SCENOGRAPHIA AMERICANA - Captain Thomas HOWDELL, after.

A South West View of the City of New York, in North America

London: printed for John Bowles, Robert Sayer, Thos. Jefferys, Carington Bowles and Henry Parker, [circa 1768]. An engraved view by Canot after Howdell. Sheet sizes: 19 1/4 x 26 1/8 inches.

The famed Howdell-Canot South West view of New York.

Published following the conclusion of the French and Indian War, and in a period of great public interest in the American colonies, the Scenographia Americana was the first book dedicated to a large-scale artistic depiction of the American landscape. From the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the West indies, the scenes include locations of battles, views of strategic provincial capitals, and newly secured areas of commercial importance. Just as clear is the celebration of nature's 'astonishingly great' expanse, to cite Pownall, great in width and in height. Little is known of Howdell's life other than the outline of his military career. His name first appears in the Army Lists in 1747 and continues until 1771. In 1763 he commanded the seventh company of the third battalion of the Royal Artillery, stationed in New York. He produced this view of the city published in the Scenographia Americana. This southwest view is from Mount Pitt which shows the Rutgers house built in 1754-5, looking across the harbour to the roofs of the city with Trinity Church and the New (or Middle) Dutch Church prominent on the skyline. The dating of this issue, with the added imprint, is ascribed from the mid-1760s to as late as 1774, i.e. after Carington Bowles took over the business in St. Paul's Churchyard but before Sayer began trading as Sayer & Bennett.

Deak 116; Stokes Iconography I. pp. 295-296 (plate 38).

Item #41856

Price: $4,800.00