Name/Title
NEW YORK BAY (FROM THE TELEGRAPH STATION)Entry/Object ID
L.2007.14Description
William Bartlett’s image of New York Bay from Telegraph Station shows a very early means of telecommunication in the United States at the mouth of the Hudson River. Once located on elevated ground at the far eastern point of Staten Island near present-day Fort Wadsworth, the bare pole shown here was part of a network of signal poles vital to the semaphore or optical telegraph system. The Staten Island Telegraph Station was part of a line of wooden beam semaphores arranged to send messages to Wall Street from Sandy Hook and the Navesink Highlands. Men in small craft met incoming ships and received news, good or bad, about the cargo. They carried news to shore, or later used carrier pigeons to send the message to signal operators. Once it reached land, the message was conveyed via semaphore--through the position of the arms on the pole--to Wall Street. Names and numbers of ships and words in common use for trade were easily transmitted and could reach New York many hours before the ship arrived in port. The semaphore system was replaced just a few years after this image by the invention of Hudson River Valley resident Samuel F. B. Morse.
Colored steel cut engraving of figures by a tall pole overlooking a busy bay: at left, a path runs along the top of a hill; at the top of the path is a brown, round building; a group of five figures walk towards the building; in the mid-ground, a tall, white telegraph pole towers over the scene; a group of figures relax at its base, some of the figures look out over the bay; below the hill stand a fort and to its left, a dock; large sail boats move across the water; visible in the distance, a steamboat; a low, green hill at far bank; below the scene, on far left corner, printed: "W.H.Bartlett."; on far right corner, printed: "R. Wallis."; in center, the title, printed: "NEW YORK BAY. I (From the Telegraph Station.)"; on bottom center, printed: "London, Published for the Proprietors, by Geo: Virtue, 26, Ivy Lane, 1838."Artwork Details
Medium
Paper (wove), Ink, Watercolor, Paper (wove), ink, watercolorMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
William Henry BartlettAttribution
ArtistArtist
Robert WallisAttribution
EngraverManufacturer
George VirtueDate made
1838Dimensions
Dimension Description
OverallHeight
8 inWidth
9-7/8 inDimension Notes
Display Dimensions: 8 x 9 7/8 in. (20.3 x 25.1 cm)Condition
Notes
Remarks: Pencil mark in square around image; blue ink lines along edges; blue ink top center; loss top left corner; tear and loss top center; crease bottom left corner; discoloration top leftl stain bottom right; traces of watercolor and discoloration throughout; recto has two pieces of yellowing adhesive tape top left; two pieces of brown paper adhered to center; traces of adhesive and soil throughout; yellowing beneath image.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
William DieboldNotes
Former ownerGeneral Notes
Note Type
Curatorial RemarksNote
Diebold Box #35Note Type
General NoteNote
New York Bay is plate number 29 in American Scenery: Or, Land, Lake and River Illustrations of Transatlantic Nature. Publisher George Virtue commissioned William H. Bartlett to illustrate American Scenery, for which N.P. Willis wrote the text. Bartlett completed these watercolor drawings during two visits to America between 1836 and 1838. The drawings were engraved starting in 1837 by numerous English engravers and published in installments of four engravings. Subscribers could have the prints bound in two volumes in 1840 when the installments were complete.Note Type
StorageNoteNote
Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Administrative Office, Archive Room, Shelf O3, B5Note Type
DepartmentNote
Library