Panoramic View by John Bachmann, c. 1875-1880
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John Bachmann (fl. 1849-1885) (artist, lithographer) |
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John Bachmann’s large panoramic bird’s-eye view of New York City, centered on the tip of Manhattan gives an imposing image of the island. The flanking Hudson and East Rivers bustle with a variety of sailing vessels and ships. Busy ports in New Jersey and Brooklyn flank lower Manhattan, while the distant areas of the metropolitan area are farm lands or undeveloped. Numerous buildings in lower Manhattan are shown in detail.
This view was probably published in the late 1870s, when the publisher, Herman Bencke had his business at the Fulton Street address. The Brooklyn Bridge, which had begun construction in 1870 and eventually opened to the public in 1883, is shown. It may not have yet been completed to the degree shown, but is shown as if finished.
The period from after the Civil War to about 1910 was the heyday of promotional bird’s-eye views of American towns. Historians estimate that some 4,500 views were produced nationwide during this period. In an era before aviation, the creation of these panoramas was an act of imagination, combining information from city maps, ground-level sketches of buildings and the rules of Renaissance perspective into a convincing aerial view. Some of these views were commissioned to promote settlement and development of towns, especially as part of the Westward Expansion of the United States, but they were also purchased by residents as emblems of civic pride. Hand-drawn views were largely supplanted by aerial photographs in the 20th Century.
John Bachmann, a German immigrant to the United States, was an artist and lithographer, credited with coining the term bird's-eye view, and was a prolific and prominent creator of such views. His first such panoramas were of Civil War battle areas in 1861. Bachmann produced a variety of bird’s-eye views of New York City from different vantage points. Bachmann’s smaller Panorama of New York and Vicinity, published by Christopher Kimmel and Thomas Forster, is offered on our web site here.
Herman Bencke was a New York City lithographer, who operated from a shop on Broadway in 1867 and at 207 Fulton Street c. 1875-1880. He lithographed several New York City panoramic views by John Bachmann and also published lithographic portraits, genre prints and advertising for the stage. One of the genre prints is in the collection of the Library of Congress.
Condition: Very good with the usual overall toning, fading, wear, soft creases. Minor abrasions and creasing in margins, and minor edgewear. Short tear left margin restored, few marginal chips at corners tipped in, can be matted out when framed.
References:
"Commercial Mapping." Civil War Maps. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/cwmhtml/cwmcm.html (6 May 2002).
Deák, Gloria Gilda. Picturing America. Princeton University Press: 1989. See Item 807 (Bachman larger view of New York City, 1866) and Item 844 (Bachmann view of Central Park published by Bencke, c. 1875).
"MAP #: 361B5." Maryland State Archives. 23 May 1996. http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/1399/reports/html/361b5.html (6 May 2002).
Peters, Harry T. America on Stone. U.S.: Doubleday, Doran, 1931. p. 92.
Wise, Donald A. “Bird’s-Eye Views of Oklahoma Towns.” Originally published in The Chronicles of Oklahoma, vol. 67, no. 3 (Fall 1989): 228- 247. Online Compilation of Historical Documents by Don Wise. 4 June 1998. http://home.earthlink.net/~dawise/view.htm (7 December 2004).