Quebec City of the I. N. Phelps Stokes Collection of American Historical Prints.

A view of the city of Quebec, the capital of Canada ... = Vue de la ville du Québec, capitale du Canada ...., 1760

View of Cape Diamond, plains of Abraham, and part of the town of Quebec., 1796

View of the river St. Lawrence, Falls of Montmorenci from the island of Orleans., 1795

[The Pont Dery, near the Pont Rouge, about twenty-five miles north-west of Quebec, on the Jacques Cartier River.], 1791-1794

A view of the city of Quebec, the capital of Canada, taken from the rock on Point Levi., 1795

Quebec, the capital of New-France, a Bishoprick, and a seat on the Soverain Court., 1759

View from Parliament Buildings, Quebec., 1850 

Quebec. From Beauport., 1852

Quebec.

Source: From the New York Public Library

COLLECTION HISTORY

The major source for the images in this digital presentation-the Phelps Stokes Collection of American historical prints and early views of American cities-came to the Library in 1930 as a gift of the architect and historian Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes (1867-1944). It includes more than 800 prints, drawings, and maps produced over a period of four centuries, from the earliest European discoveries of the West Indian islands through the 19th century. The selection also includes some 30 images from the assemblage of New York City views donated to the Library in 1922 by Amos F. Eno (1836-1915) and a few items from the collection of American historical prints accumulated by Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet (1828-1919) and presented to the Library in 1896. Lastly, a few other items not found in these collections also appear, such as an 1814 view of New Archangel, Alaska from the Rare Book Division, and the Hudson River Portfolio of 1820 views, from the Spencer Collection.

BACKGROUND

The images in this collection, comprising an incomparable visual narrative of the development of the Americas and especially the territory that became the United States, offer a rich visual resource for the student of American history, architecture, urban growth, costume, transportation, and much else. The documentation of the rise of New York City is particularly strong.

The Print Collection of the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs holds the works from The Phelps Stokes Collection, the Eno Collection of New York City Views and the Emmet Collection. The basis for the selection of images in this presentation, Gloria Gilda Deák's 1988 monograph, Picturing America, is an extensive catalog of the holdings of American historical prints in the Print Collection and other divisions of the Library, with essays and notes not included in this digital version.

RELATED RESOURCES

Deák, Gloria Gilda. Picturing America, 1497-1899: Prints, Maps, and Drawings Bearing on the New World Discoveries and on the Development of the Territory That Is Now the United States. (1988)

Stokes, I. N. Phelps and Daniel C. Haskell. American Historical Prints: Early View of American Cities, etc., from the Phelps Stokes and Other Collections. (1933)