Bird’s Eye View of Portsmouth Rockingham Co. New Hampshire 1877.

Madison, Wis.: J.J. Stoner, 1877; D Bremner & Co. Lith Milwaukee Wis. Tinted lithograph, 21.25" x 26.375" plus margins.

A large and handsome bird’s eye view of the historic sea-side town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

This richly detailed view depicts the city and the surrounding area, as seen from an imaginary elevated vantage point in the northwest looking southeast. In the foreground, various vessels are shown plying the waters of the Piscataqua River and North Mill Pond, and the Eastern and Concord Rail Roads skirt the edge of the city. Numerous commercial buildings line the waterfront, including a number of lumber yards and the Boynton Mineral Water and Bottling Works. Other notable commercial buildings depicted include the Frank Jones Brewery, the Eldridge Brewing Company, and the Kearsarge Mills. A key in the title margin identifies twenty-four municipal and commercial buildings and thirteen churches.

Bird’s eye view publisher Joseph John Stoner (1829-1917), a native of Highspire, Pennsylvania, was apprenticed to a chair-ornamenter in Harrisburg, before migrating to Cincinnati, where he worked as a map and book agent in the 1860’s. By 1865 Stoner had resettled in Madison Wisconsin, eventually becoming a sales agent for city view artist Albert Ruger, with whom he formed a partnership, Ruger & Stoner, in 1869. Stoner worked both in partnership with Ruger and independently into the 1890s, publishing at least 314 views with his imprint on them, and likely a good many lacking his imprint as well, making him one of the most prolific town and city view publishers of the 19th century. Bremner & Co. printed a number of other bird's eye views for Stoner, including Bird's Eye View of Dover, Strafford Co., New Hampshire (1877) and Bird's Eye View of Gardiner and Pittston, Kennebec Co., Maine, (1878).

An engaging view of this charming New England seaport.

REFERENCES: Reps #1238 and pp. 209-212.

CONDITION: Good, neatly repaired 1.5” tear into sky at top edge, a few light scuffs and creases, top edge expertly re-margined.