1850s Hand Colored Print
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Panoramic View of Broadway, New York City, Commencing at Astor Place |
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Three colorful panoramic views on a single sheet, of Broadway in lower Manhattan, New York City, “commencing at the Astor House.” The top view shows Astor House, Barclay Street, Broadway Bank, Park Place, and Murray Street; the middle view shows Warren Street, Chemical Bank, Chamber Street and Irving House; and the bottom view depicts the Lafayette Buildings, Duane Street and “Hospital.” The streets in front of the buildings teem with passersby, horse-drawn carts and street vendors. Published by the illustrated newspaper Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, this may have originally appeared as a centerfold illustration. Based in Boston, Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion was a “family miscellany” periodical, belonging to a mid-19th-century genre of illustrated weekly newspapers, such as Harper’s Weekly in America and the Illustrated London News abroad. Gleason’s began publication in 1851 and for a few years was the leading U.S. publication of its type. Each issue consisted of 16 pages, approximately 12” x 16”, with domestic and foreign news, stories, poems, and woodcut engravings of contemporary scenes and events, “the whole well spiced with wit and humor” as the newspaper itself put it. It was purchased by its editor, Maturin Ballou, in 1855 and renamed Ballou’s Pictorial, which continued operating until 1859. References: Baxley, George C. “The Illustrated Weekly Newspapers Including Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room and Others .” Baxley Stamps. 1999-2005. http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/gleason_gen.shtml (27 January 2005). |