Environs of Boston, from Corey's Hill, Brookline, Mass

Item Information

Title:

Environs of Boston, from Corey's Hill, Brookline, Mass

Description:

Richardson's 1864 landscape view of Bostons environs provides another example of a ground-level or low-elevation urban view published during the 1850s and 1860s when bird's eyes views were just beginning to gain popularity. Published in 1864 at the end of the Civil War, this pastoral landscape belies the notion that Boston was an active participant in a turbulent and destructive war that the Union barely survived. In this presentation, Boston is viewed from the southwest. Using Corey Hill in Brookline as his vantage point, the artist places Brookline's semi-rural landscape in the foreground, with the yet unfilled Back Bay and city proper fading into the horizon. While Brookline appears to be a residential community composed primarily of private dwellings and churches, Boston proper is more densely settled, with smoke stacks, church steeples, and commercial buildings punctuating the skyline. Little is known about the artist. His various Boston addresses during the 1860s list him as a drawing master and teacher. Richardson traveled to Maryland and Virginia in May and June 1865, sketching scenery, military installations, and urban structures following the close of the Civil War

Creator:

Richardson, Freeman.

Name on Item:

Freeman Richardson, del.

Date:

1864

Format:

Maps

Location:

Boston Public Library
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center

Collection (local):

Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection

Subjects:

Panoramas--Massachusetts--Boston
Boston (Mass.)--Aerial views

Places:

Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston

Extent:

1 view : col. ; 48 x 97 cm.

Permalink:

https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/x059cb08v

Terms of Use:

No known copyright restrictions.
No known restrictions on use.

Publisher:

Boston, Mass : Freeman Richardson

Scale:

Not drawn to scale.

Language:

English

Notes:

Bird's-eye view.
"Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864, by Freeman Richardson, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court, of the District of Mass."
"American Views no. 2."
Gift from Bank of America.

Notes (exhibitions):

Exhibited: "Boston & Beyond: A Bird’s Eye View of New England" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, 2008.

Identifier:

06_01_001911

Call #:

G3764.B6A3 1864 .R5

Barcode:

39999058993229

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