1886 Burleigh Bird's Eye View of Peterborough, New Hampshire

This is an 1886 Lucian Rinaldo Burleigh bird's-eye view of Peterborough, New Hampshire. Churches, schools, banks, factories, and individual homes are illustrated in profile, with thirty locations numerically identified that correspond with an index below the bottom border. The numbers appear on the building's roofs and among these are five churches, two banks, numerous factories, and the Peterborough Creamery Company. Four insets appear below the main view, three on the left and one on the right. The views on the left depict North Peterborough, South Peterborough, and Joshua Briggs Piano Chairs and Stools. The inset on the right focuses west Peterborough and includes the Union Manufacturing Company.

American Bird's-Eye City Views

The tradition of the bird's-eye city view emerged in the United States in the middle part of the 19th century and coincided with the commercial development of lithographic printing. Before the rise of lithography, the ability to own and display artwork in the home was largely limited to the extremely wealthy, the advent of lithographic printing made it possible for everyone to own visually striking artwork. A robust trade developed in portraits of political leaders, allegorical and religious images, and city views.

City views were being produced in the United States as early as the 1830s, but the genre exploded after the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Bridging the gap between maps and pictures, most 19th century American bird's-eye views presented cities to the public from high vantage points. Some were imagined, but others were drawn from hot-air balloons or nearby hills. The presentation, combining high elevation, commercial interest, and new printing technology, created a uniquely American art form, as described by historian Donald Karshan,

Some print connoisseurs believe that it was only with the advent of the full-blown city-view lithograph that American printmaking reached its first plateau of originality, making a historical contribution to the graphic arts. They cite the differences between the European city-view prints and the expansive American version that reflects a new land and a new attitude toward the land.

The vogue for bird's-eye city views lasted from about 1845 to 1920, during which period some 2,400 cities were thus portrayed, some multiple times. Although views were produced in many urban centers, the nexus of view production in the United States was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The major American viewmakers were Stoner, Wellge, Bailey, Fowler, Hill, Ruger, Koch, Burleigh, Norris, and Morse, among others.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Lucian Rinaldo Burleigh in 1886. We note two examples cataloged in OCLC which are part of the collections at the Library of Congress and Pennsylvania State University.