View of Harrisburg, Pa.
Item
Title
View of Harrisburg, Pa.
Creator
Artist unknown
American, 19th century?
After Edwin Whitefield
American, b. England, 1816–1892
Printed by E. Jones & G. W. Newman, New York
From the series North American Scenery
Published by H. Long & Brother
American, 19th century?
After Edwin Whitefield
American, b. England, 1816–1892
Printed by E. Jones & G. W. Newman, New York
From the series North American Scenery
Published by H. Long & Brother
Date
1846
Materials
Lithograph with hand coloring
Measurements
8-7/8 x 11 in. (22.5 x 28 cm)
Description
These views of Harrisburg, together with the depiction of waterfalls on the Lackawanna River to the right, are three of the twenty-eight locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Connecticut that were featured in Edwin Whitefield’s North American Scenery. The views were issued, four at a time, in seven monthly installments beginning in January 1846, together with explanatory texts for each of the scenes by the well-known New York bibliophile John Keese.
While the prospectus for North American Scenery called for “engravings printed in tints,” the sheets are in fact hand-colored lithographs. And although Whitefield would later become proficient in lithography, it’s likely that, at this point in his career, his drawings were transferred to stone by artists in the employ of the companies contracted to print the lithographs. As was customary at the time, each sheet would have then been decorated, usually in watercolor, by a second group of artists following a colored model supplied by Whitefield.
While the prospectus for North American Scenery called for “engravings printed in tints,” the sheets are in fact hand-colored lithographs. And although Whitefield would later become proficient in lithography, it’s likely that, at this point in his career, his drawings were transferred to stone by artists in the employ of the companies contracted to print the lithographs. As was customary at the time, each sheet would have then been decorated, usually in watercolor, by a second group of artists following a colored model supplied by Whitefield.
Source
Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, partial gift and purchase from John C. O’Connor and Ralph M. Yeager.
Identifier
86.612
Rights
This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.