[United States Virgin Islands]:

$7,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

[COLLECTION OF SIX LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF ST. CROIX, ST. JOHNS, AND ST. THOMAS IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS]. Six lovely views of the islands which would become the U.S. Virgin Islands, done while the region was still part of the Danish West Indies. A note indicates that two of the images were lithographed from daguerreotypes. The views are:1) "Christianssted. (St. Croix)." A panoramic view of the harbor, showing a large church and Danish fort.2) "St. Jan. (Parti af det Indre)." A wide view of the lush landscape, showing settlers cooking over an open fire in the foreground.3) "Cruxbay. (St. Jan)." A pastoral scene of activity just outside the settlement walls.4) "Parti af St. Thomas." A cityscape of the port of St. Thomas, displaying the city's impressive architecture.5) "Parti ved Frederikssted. (St. Croix)." A river scene, showing five men in a rowboat trolling for fish and a large Danish fort to the far right.6) "St. Thomas. (Parti af Byen og Havnen)." A close-up view of the harbor, showing a bustling downtown area and a full port, including an early steamer.An attractive and rare set, excerpted from Baerentzen's lithographic tour of the Danish empire, published in 1856 under the title DANMARK. There are very few visual images of the U.S. Virgin Islands from this early date. OCLC locates only three copies of DANMARK.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.