1855 Goth / Poppel Views of Boston, Massachusetts

African American shipwrights in Boston.

A striking 1859 view of Boston, with surrounding vignettes, engraved by Johann Poppel, printed by Charles D. Andrews, and published by Frederick Goth. It reflects the changing face of the city, as older buildings were being demolished or replaced to make way for more modern structures, including rail stations and museums. Notably, the main image prominently depicts a team of African American workers building a ship in the foreground.

A Closer Look

The work, drawn from sight by Goth in 1857, presents a central prospect of Boston viewed from Donald McKay's shipyard in East Boston. Around it are 12 smaller scenes depicting the State House, Park Street Church, the Fitchburg Railroad Depot (opened 1842 on Causeway St.), Bunker Hill Monument, the Boston and Maine Railroad Depot (opened 1845 at Haymarket Square), the Revere House Hotel (a luxury hotel, not to be confused with the home of Paul Revere), the Hancock mansion (owned by John Hancock), Boston Common, the old City Hall (the Old Court House on School St.), the Custom House, the Old State House, and Tremont Row (a bustling commercial street near the State House and Boston Common). Together, these images form a compact portrait of Boston during a period of rapid commercial, industrial, and architectural change. Several of the pictured buildings disappeared within the following decades due to fire and new development.

Donald McKay's East Boston shipyard is prominent in the foreground. McKay established his shipyard on Border Street in East Boston in 1845. There he designed and built some of the 19th century's most celebrated clipper ships, including Flying Cloud, Sovereign of the Seas, Lightning, and Champion of the Seas. The busy yard employed skilled shipwrights and other craftsmen, many of them immigrants from Canada's Maritime Provinces, Scotland, and Scandinavia. McKay's vessels became famous for their size and speed, helping to make East Boston an internationally important center of wooden shipbuilding.

The sheet's trilingual title - in English, German, and French - is an important clue to Goth's professional world. Its international presentation, combined with the participation of the German engraver Johann Poppel, suggests that Goth intended the print for audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Goth likely supplied the design, drawings, or other visual information that the Munich engraver used.

Goth himself is an elusive figure. No other printed work is attributed to him, nor is there any record of someone by this name living in or around Boston during this period. The contemporaneous Frederick Goths we have found living in New York and New England include a prominent gunsmith based in Portland, Maine, and a New York City truck driver - neither is likely to have produced these views. More likely, given the employment of Munich-based engraver Poppel, Goth was a German traveler visiting Boston. Revolutionary Spaces, in Boston, holds eight 1857 pencil drawings signed by Goth - we have confirmed these to be the original drafts that were later incorporated into this view. These were donated to Revolutionary Spaces' precursor organization, the Bostonian Society, in 1980 by William B. Osgood. Nothing further is known.

Publication History and Census

This view was designed and drawn by Frederick Goth (1857), engraved in Germany by Johann Poppel, and printed in Boston by A. Trochsler. There is an earlier variant printed by Charles D. Andrews which, instead of the copyright text under the images, has the text 'Copy Right Secured'. We see examples at the Revolutionary Spaces, Boston Public Library (Andrews), Historic New England (Andrews), and the Boston Athenaeum (Trochsler).

Cartographers

Johann Gabriel Friedrich Poppel (May 14, 1807 - August 6, 1882) was a German engraver of city views. He studied engraving with Johann Frederick Martin Geissler in Nuremberg and Carl Ludwig Frommel in Karlsruhe. In 1833, he settled in Karlsruhe and established his own publishing house. Aside for stints traveling in Britain, France, and throughout the German-speaking world, Poppel spent his entire life and career in Bavaria. He is best known for his series of city views, including cities throughout Europe and the United States, despite having never visited the latter.   Further Details...

Albert Trochsler (November 2, 1830 - 1895) was a French-American engraver and lithographer active in Boston in the second half of the 19th century. Trochsler was likely born in France. He emigrated to the United States in 1854 and was naturalized in Boston in 1868. Trochsler published as 'A. Trochsler and Company' from offices at 116 Washington Street and later at 282 Washington Street, Boston. His son, Albert E. Trochsler, apprenticed under him and may have taken over the family business.   Further Details...

Condition

Excellent. Slight scuffing to the sky above Boston.

References

Historic New England GUSN-198848. OCLC 191908559 (1859 printing). Boston Public Library, G3764.B6A3 1859 .P67. Revolutionary Boston, 1931.0007.004.