A Distant View of Niagara Falls, Major Andre Seized and Executed, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered below the view "A DISTANT VIEW OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA." The falls are seen from far downstream: a wide curtain of water and rising spray crosses the center, with a wooded island between two falls at left. The river runs toward the viewer between high, densely wooded banks. On a rocky ledge in the foreground two small Native American figures look out over the gorge, one pointing toward the falls, and a bird flies over the water. A dark, stormy sky with a bright break of light fills the upper half.

The uncaptioned emblem above the view shows a snake coiled in long grass before a rock. Small standing figures are set into the side ornament: a Native American man wrapped in a blanket with a gun at left, and a soldier in a cocked hat at right. Below at left, "MAJOR ANDRÉ SEIZED" shows three armed men stopping a rider in civilian dress whose horse rears. At right, "AND EXECUTED AS A SPY." shows a guarded procession of soldiers and a central figure walking toward a gallows, the two captions reading as one sentence. No artist or engraver credit is lettered under the view. The number 37 is engraved at the top right of the frame. The imprint at the foot reads "J & F. TALLIS, LONDON, EDINBURGH & DUBLIN."

The plate belongs to the History of the United States of America, edited by John Howard Hinton (1791 to 1873), the English Baptist minister and author, and published by J. and F. Tallis about 1850. J. and F. Tallis were London publishers of illustrated works sold in parts around the middle of the nineteenth century, and the plates of this edition set a central steel engraved view inside an engraved ornamental border with small lettered vignettes of episodes from American history. Major John André was a British officer captured in New York in 1780 and hanged as a spy.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.