1824 Klinkowstrom View of New York City from Brooklyn - Geographicus - NewYorksHamnochRedd-muller-1824

A fine and highly desirable 1824 aquatint of New York City and harbor as seen from Brooklyn. Based on a drawing composed by the Swedish naval officer Baron Axel Leonhard Klinkowström on his 1818 – 1820 tour of the United States. Klinkowström was sent to New York to assess the strategic value of the newly invented steam ship for the use by the Swedish Navy. Accordingly this stunning view shows an assortment of sail and steam ships plying the New York Harbor. Stokes notes that this “view is interesting particularly as showing the types of steam ferries and sail-boats in use at this period.” No description of this print, however, is more compelling than the author’s own: The harbor is full of small sailing vessels, yachts, and schooners which come from all America’s ports to this mid-point of all movement. Usually these ships are well-painted and are built in a light and handsome style. The steamboats which come and go like stagecoaches add great activity to this picture. Behind the city itself the great Hudson River empties into the harbor, which is large and reaches as far as New Jersey. This grand panorama is bounded by the New Jersey coast and the highlands on the other side of the Hudson. Modern New Yorkers may have a hard time recognizing this 19th century variant their fair city, but the steeples of Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel are clearly visible as are many of the docks and harbor buildings of what can only be South Street Seaport. This view was engraved from Klinkowström’s sketch by Carl Fredrik Akrell and published in C. Muller’s Bref om de Förenta Staterna .