The Low Pressure Steamboat "Isaac Newton" Passing the Palisades on the Hudson River, New York

Steamboats played a major role in the development of passenger travel and cargo shipment along America's great rivers, such as the Mississippi and the Hudson. Built in 1846, the Hudson River steamer "Isaac Newton" soon became a favored mode of passenger travel and cargo transport between New York City and Albany. This print was made shortly after the boat was refurbished in 1855 with grand interiors and lengthened to 405 feet (from its former 338 feet); its paddlewheels measured thirty-nine feet in diameter. As this print shows, the large white sidewheeler riverboat (the name "Isaac Newton" boldly displayed) is shown broadside as it heads left downriver; the rocky cliffs of The Palisades (on the western shores of the Hudson River in southeastern New York/northern New Jersey) are in the background. Passengers are visible on its decks at the prow and stern. Tragically, on December 5, 1863, the "Isaac Newton" was completely destroyed by a disastrous boiler explosion; although many passengers survived the fire that burned the vessel to its waterline and destroyed all its cargo, nine people died, and almost twenty others were severely injured.

Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began 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 and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel recruited his younger brother Charles into the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.