Charleston Loan Exhibition

55 John William Hill (American, 1812–1897), artist; Smith Brothers, lithographer; Smith Brothers & Co., printer Bird’s Eye View of Charleston, S.C. Published, London, England, 1851 Hand-tinted lithograph Signed: Smith and Smith after J.W.H., H. 25 x W. 41½ inches Historic Charleston Foundation, collection purchase, Charleston, SC, 80.1.4 Between the years 1850 and 1855, John William Hill traveled from as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada all the way south to New Orleans documenting America’s cities. These panoramic views not only capture the country and urban landscapes of American cities, but also provide historic documentation of cities like Richmond, Charleston and Savannah before the Civil War ravaged the urban landscape. This view of Charleston was published in 1851 by the Smith Brothers & Co. and forms a part of a series of large folio engravings and lithographs published between 1848 and 1856. 1 In the tradition of Hill’s other city vistas, this view of Charleston is taken from a slightly elevated viewpoint. Visible in the tinted lithograph are many of Charleston’s most important historic residences and the churches, for which Charleston receives its attribution as the Holy City, including the First Presbyterian Church, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, Circular Church and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. 2 BJO 1. John William Reps, Views and Viewmakers of Urban America: Lithographs of Towns and Cities in the United States and Canada, Notes on the Artists and Publishers, and a Union Catalogue of their Work, 1825–1925 (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1984), 183–184, 206. 2. For further reading see: Gloria Gilda Deák, Picturing America: Prints, Maps, and Drawings Bearing on the New World Discoveries and on the Development of the Territory that is now the United States, 1497–1899, Vol. I (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988).