New York and Brooklyn
After Parsons & Atwater American
Lithographer Currier & Ives American
Publisher Currier & Ives American
Not on view
This bird's eye view of New York extends from the New Jersey Hudson Riverfront along the bottom edge, then shows Manhattan, the East River and Brooklyn, with Staten Island and the Narrows at upper riight. The water is filled with sail and steam powered vessels and 103 landmarks are keyed below. Although still under construction at this date, the Brooklyn Bridge is shown as finished.
The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company.
