Main entry:

Reps, John William.

Title & Author:

Bird's eye views : historic lithographs of North American cities / by John W. Reps.

Publication:

New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.

Description:

115 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 33 x 38 cm

Notes:
Contains panoramas of more than 100 cities showing streets, buildings, etc.
Includes bibliographical references.
Urban viewmaking: artists and publishers of the American scene -- North American cities: the transformation of urban communities in the nineteenth century -- Metropolitan change and expansion: cities of the east -- Reconstruction and rebuilding: cities of the south -- Urbanizing middle America: cities of the midwest -- Settling the last frontier: cities of the west, plains, and rockies.
English.

Summary:

"As new towns and cities spread across the American frontier in the nineteenth century, itinerant artists soon followed, documenting these growing urban centers by drawing aerial perspectives, also known as bird's eye views. Commissioned by land speculators, local businesses, civic organizations, and individual citizens, these renderings fostered both civic pride and local commerce. The use of color lithography, a recent invention popularized by such prominent publishers as Currier & Ives, allowed the inexpensive reproduction of the highest-quality drawings, so that a bird's eye view was within the financial budget of even the smallest towns. These extraordinarily detailed lithographs eventually numbered in the thousands and now serve as a rich pictorial record of North America as it stood a century ago. This sequel to our highly acclaimed title An Atlas of Rare City Maps collects over 100 views dating between 1835 and 1902, showing the streets, buildings, churches, bridges, waterways, and surrounding countryside of North American towns, ranging from burgeoning metropolitan centers to small logging towns and mining camps. Baltimore, Brooklyn, Denver, Indianapolis, Memphis, Montreal, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Syracuse, and Washington are just a few of the cities presented in this collection. The exquisite color and fine detail of these bird's eye views have been reproduced in all their original glory; also included is an introduction by John W. Reps providing a background on the artistic process and on urban development in the nineteenth century."--Book jacket.

ISBN:

1568981465 Cloth
9781568981468 Cloth

Subject:

City and town life in art.
Lithography, American.
Lithography, American 19th century.
Vie urbaine dans l'art.
Lithographie américaine.
Lithographie américaine 19e siècle.
Lithography 19th century United States.
United States In art.
Canada In art.
Canada
United States

Form/genre:

Art
Books.

Added entries:

Historic lithographs of North American cities

Holdings:

Location: Library main m 176399
Call No.: NE2454 .R45 1998
Status: Available