Childs, C.G.:

$5,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

VIEWS IN PHILADELPHIA, AND ITS VICINITY; ENGRAVED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS. A handsome large-paper copy of this quite early example of American lithography, and one of the nicest series of city views produced in the nineteenth century. The work itself, originally issued in six parts, each with four plates, features engravings of prominent churches, the state house, the Bank of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania, the United States Mint, and the Academy of Natural Sciences, among other important buildings. A plan of the Eastern Penitentiary was also included in the fifth part, calling for twenty-five plates in a complete copy.The present copy is extra-illustrated with an additional twenty-four plates laid in, being additional copies of Childs's plates, or later versions of the plates produced for other publications. This allows for a side-by-side comparison of many of Childs's views with later versions of his images, and an examination of changes made to the views over the years.In his MIRROR OF AMERICA, Martin Snyder describes the order of the plates in bound copies as "erratic." The bound order of the plates in this copy is as follows:1) "Philadelphia from Kensington."2) "Swedish Lutheran Church."3) "Christ Church."4) "Friends Meeting House Merion."5) "Saints Stephens Church."6) "First Congregational Unitarian Church."7) "State House or Hall of Independence."8) "Fair Mount Water Works. From the West Bank of the Schuylkill."9) "Fair Mount Water-works. From the Reservoi

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