Anonymous American Photographer

half-plate daguerreotype, with a modern seal, cased, no later than 1848; accompanied by a manuscript note initialed 'L.B.' and dated 'May 1849'

This astonishing and early daguerreotype sets forth a great deal of detail throughout the image. Under magnification, the many features of the house are clearly visible: the drapes in the left-most window, the double-chimneys, the widow's walk atop the structure, etc. The white picket fence is rendered in striking clarity; one can count the individual pickets. Not immediately visible is a carriage and horse on the road in the left portion of the frame, partially obscured by the post-and-rail fence. The riders in the carriage are somewhat blurred, as is the horse, but can be discerned upon close examination. The trees, the dirt carriage road in the foreground, and even the faint small shapes of the newly-planted evergreens are rendered clearly. In terms of its delivery of visual detail, this daguerreotype is quite extraordinary. The plate is essentially in excellent condition. As visible in the catalogue illustration, there is age-appropriate tarnishing around the edges of the image. When examined in raking light, several translucent spots can be seen on the surface. The faintly cloudy area visible in the foreground is not a physical defect in the plate. This may have been due to foreign matter on the lens, in the camera, or on the plate during exposure – or perhaps to an unevenly sensitized plate. Regardless, it is only minimally distracting. While these condition issues bear mentioning, they are not drastic and they do nothing to obscure the great amount of detail present in this image. The plate has been recently re-sealed with Filmoplast paper tape. The individual who did this work on the daguerreotype noted in pencil on the tape that the plate bears a Scovill hallmark. The daguerreotype's original backing paper is still present. It appears to be leaf from a military manual and was trimmed to the appropriate size to fit the plate.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This half-plate daguerreotype of a country estate is believed to have been made in Manhattan in the 1840s and, as such, would be among the very earliest photographs of New York City extant.  The daguerreotype shows in the foreground what is almost certainly the old Bloomingdale Road, referred to as 'a continuation of Broadway' in the city directories of the day.  In the deep well of the road, to the left, is a horse-drawn carriage with passengers that has come to a halt for the photographer.  In the middle ground is the lawn of an estate, planted with young evergreens surrounded by a fence.  Beyond the rise of the lawn, in the background, is the top story of an unidentified house, with a rooftop balustrade and double chimneys on either end. 

The date and location of the daguerreotype have been taken from a manuscript note, signed 'L. B.,' which was folded and placed behind the daguerreotype plate in its original leather case.  Written in a neat, cursive hand, in dark ink on pale blue paper, the note reads as follows:

'This view, was taken at too great a distance, & from ground 60 or 70 feet lower than the building; rendering the lower Story of the House, & the front Portico entirely invisible. (the handsomest part of the House.)  The main road, passes between the two Post & rail fences. (called, a continuation of Broadway 60 feet wide.)  It requires a maganifying [sic] glass, to clearly distinguish the Evergreens, within the circular enclosure, taken the last of October, when nearly half of the leaves were off the trees.

'May 1849.                                                                                          L. B.'

The 'main road' referred to in the note is undoubtedly the Bloomingdale Road, which was named for the area of Bloemendael, now the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Traversing the hilly terrain of mid-town and upper Manhattan, from Union Place to Manhattanville, the Bloomingdale Road was cut deep through undulating hills to ensure a level grade as it continued north.  In city directories and guidebooks of the mid-nineteenth century—e.g., John Doggett's The Great Metropolis of 1845, his New York City Directory of 1848-49, and the same for 1849-50; Polk's New York City Directory for 1864-65; and others—the Bloomingdale Road is consistently referred to as 'a continuation of Broadway,' language which is echoed in the note penned by 'L. B.' The road was laid out in 1703, and was originally 33 feet across.  Over the decades, it was widened several times: in 1849, it measured 75 feet across; by the late 1860s, its width was 150 feet.  In nineteenth-century lithographs and engravings, the road appears bounded by post-and-rail fences on either side, as in the image offered here.

The Bloomingdale Road was one of two main roads that ran vertically up and down the island of Manhattan in the eighteenth century.  The Old Boston Road was the main thoroughfare along the East Side, approximately along the route of Park Avenue today.  The Bloomingdale Road was the extension of Broadway running north along the West Side.  In Martha J. Lamb's classic History of the City of New York: Its Origins, Rise, and Progress (New York, 1877-96), she describes the road during the time of the Revolutionary War:

'The Bloomingdale Road, a continuation of Broadway, leaned towards the Hudson after reaching Sixtieth Street, and wound along the picturesque region of hills and vales known by the beautiful descriptive name of Bloomingdale, past the Apthorpe Mansion, terminating as a legal highway at Adam Hoagland's house, about One Hundred and Fifteenth Street,--although it was continued through his estates as a farm-road to Manhattanville.   It was connected to the Old Boston or Kingsbridge road by a narrow public way from Hoagland's house . . . These two chief thoroughfares were intersected at various points by local roads, private avenues to property, and farmers' houses' (Volume II, p. 122).

The stately home in the present daguerreotype was one such private estate off the Bloomingdale Road on the West Side; as of this writing, the name of the owner, as well as the 'L. B.' of the note, has not been identified.  Although its façade is largely obscured by the hilly rise, the features of the house that are visible appear to be characteristic of the fashionable Georgian or Federal style, appropriate for the country seats of wealthy Manhattanites of the time.  In J. H. Colton's Topographical Map of the City and County of New-York and the Adjacent County from 1836, one can see the footprints of these myriad estates, with their circular gardens and tree-lined drives.  By the 1850s, soon after this daguerreotype was made, the urbanization of upper Manhattan would begin in earnest.  The Morris-Jumel House, built in 1768 near what is now 160^th Street and Edgecombe Avenue, is one of the few examples of these country homes that remain today.

Early daguerreotypes showing parts of New York City are exceedingly rare. Of the handful that can be dated to the 1840s and 1850s, all but the image offered here show buildings in Lower Manhattan, and only one is believed to precede the present daguerreotype in date.  The present daguerreotype is a unique glimpse into a hitherto unknown Manhattan: the country estates beyond the grid of downtown streets, the busy traffic of Broadway just beginning.

Sotheby's wishes to thank the many historians and curators who have contributed to the research offered here, especially members of our 'Team Bloemendael': Sandra Markham of the Beinecke Library, Yale; Dale Neighbors of the Library of Virginia; and New York City historians Gilbert Tauber and Eric Washington.