John Bachmann (1816 - May 22, 1899) was a Swiss-American landscape artist and viewmaker active in New York from the mid to late 19th century. Bachmann was born in Switzerland and apprenticed as a lithographer both in Switzerland and Paris until 1847. Like many Swiss and German printmakers, Bachmann was a Forty-Eighter, one of thousands who fled to the United States in the aftermath of the failed 'Springtime of the Peoples Revolutions of 1848'. He settled in Jersey City or Hoboken. His first publication, a spectacular view of New York City looking south from Union Square, appeared 1849. Although not the most prolific viewmaker, Bachmann is considered among the finest. He issued more than 50 views, two-thirds of which were of New York City. Bachman had a passion for New York and it's many civic advances and, unlike other viewmakers, some of his most interesting work of his work focused on these, including views of Greenwood Cemetery, Central Park, and Hoboken's Elysian Fields. He also has the distinction to be the first to use the term 'Bird's-eye' to describe his aerial-perspective views. During the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) he issued a series of innovative 'Seat of War' views illustrating the progress of the war in various theaters. These war views were revolutionary in their advanced use of perspective and orientation, to illustrate terrain and topography. His last known perspective view illustrated Havana. Bachmann's son, John Bachmann Jr. (1853 - 1927) (aka. Bachman) was also a lithographer. More by this mapmaker...

Herman Benke (1830 - March 12, 1898) was a German-born American publisher, photographer and printer, active in New York during the latter part of the 19th century. Virtually nothing is known of his education or early career. An H. Bencke arrived in New York from Bremen in 1846. By 1871, he appeared in a New York directory in the listings for lithographers, probably having worked for other printers in the intervening twenty five years. In 1873, Bencke married in Manhattan. His output ranged from magazine illustrations, to advertising cards, to decorative works; he would also produce at least three city views drawn by John Bachmann. He died in Manhattan in 1898. Learn More...