(Amherst - Autumn Scenery) Drawn by Mrs. Hitchcock, printed by Pendleton's Lithography, Boston 1833. $185.00

Plate II  “Autumnal Scenery, View in Amherst.”

Evocative and charming hand colored lithograph of the town of Amherst and the college. This lovely view was included as an illustration to a seemingly dry scientific work titled, Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts, written by Edward Hitchock (1793-1864) and illustrated  by his wife Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863). It would seem, that the Mrs. was the romantic in the family, as she drew a lovely view of autumn scenery. In an essay for the Atlantic in 1862, Thoreau wrote: “Europeans coming to America are surprised by the brilliancy of our autumnal foliage. There is no account of such a phenomenon in English poetry, because the trees acquire but few bright colors there. October is the month of painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes round the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight.”

Lithograph hand colored.
8 ¾ x 10 inches sheet.
Very good condition.