New York, NY: Currier & Ives, No Date.

Hand-colored lithograph broadside. Sheet measures 11 x 14 7/8 inches. Image measures 8 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches. Hinge mounted on stiff board 14 1/4 x 19 inches. Stiff board hinged to the backing board with 9 1/2 x 13-inch window to display the print. Mountains in the far distance with a meandering river emerging from a forested landscape with trees and river rocks in the foreground; the image with some minor toning and one large spot of toning just above the mountains in the far background, margins with toning, edge brittle, toning and spotting to the blank verso. KD123-043. Very Good.

FIRST EDITION. One of six views of Yosemite published by Currier and Ives in the 1860s and 70s. "Currier and Ives was a New York City printmaking business that operated between 1835 and 1907. Founded by Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888), the company designed and sold inexpensive, black-and-white or hand-colored lithographic works based on news events, views of popular culture and Americana. Advertising itself as 'the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints,' the corporate name was changed in 1857 to 'Currier and Ives' with the addition of James Merritt Ives (1824-1895)." Wikipedia. "Human habitation in the Sierra Nevada region of California reaches back 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Historically attested Native American populations, include the Sierra Miwok, Mono and Paiute. The band of Ahwahnechee lived in Yosemite Valley in the mid-nineteenth century. After the California Gold Rush, tensions between Anglo settlers and Native American led to the Mariposa War. California state military forces burned the tribe's villages, destroyed their food stores, killed the chief's sons, and forced the tribe out of Yosemite. New reports in the east made the scenic beauty of the Sierra Nevada common currency in the eastern United States. Currier and Ives picked up on the publicity concentrated on the area to produce a number of Yosemite lithographs, along with images of every aspect of American life, including themes of hunting, fishing, whaling, city life, rural scenes, historical scenes, clipper ships, yachts, steamships. Small works sold for five to twenty cents each, and large works sold for $1 to $3 apiece. The firm marketed their products through pushcart vendors, peddlers, and book stores, as well as their shop in New York City at 152 Nassau Street. See: Wikipedia.

REFERENCES: Conningham, Currier & Ives: An Illustrated Checklist, No. 6520; Gale Research Company, Currier and Ives, No. 4084. Not in Worldcat or Library of Congress.