Harvard University, Cambridge, Puritans Landing in America Vignette, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered below the view "HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS." A square stone hall with a pedimented front, round arched lower windows and a domed cupola stands at the center behind a long white fence. To the left are a temple fronted building and plain brick halls among large trees; to the right, a long building with a columned ground floor and, at the edge, a tall gabled hall. Figures stroll inside the fence, a horseman rides along it, and a family group walks across the open ground in the foreground under a wide, cloudy sky.

The uncaptioned emblem above the view gathers scientific apparatus among leafy sprays: a globe, a retort over a flame, flasks, books and a tall glass vessel. Two small standing figures on brackets flank the view, a young man holding a portfolio at left and one reading from a sheet at right. Below at left, a vignette lettered "PURITANS LANDING IN AMERICA." shows a family of settlers coming ashore from a ship, men wading with bundles. At right, "LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1638." shows a man gesturing toward a block of stone hung from a tripod hoist, onlookers behind. No artist or engraver credit is lettered under the view. The imprint at the foot reads "J. & F. TALLIS, LONDON & NEW YORK."

It was issued in Hinton's 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. The Tallis firm, London publishers of illustrated works sold in parts around the middle of the nineteenth century, set each central steel engraved view of this edition inside an engraved ornamental border carrying small lettered vignettes of episodes from American history.

A natural choice for a Harvard graduate or a collection of Massachusetts views.

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