VIEW NEAR THE FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL

Shaw, Joshua

Published by Mathew Carey, Philadelphia, 1820

About this Item

Colored engraving, 12 x 15 1/4 inches to the plate mark on an approximately 14 1/2 x 18-inch sheet. One chip in top margin and three chips in right margin, all outside the plate mark and under the mat line. A very good, fresh illustration. Matted. An important and scarce early American color print, based on a painting by Joshua Shaw, a British landscape artist who came to the United States in 1817. He conceived the idea of a published series of American views, which he executed over the next few years and which were published in Philadelphia as a series of nineteen plates entitled PICTURESQUE VIEWS OF AMERICAN SCENERY. The original edition of 1819 was issued by Moses Thomas and exists in only a few copies. The present plate is from the 1820 second issue published by Mathew Carey, also very rare. In this subtly colored scene a rider walks his horse through a wooded opening toward a valley. The Schuylkill Falls are shown in the distance, and a thickly wooded forest lies beyond. The valley is illuminated by sunlight pouring through a break in the cloudy sky. Complete sets of PICTURESQUE VIEWS. have appeared on the market only twice in the past fifty years and have brought in the neighborhood of $200,000 each time. Individual plates are somewhat less rare, but still very scarce on the market. A wonderful view of a verdant Pennsylvania. DEÁK, PICTURING AMERICA 315. HOWES S345 (PICTURESQUE VIEWS OF AMERICAN SCENERY). MILES & REESE, AMERICA PICTURED TO THE LIFE 5. REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 5. Seller Inventory # WRCAM31044

Bibliographic Details

Title: VIEW NEAR THE FALLS OF SCHUYLKILL

Publisher: Mathew Carey, Philadelphia

Publication Date: 1820