New York and Brooklyn, with Jersey City and Hoboken Water Front

Nineteenth-century Americans were eager collectors of pictures of their country, with city views being exceedingly popular. The most dramatic vistas were aerial, or "bird's eye," scenes rendered from an elevated vantage point -- from a hilltop, steeple, hot-air balloon, or even an imaginary height -- because such images permitted a detailed glimpse of landmarks in the foreground as well as in the distance. This panoramic aerial view of New York City, looking east from New Jersey, features Manhattan, which is densely built up with buildings, sprinkled with church steeples. The lower foreground shows the ports and the railroad terminals of Jersey City and Hobokon, sited along the Hudson River, which is crowded with various sailing ships and steamboats. At the top of the print is Brooklyn, which is connected to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge spanning the East River filled with boat traffic, although this depiction of the bridge predated its actual 1883 completion. A detailed key, identifying 100 landmarks imprinted along the bottom margin, includes Central Park, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Grand Central Depot, City Hall, a huge Post Office (no longer extant), and Trinity Church. Towards the right of the image (the tip of Manhattan), viewers can note the elevated railroad, Battery Park and Castle Garden, the Staten Island Ferry, and beyond, Governor's Island with Castle William, Red Hook and the Atlantic Basin, where more ships approach New York's harbor. By the 1870s, as this print documents, New York was a leading international port and the largest city in the United States.

Nathaniel Currier, who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in 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. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs of 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. The artist team of Charles R. Parsons and Lyman Atwater, noted for their maritime scenes and city views, made over thirty images for Currier and Ives.