Extremely Rare, Early View Envisioning a Completed Central Park in Rich Detail

CHS. MAGNUS LITH ? [New York, c. 1860]

CHS. MAGNUS LITH ?/ [New York: c. 1860]  Untitled View of Central Park.  21 ½ x 19 3/8 inches.  Lithograph with period hand color, printed on the verso of a facsimile of the Bradford/ Lyne map of New York City; professionally mounted on mulberry paper with minor restoration to outer margins and to slight area of border upper left; overall a vibrant, very good example.                          
One of only two known examples of this very early and highly detailed view of a fully completed Central Park, the other being in the Library of Congress.  As explained below, both examples were evidently proofs, and no published copies are known.  However, in 1863, this view would be incorporated within a print of Central Park by Bachmann and Heppenheimer, itself very rare; see the links below.

Given that work on the Central Park began in 1857, and that it would not be completed until the mid-1870s, this remarkable view, which was printed at some point prior to 1863, provided an early vision of what the fully realized Park would look like.  Although the Park did open to the public in 1858, it was at that time in the very early stages of its construction.  Yet, in this wonderfully detailed view, all of the Park’s most notable features are fully in place, as carriages, riders on horseback and pedestrians crowd its roads and pathways.  Above and below the view are seven vignettes of the Park’s most notable locations, among them the Bethesda Fountain and the classical overpass and staircases leading to it, the Bow Bridge and Ramble, the Promenade, and the Loch.  Notable also is that along the lower west side boundary of the park and in the vignette at lower left is the first wing of the Museum of Natural History.   In the top portion of the view can be seen both the holding and receiving reservoirs. 

Offered here is an apparent proof example that was printed on the verso of a facsimile of the Bradford/ Lyne plan of New York City (just barely visible through the mounting paper), which was originally published in 1731.  This facsimile map was lithographed by Charles Magnus and published by John Slater Bookseller at some point in the 1860s according to Haskell (see below).  The suggested attribution of this Central Park view to Magnus is based on it being in keeping with Magnus’ lithographic style as well as the fact that Magnus produced the map on whose verso it was printed.  The only other known example of the work offered here is in the Library of Congress; it is catalogued there with a date of 1860 although that date does not appear on the view, as is the case with the example offered here.  Notably, the LOC example is also printed on the verso of the Bradford/ Lyne facsimile map.  The absence of an imprint or publication information on both our and the LOC examples also strongly suggests that both were proofs.  It is further possible that this work was intended for eventual publication—the presence of a decorative printed border suggests this--but that prior to publication, it was acquired by Bachmann for use in his Central Park print.

This view at LOC: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3804n.ct002195/; https://www.loc.gov/item/2011593042/
Bachmann/ Heppenheimer view: https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/b7ffda3a-6dda-8a57-e040-e00a1806061d
https://collections.mcny.org/asset-management/2F3XC5ZGKIL?FR_=1&%3BW=1600&%3BH=739&W=1920&H=919; also illustrated in Miller, S. C. Central Park, An American Masterpiece, p. 21;
Bradford/ Lyne Facsimile: Haskell, D. Manhattan Maps, no. 199.

 

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