Yale College and State House, New Haven, Settlers En Route Vignette, circa 1850

This is an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered below the view "YALE COLLEGE & STATE HOUSE, NEWHAVEN, CONNECTICUT." Across an open green, a row of long college buildings stands behind a white fence at left, broken by a tall square tower, a smaller domed cupola and a church steeple. At right a large columned building with a temple front faces the green beside a tall elm, with a second steeple behind it. Massed trees fill the center, and small figures and a carriage move along the paths under a broad, cloudy sky.

Above the view the border holds an uncaptioned emblem of a young man in a broad hat leaning on an axe beside a felled tree stump. Below at left, "SETTLERS EN ROUTE." shows a party of mounted and armed men with a covered wagon passing through woodland. At right, "PURCHASING THE LANDS." shows colonists with a document meeting Native Americans outside a thatched house, with goods laid on the ground. Credit lines are lettered just under the view: "Drawn by J.A.Davis NY" at left and "Engraved & Printed by Fenner Sears & Cº" at right, the London engravers and printers Fenner, Sears and Co. The number 19 is engraved at the top right of the frame. 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, 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. The title names New Haven, engraved here as one word, "NEWHAVEN".

A clear and balanced view of a New England college town that would suit a study, a library or a Connecticut collection.

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