University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Surrender of Cornwallis, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered below the view "UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE." The view looks down a long open lawn lined on both sides by pavilions with pediments and columns, joined by low colonnades with railed roof walks. At the far end stands a domed building with a columned portico, flanked by long arcades. Men, a dog and a man with a barrow move about the lawn, and a small group sits in the right foreground.

Above the view, the emblem vignette shows a seated woman holding a staff topped by a cap, beside an eagle and an oval shield lettered "GEORGE WASHINGTON" around a laurel wreath. Two round scenes are set into the lower corners of the border: at left soldiers storming a fortification under flags, captioned "STORMING THE REDOUBTS AT YORKTOWN"; at right officers meeting before lines of soldiers and flags, captioned "SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS". The script credit under the lower left corner of the view reads "Drawn by W. Goodacre N.Y." The imprint reads "J. & F. TALLIS, LONDON & NEW YORK."

The plate comes from 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 plates of this edition set a central steel engraved view inside an engraved ornamental border with small lettered vignettes of episodes from American history, as here. Both vignettes refer to the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, which ended with the British surrender under Lord Cornwallis in 1781.

The long symmetrical perspective of the lawn gives the sheet a calm, orderly balance.

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