BIRCH, William R. (1755-1834); Thomas BIRCH (1779-1851)

Frontispiece. The City & Port of Philadelphia, on the River Delaware from Kensington

Pennsylvania: W. Birch, Springland Cot, near Neshaminy Bridge on the Bristol Road, 1800. Hand-coloured copper engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 13 7/8 x 17 inches.

Plate 2 from the very rare first American colour-plate book, with views that are "uniquely valuable among American historical prints" (Martin Snyder).

A finely coloured frontispiece to Birch's celebrated series of Philadelphia views, showing the city's harbour and Delaware River frontage from Kensington, with the great elm traditionally associated with William Penn's treaty dominating the foreground. Birch's view looks south-west across the Delaware from Kensington, placing the river, shipyards, and port activity in the foreground, and the city itself across the water beyond. Timber, casks, small craft, workmen, a horse, an American flag, and moored vessels animate the scene, while the large tree at right frames the composition and gives the view its historical resonance. This plate is taken from the first and one of the most important of all American color plate books, the first book to be entirely produced and published in the United States. William Russell Birch, who conceived this splendid celebration of the city of Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, was a native of England. When he arrived in America in 1794, he brought with him a strong academic training in art which he used to found an engraving firm. Birch hoped that his carefully planned and executed portfolio would serve as an advertisement "by which an idea of the improvements of the country could be conveyed to Europe, to promote and encourage settlers to the establishment of trade and commerce."

Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: His Philadelphia Views," in Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Vol. 73, No. 3, July 1949 (Snyder 2a).

Item #42947

Price: $3,000.00