The Water Works, in Centre Square Philadelphia

by William R. Birch, Thomas Birch

$1,500 · Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books

Plate 28 from the very rare first American colour-plate book, with views that are uniquely valuable among American historical prints Martin Snyder . Birch's view presents the building as a polished emblem of urban order. Figures stroll in the foreground, a child plays with a hoop, and carriages move along the tree-lined square. The image records a transitional moment in Philadelphia's history, when the former national capital was presenting itself through architecture,

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