhinoceros in Swati


Mughal miniature painting of peacock and other animals 1500s
Animals of Hindustan: monkeys, rodents and a peacock

"Recognized as one of the world’s great autobiographical memoirs, the Baburnamah is the story of Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530), who conquered northern India and established the Mughal Empire (or Timurid-Mughal empire).

Born in Fergana (Central Asia), Babur was a patrilineal Timurid and matrilineal Chingizid. Babur wrote his memoir in Chaghatay Turkish, which he referred to as Turkic, and it was later translated into Persian and repeatedly copied and illustrated under his Mughal successors.

The present copy in Persian, written in Nasta'liq script, is a fragment of a dispersed manuscript that was executed in the 16th century." {very slightly edited: PK}


Walters manuscript W.596 (Memoirs of Babur or Baburnamah) is available from the Walters Art Museum website or from their Flickr set.

Follow along on Twitter: Walters Art Museum and Will Noel (Manuscript Curator). Thanks Will! [Also see Will's great blog, Parchment and Pixel, where he features items of interest from the Museum].

The Walters Art Museum's online collection of manuscripts and rare books includes one hundred and forty Islamic works; or see the list: The Digital Walters.

Previously: arabic || illuminated

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Neapolitan Cephalopods

I Cefalopodi!


cephalopod lithograph



mollusca illustration



lithograph of mollusca species



lithograph of cephalopod



monograph illustration of cephalopod



1920s lithograph of cephalopoda species



marine species book illustratio





UPDATE: The following quote relates to the author of a different volume
"Adolf Naef (1883-1949) was a Swiss zoologist and palaeontologist, famous for his work on cephalopods and systematics.

[He] studied at the University of Zurich, under the guidance of Arnold Lang, a former Professor of Jena University and close friend of Ernst Haeckel*. Naef visited and worked in Anton Dorn’s Zoological Station in Naples, Italy in 1908, studying the squid Loligo vulgaris, the subject of his dissertation.

Naef returned to the Naples Zoological Station in the mid 1920s to study cephalopods, publishing a two-part monograph in the Station’s 'Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel und der Angrenzenden Meers-Abschitte' ('Fauna e Flora del Golfo di Napoli') series, which formed the basis for his two short but significant monographs on systematic theory. In 1922 he became Professor at the University of Zagreb, and in 1927 was Professor of Zoology at the University of Cairo."

'I Cefalopodi' is hosted by the Biodiversity Heritage Library on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution
.

The overall series from Naples is dated 1896 (presumably when it began) and this mid-1920s monograph (Vol. 35) on cephalopods features about thirty lithographs, most in black & white. (The digital book consists of only illustration plates)

UPDATE (Sep. 2011) I am indebted to Carlo C who emailed to advise the following:
"Actually the book they are from is not monograph n.35 by Naef, but rather the 1896 monograph n.23 by Giuseppe Jatta.

The author of the magnificent color and b/w plates you posted is Comingio Merculiano (1845- 1915), a professional watercolor painter hired in 1885 by prof. Anton Dohrn as in-house illustrator for the Naples Zoological Station.

He has been one of the best scientific illustrators of all times and this book on cephalopods is probably his masterpiece."
UPDATE II: (Sep 2011) The Biodiversity Heritage Library blog featured 'I Cefalopodi' in its Book of the Week.
Perhaps via; I don't quite recall. Click through on the images above to see them the right way up!


Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel -- I Cefalopodi (sistematica) di Giuseppe Jatta 1896

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Dutch Dress

Traditional costumes in Holland in the 18th century


1803 milk maid and customer engraved illustration


engraving of 2 ladies at an old piano-type instrument



engraving of female fishmonger pleading for more money from customer



man with spade standing next to woman (early 1800s)



illustration of famer meeting peasant woman on the way to the market



pipe-smoking 19th c tricorned hat-wearing man meets outdoors with peasant woman (colour engraving)



illustration of 2 Dutch women, one selling butter; the other with enormous overhanging hat gestures with outstretched arm



engraved sketch of 2 ladies, 1 seated; both wearing customary 19th c Dutch clothing



man stands mending net; seated woman spins yarn (coloured engravings of Dutch customs 1803)



vicar doffs hat to woman at her front door (hand-coloured engraving)



well-dressed woman in sled alongside standing woman (engraving of 19th c Dutch customary clothes)

(click through for slightly enlarged versions; mouse-over for captions in French)



'Afbeeldingen van de kleeding, zeden en gewoonten in de Bataafsche Republiek, met den aanvang der negentiende eeuw' [Pictures of the dress, manners and customs of the Batavian Republic, at the beginning of the 19th c] by E Maaskamp, 1803 was recently uploaded through the Frisian Historical and Literary Centre {@Tresoar}

"The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland."
"..a nice series of hand-coloured plates showing various Dutch costumes and scenes from Dutch daily life, including ice-skating, a maid pouring milk, and a young girl playing the piano, engraved by Lodewijk Portman (1772 - ca. 1813), who excelled in illustrating customs and folk-lore.

These plates were published and re-issued several times by the famous firm of Evert Maaskamp in Amsterdam, specialized in publishing very beautiful hand-coloured plates of costumes, landscapes and views." [Source]

Previously: costumes.

 
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