1885 Turgis Bird's-Eye View of New York City

This is Louis Turgis vibrant c. 1885 view of New York City. The view captures the energy and development of the city in the late 19th century, including the recently-completed Brooklyn Bridge.

A Closer Look

This view looks to the northeast from New York Harbor so that the island of Manhattan is presented vertically. Portions of New Jersey, the Bronx, Queens, and especially Brooklyn are also detailed around the edges of the view. Major landmarks such as Castle Clinton, Trinity Church, City Hall, and the Brooklyn Bridge (completed in 1883) are readily recognizable. Church steeples dot the landscape, along with a handful of tall buildings such as the Equitable Life Building opposite Trinity Church and what appears to be the New York Tribune Building near City Hall.

Both the Hudson and East River are teeming with ships of various sorts, including paddle steamers, while even more boats and ships are docked along any available bit of coastline. Large numbers of smokestacks puff away in the Lower East Side, in Brooklyn (Williamsburg and Greenpoint), and in Queens (Long Island City), and railroads are evident in New Jersey (Hoboken), reflecting the industrialization of these areas. In the distance are Central Park, the Park Avenue Main Line, and farms and forests, as well as the portion of the East River leading to Long Island Sound.

Publication History and Census

This view was printed c. 1885 by Louis Turgis, the younger, of the interesting Transatlantic printing and publishing firm founded by his father. The view is strongly influenced by the larger 1876 Currier and Ives view 'The City of New York' (an earlier edition previously sold by us as NewYorkCity-currierives-1870), though there are some minor but recognizable differences, such as the ships and boats in the East River. Although the view could have been produced as early as 1876, it likely dates from a later period given the features present and the use of both French and Spanish titles, something Turgis increasingly adopted towards 1890 to appeal to a wider market. The signature of 'Turgis, le jeune' also suggests a transition period later in Turgis' (the elder's) life, when his sons took on more of the firm's operation. The only known institutional holding of this work is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The view appears to have been one of a series with bilingual titles issued by Turgis ('Vue générale de la Havane / Vista general de la Habana,' 'Vue générale de Barcelone / Vista general de Barcelona,' 'Vue générale de Madrid / Vista general de Madrid'), all now quite rare.