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[New York City View] [US Capitol] U SBiblio.com

View of the Federal Edifice in New York.

1789ref. 3750Contemporary Image of the First Capitol of the United States In September 1788 Congress selected New York City as the temporary site of the new government. "The citizens of New York desirous of testifying their attachment to the new national government and of making their city the place of permanent residence of the Federal Legislature have enlarged and repaired their city Hall and made it a convenient and elegant structure worthy of the respectable body for whose use it is designed." Columbian Magazine p. 473. The conversion of City Hall to the "Federal Edifice" or Federal Hall was directed by L'Enfant at a cost of $65000. The Executive offices the Senate and House chambers and the Supreme Court were all housed in this building. It was the nation's first Capitol under the Constitution. Although New York City's tenure as the new nation's capital was brief lasting only until 1790 Federal Hall was the site of several highly significant historic events. Washington's inauguration was held on the balcony of Federal Hall and he gave his inaugural address in the Senate chambers. Also the Hall was the meeting place of the first Congress; it was here that Congress adopted the Bill of Rights. There is no engraver noted on the image but several other engravings in TheColumbian Magazine from this time period have been ascribed to James Trenchard the Magazine's publisher. The image appeared a year before Amos Doolittle's famous and virtually unobtainable engraving which portrays Washington's inauguration on the balcony of Federal Hall. References: Cresswell The American Revolution in Drawings and Prints: 554 illustrated p. 203. Lewis Guide to Engravings in American Magazines 1741-1810: p. 6. For the Doolittle engraving see Deak Picturing America 1497-1899: 181. Condition: A strong clean image with original fold lines present. Lower half of left margin replaced with a portion of the inner and outer neat lines and a tiny portion of the image manually recreated. Otherwise very good. ICN 3112. From the August, 1789 issue of The Columbian Magazine.

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[View: Harvard College] [Magazine: Early American]Biblio.com

View of the ancient Buildings belonging to Harvard College Cambridge New-England. included with The Columbian Magazine for December 1788.

1788ref. 3741Harvard College -- "the earliest engraving of the College which one may reasonably hope to obtain" This engraving entitled "View of the ancient Buildings belonging to Harvard College Cambridge New-England" appeared in the December 1788 issue of The Columbian Magazine. Bail notes that the view is based on the Burgis-Price print of 1743 which in turn was a slight modification of the Burgis view of 1726. The view taken from a point in front of the present Johnston Gate shows three College buildings in 1726 from left to right: the second Harvard College the first Stoughton Hall and the still-standing Massachusetts Hall. Although unsigned the engraving is undoubtedly the work of James Trenchard a co-owner of The Columbian Magazine and the engraver of nearly all the plates which appeared in it. Of the Columbian Magazine view Bail states: "In spite of the fact that the print is solely an adaptation it is important because of its early appearance and relative scarcity. This is the earliest engraving of the College which one may reasonably hope to obtain." The engraving is accompanied by a disbound example of the December 1788 Columbian Magazine in which it appeared. It includes a 5-page "An Account of the ancient Colleges of Cambridge in New-England." Most of this is a republication of material from "a very scarce and valuable pamphlet" printed in London in 1642. In addition to a description of the College "The edifice is very fair and comely within and without." the rules and curriculum of the College are provided. A very desirable engraving of Harvard with an example of the magazine in which it originally appeared. References: For the engraving: Bail Views of Harvard: 13; Plate XVII illustrated. Fielding American Engravers upon Copper and Steel: 1819. Condition: Image is age-toned with some generally light foxing. Darkening to margins outside of platemark where previously matted; remnant of strip of masking tape at upper margin on verso. The Magazine is complete and quite bright and clean although several pages are detached from the balance of the text. ICN 3431. Printed for the Proprietors by W. Spotswood.

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