(Louisville, Kentucky) Appleton & Co., 1872. $135.00

"City of Louisville"

A finely detailed steel engraving from Picturesque America, or the Land We Live In, published in New York by D. Appleton and Company between 1872 and 1874. The text was edited by the notable William Cullen Bryant but the book is best known and most highly valued for its illustrations. The illustrators usually traveled to the sites they were to depict so their engravings were accurate, if somewhat idealized. Picturesque America was a very influential work, proudly displayed on the parlor tables in the homes of the well-to-do across the country. 

A pretty view of Kentucky's largest city. The artist and print maker celebrate the burgeoning industry along the Ohio River by focusing on the many solid buildings lining its banks their billowing smokestacks attesting to their robust activity, the paddle wheelers and other ships lying the waters and the massive bridge overhead wide enough to carry the trains that are moving in both directions. 

9 x 12 3/4 inches, sheet.
Hand colored steel engraving.
Excellent condition.