View of New York from Weehawken–North River

This panorama shows the Manhattan skyline as it looked in 1849 from a vantage point of a rocky, wooded New Jersey bluff across the lower Hudson River (or North River, as it was then also called). Even from a distance, people standing on this site would be able to identify several of the city landmark buildings of the rapidly growing city. To aid print viewers of this print, a key imprinted below the image identifies many buildings and specific sights. The artist, Frances "Fanny" Flora Palmer, also depicted two paddleboats -- one named "New World" (left) and the other "Isaac Newton" (right) -- as they navigated the the river. To enliven the scene, Palmer included a group of men and women enjoying the outdoor setting with its sweeping vista. As another point of historical interest: this is the site where, in 1804, Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Nathaniel Currier, who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the brother-in-law of Nathaniel's brother Charles. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, or rural and city views, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments.


Although it was unusual for a woman to achieve such prominence in a printing firm, Palmer would eventually fill an important role for the Currier and Ives firm, as she created the firm's best landscapes and most engaging scenes of daily life.When she moved to New York from England in 1844, she was already an accomplished artist and printmaker. Initially, Fanny and her husband Seymour operated a small print-shop in lower Manhattan, similar to one they had run in Leicester (United Kingdom). In 1849, the couple moved to Brooklyn after the business closed. Nathaniel Currier began to buy print designs from Palmer around this time, including this impressive view. She later became a staff artist for Currier & Ives after 1857. As a designer able to transfer images to lithographic stones for printing, Palmer produced more than 200 prints for the firm and today is regarded as a leading woman lithographer of the period.