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The Erie Canal at Little Falls

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Old Lithographs, Paintings, Woodcuts, Etc.

(click on the image below to see the full-size version)

View of the Aqueduct bridge at Little Falls Rapids and Rocks of the Mohawk View of the Erie Canal at the Little Falls on the Mohawk River
"View of the Aqueduct bridge at Little Falls", by James Eights, 1824. From "A Geological and Agricultural Survey of the District Adjoining the Erie Canal in the State of New York" by Stephen Rensselaer (Printed by Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1824) -- courtesy of the Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, University of Rochester Library. "Rapides et Rochers du Mohawk" from: Etats-Unis d'Amerique / by Roux de Rochelle (Firmin Didot Freres, Paris, 1837) -- plate 93. Image size: 3 3/4 x 5 1/4 in. View of the Erie Canal, at the Little Falls on the Mohawk River -- a later copy of the W.G. Wall print below. From Statistical profile: Erie Canal enlargement, Eastern Division, commencing in the City of Albany and terminating at Higginsville, Oneida Co." (H. C. Seymour, 1851).
View of the Canal, At the Little Falls Mohawk River The Erie Canal, and the Little Falls on the River Mohawk Village of Little Falls
"View of the Canal, At the Little Falls Mohawk River" by W.G. Wall, engraved by T.S. Woodcock, N.Y. -- From "A system of universal geography, or, A description of all the parts of the world ..." by M. Malte-Brun (Boston: S. Walker, etc.,1834).
Left: original print ; Right: hand-colored
"Village of Little Falls" -- from: A new and popular pictorial description of the United States / edited by Robert Sears. -- 3rd ed. (New York : Robert Sears, 1848) -- p. 167. Image size: 5 1/4 x 8 1/2 in.
Little Falls - Bird's eye view At Little Falls Little Falls
"Little Falls, Herkimer Co. N.Y. from the south side of the river" / designed and drawn on stone by Stanley Fox -- publisher unknown ; 1862 [CSNYS] -- The aqueduct across the Mohawk River can be seen at left center. Little Falls -- from: Picturesque America, or, The land we live in / edited by William Cullen Bryant. (Revised edition. -- New York : D. Appleton and Co., c1894) -- Left: Little Falls aqueduct, (4 3/4 x 10 in.) on p. 651 ; Right: View of Little Falls (7 x 9 1/2 in.), on p. 652. -- Note that the aqueduct can be glimpsed in the extreme center right of the overall view of Little Falls.
View on the Erie Canal near Little Falls View on the Erie Canal near Little Falls
"View on the Erie Canal near Little Falls", by W. H. Bartlett, engraved by J. T. Willmore, 1839. From "American scenery, or, Land, lake, and river illustrations of transatlantic nature" from drawings by W. H. Bartlett engraved in the first style of the art, by R. Wallis, J. Cousen, Willmore [and others] ; the literary department by N.P. Willis (London : George Virtue, 1839). Steel plate engraving, 4 3/4 x 7 1/2 in.
Left: original engraving; Right: hand-colored version.
Erie Canal near Little Falls Erie Canal near Little Falls
"Erie Canal near Little Falls" -- Artist: n/a (but apparently based on W.H. Bartlett), Engraver: n/a. From: Meyer's universum, or, Views of the most remarkable places and objects of all countries / engraved in steel by distinguished artists, with descriptive and historical text, by writers in Europe and America ; edited by Charles A. Dana. New York :H. J. Meyer, [1852]-1853. Engraving, 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. "Bluff on the Erie Canal, near Little Falls" -- from: The Erie Canal (in: America Illustrated / edited by J. David Williams. -- DeWolfe, Fisk & Co., Boston, c1883. p.90) -- an almost exact copy of the Little Falls setting of W.H. Bartlett, but updated by the substitution of a steam-powered canal boat for the horse-drawn one in Bartlett's original engraving. Engraving, 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.

"The passage of the Canal, under the lofty bluff which, springs at this place from the edge of the Mohawk, is one of the most beautiful of the many beautiful features disclosed to the voyager on this great outlet of the West. No traveler sees a greater variety of fine objects within the same distance than the follower of the Canal from Schenectady to Buffalo; and certainly none sees them with more ease and comfort to himself. The packet-boats are long drawing- rooms, where he dines, sleeps, reads, lolls, or looks out of the window; and if in want of exercise, he may at any time get a quick walk on the tow-path, and all this without perceptible motion, jar, or smell of steam. Of all the modes of travelling in America, the least popular and the most delightful, to our thinking, is traveling on the Canal." -- From the text by N.P. Willis, which accompanied the Bartlett engraving above.

View on the Erie Canal, near Little Falls Left: "View on the Erie Canal, near Little Falls" -- from: The New York Journal (no publisher info.) -- approximately 1854? ; p. 216 -- The accompanying article states: "The region near Little Falls in Herkimer County, through which the Erie Canal passes, is the most romantic, wild, and interesting section which this immense artery of our State penetrates. Our artist has given the striking features of the scene with admirable fidelity ..." Read the full accompanying article.

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