Philadelphia Centennial Fairground 1876 Celebration Balloon View great HC view

The Centennial - Balloon View of the Grounds.

(Old Prints, 19th Century Prints, Americana, Centennial Celebration, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Fairgrounds, Hot Air Balloon, Bird's Eye View).

Issued 1876, New York by Harper & Brothers. From a photograph by R. Newell, drawn by R. Davis. Issued as a supplement to a weekly newspaper.

Spectacular and rare monumental mid 19th century bird's eye view print with exceptionally attractive hand color. Wood engraved, blank on reverse.

The image appeared as a supplement to Harper's Weekly and is rarely found so well preserved with such detailed hand coloring. 

Remains a very nice looking example with a pleasing age patina, should be handled with care. There are some short archival tape sealed splits along a couple fold lines, other short minor closed edge splits, but overall the visual appearance is simply wonderful. Given how fragile the format is, this example is about as nice as one might reasonably hope to encounter. Any age flaws are to our eyes easy to overlook or forgive.

Original fold lines as issued.

Sheet Measures c. 23"H x 32 1/2"W.

Engraved Area Measures c. 19 3/4"H x 31 1/2"W.

Cartographic Reference(s):
Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers, vol. 2.

[R32274].