Albany from Van Rensselaer's Island, Dutch Treaty Vignette, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered below the view "ALBANY, FROM VAN RENSSALAER'S ISLAND." The view looks across calm water from a wooded shore. In the center a flat ferry boat carries a pair of oxen, while two men work it along a line toward the opposite bank. A plain two story house with a chimney stands at the water's edge on the left, beside a dirt road and a couple of distant figures. Across the river the town spreads along the far bank, with two steeples on the high ground. Tall, dense trees fill the right half of the picture, a man stands at their foot on a spit of land, and leafy plants frame the foreground.

Above the view is a symmetrical ornament of acanthus scrollwork with no figure. Below at left, a vignette lettered "DUTCH TREATY WITH THE INDIANS." shows a Dutch settler in a tall hat and ruff exchanging a pipe with a standing Native American man, others seated nearby and a man and woman watching from behind. At right, "SURRENDER TO THE ENGLISH." shows a kneeling man offering a document to an English officer in a plumed hat before ranks of pikemen. No artist or engraver credit is lettered under the view. The imprint at the foot reads "J. & F. TALLIS, LONDON & NEW YORK." The title spells Rensselaer as "RENSSALAER'S", as engraved.

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.

A fine choice for a collection of Hudson River or New York State views.

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