Lake George, New York, Fort William Henry and Ticonderoga Vignettes, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered in an oval cartouche below the view "LAKE GEORGE." From a rocky, wooded bank in the foreground a seated man with a small box beside him looks out over a broad, calm lake. A single sailboat and a small rowing boat are on the water, a low island lies in the middle distance, and a range of mountains closes the far shore beneath heavy, sunlit clouds. At right two slender pines and a dead trunk rise over thick brush.

The emblem above the view shows a snarling wolf above a skull, with an animal in the distance; it is uncaptioned. Small standing figures are set into the side ornament: a soldier with a musket at left and a Native American man with a gun at right. Below at left, "MONTCALM'S TREACHERY AT FORT WILLIAM HENRY, 1757." shows a struggle at the foot of a fort tower, with an officer on horseback and fallen soldiers. At right, "MAJOR GENERAL AMHURST TAKES TICONDERVGA, 1759." shows a column of soldiers advancing with bayonets toward a walled fort on a height. No artist or engraver credit is lettered under the view. 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. The vignettes recall two events of the French and Indian War: the killing of members of the British garrison after the surrender of Fort William Henry in 1757, and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by British forces under Jeffery Amherst in 1759.

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