A Breathtaking Bird's-Eye View of the Town of Nantucket & Surroundings

STONER, J. J./ BECK & PAULI. [Madison, WI, 1881]

Nantucket/ Baseball History.  STONER, J. J./ BECK & PAULI [Madison, WI, 1881]  Bird’s Eye View of the Town of Nantucket in the State of Massachusetts. Looking Southwest.1881.  19 ¼ x 27 3/8 inches.  Two-stone lithograph.  Mounted on acid-free paper, invisible mends in margin and of one split entering the printed surface; overall very good condition.                                                                                             

Rare (see census below), sweeping, and richly detailed bird’s-eye view of the town of Nantucket and its surroundings.  Its perspective is from the northeast facing to the southwest and extending on to the south shore, thus providing a vivid sense of the island’s rolling topography and then still largely agrarian landscape.    At upper right is an inset view of the town of Siasconset, and inset within this is a small vignette of the Sankaty Head Lighthouse. 

The view captures Nantucket as it was in transition to becoming a leisure destination, yet with the infrastructure of its whaling history still in evidence, e.g. the many wharves and related structures seen in the inner harbor.  The emphasis on the leisure activities seems quite intentional, with the numerous bathers at the Cliff Bathing Houses on the beach west of the town (lower right).  Just above the beach is a relatively early depiction of a well-attended baseball game (with the outfield in a rather strange shift against a right-handed batter).  Also, in the main harbor, pleasure craft far outnumber the few commercial vessels.  In keeping with this, the vignettes below the view depict resort hotels.  Also, included in the legend below the view, listing 41 structures and locations keyed to the view, are several resort inns and historic sites along with churches and municipal buildings.

Joseph John Stoner (1829-1917) was one of the most prolific publishers of bird's-eye views in 19^th-century America. He often worked with the Milwaukee-based printers Beck & Pauli, who lithographed this view. This is among the rarest and most sought-after of the Stoner views.

Reps, J. Views and Viewmakers, no. 1549, locating examples at the Connecticut Historical Society, Library of Congress, and Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, VA. OCLC 5451052 locates examples at the Massachusetts State Library, Penn State, and the Universities of Connecticut and Illinois.  The Nantucket Historical Association holds several copies. 

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