Liverpool from the Mersey Shore with Sailing Boats, Steel Engraving, circa 1850

Liverpool on the River Mersey, an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, circa 1850. The caption below the image reads LIVERPOOL.

The view is taken from the shore. A tall house with smoking chimneys stands on the bank at the left, and beyond it the waterfront of the town stretches into the distance with rows of buildings, a spire, a windmill and the masts of shipping. In the foreground a group of men and women stands talking beside a horse cart loaded with a barrel, while two men in hats talk near the water's edge with baskets and a boat at their feet. On the right several sailing boats packed with passengers cross the river, and further out a steamer trails smoke from its tall funnel beside a two-masted sailing ship.

The draftsman's credit at lower left, just below the image, reads "Reiss del."; the initial before the name is too faint to read. The imprint at lower left reads Aus d. Kunstanst. d. Bibl. Inst. in Hildbh. (from the art works of the Bibliographisches Institut in Hildburghausen), and at lower right Eigenthum d. Verleger (property of the publishers). The plate number CCCCLXVIII is engraved at the top right.

The sheet comes from a dealer's album rather than from a bound set. Meyer's Universum was a serial collection of engraved views with descriptive text, published by Joseph Meyer's Bibliographisches Institut at Hildburghausen from 1833, its plates engraved on steel. Liverpool stands on the east bank of the Mersey estuary, and its docks made it one of the great ports of Britain in the nineteenth century.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the left and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right. One larger brown mark.

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