Brooke Watercolor of River Chatahoochee Between GA & AL

BROOKE, William Henry (1772–1860) - BUCKINGHAM, James Silk (1786–1855).
Covered Bridge and Steam-Boat - River Chatahoochee, dividing the States of Georgia and Alabama, America.
Pen and ink and watercolour wash, heightened in white, on paper. London: 1842.
8 3/4 x 10 3/4" sheet, 16" x 18" framed.

An extremely detailed depiction of a once common scene along the rivers of the southern states of antebellum America, showing the steam boat Alabama near the covered bridge at Columbus, Georgia. Captioned by the author beneath the image: "Covered Bridge and Steam-Boat - River Chatahoochee, dividing the States of Georgia and Alabama, America" (laid down on archival tissue).THE ORIGINAL DRAWING FOR A SCENE DEPICTED IN, AND INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION IN JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM'S SEMINAL WORK: "THE SLAVE STATES OF AMERICA", London, 1842.Buckingham describes this idyllic scene from page 246 in volume I of his "The Slave States of America": "We remained at Columbus during the whole of Tuesday; and though much fatigued, had an opportunity of seeing something of the town, and some of its most respectable citizens, to whom I had letters of introduction. The town is only ten years old, being one of the newest places of any size in this part of the country, yet it already contains about 8,000 inhabitants, in nearly equal proportions of black and white; and both its public and private buildings are substantial, commodious, and ornamental."The river Chatahoochee, on the eastern bank of which it is seated, has, opposite to the town, some romantic ledges of dark granite rock, forming rapids, or falls, and interrupting the navigation of the stream above this point, except for small boats and canoes; but from hence downward, for 600 miles, steamvessels navigate easily to the sea, in the bay of Apalachicolo, at the north eastern head of the gulf of Mexico. It has a covered wooden bridge, like a closed tunnel, crossing the stream, reposing on two piers, and lighted by windows at the sides."In the town itself, we observed a more than usual number of the places called " Confectionaries," where sweetmeats and fruits are sold; but the great staple supplies of which are peach-brandy, whiskey, rum, and other ardent spirits, of which the consumption here, by all classes and in various forms, is said to be considerable. We observed also, what to us was a novelty, the open sale of dirks, bowie-knives, and a long kind of stiletto, called the "Arkansas toothpick." These are sold by druggists, in whose shops or stores these deadly weapons are hung up for public inspection, and sold by them as part of the legitimate wares of their calling; thus plainly indicating, that weapons to kill, as well as medicine to cure, could be had at the same shop; and placing, beside the deadly poisons of arsenic, laudanum, hemlock, and hellebore, the deadly weapons of no less fatal power" (Buckingham, "The Slave States of America", London, 1842, volume I, pages 246-247).The scene features a majestic steamboat, The Alabama, very similar to the boat that Buckingham describes a few pages later: "The steam-vessel in which we were now embarked, differed from any that I had previously seen; and was constructed in the following manner. Her lower part, from the water's edge to about three feet above, was devoted to the engine, which was in the centre, the piston working horizontally fore and aft, instead of perpendicularly, as in our English boats, while an immense fly-wheel in the centre of the boat, turned the axles of the side-wheels or paddles. The engine was a high pressure one; and gave out a burst of steam from a tall chimney, at every revolution of the wheels, the sound being like the hard breathing of some huge mastadon labouring under the asthma; while the two chimneys vomiting forth volumes of black smoke, with the third breathing forth at momentary intervals its blasts of white curling steam, made both the sight and the sound peculiar. The whole margin of the engine-deck was open all around, and this was the part devoted to the reception of cotton bales, as cargo in freight, which is taken in at the landing-places of the several plantations along the river, for Mobile" (ibid, page 262).The renowned artist of this dramatic scene is Irishman William Henry Brooke, F.S.A., celebrated for his paintings, and numerous illustrations to travel accounts such as the one in which his "Slaves shipping Cotton by torch-light-River Alabama' appears opposite page 472 in Buckingham's "The Slave States of America". He and Buckingham collaborated on many works, including Buckingham's "Travels in Assyria, Media and Persia", London, 1830. Buckingham described their working relationship in volume 20 of his own "Oriental Herald" of 1829: "To the kindness of my friend, Mr. James Baillie Frazer, the intelligent author of a Tour in the Himalya Mountains, and a Journey in Khorassan, I owe the two interesting views, of the Ruins of Persepolis seen under the aspect of an approaching storm, and the Ruins of Ormuz with its sweeping bay of anchorage. With these exceptions, the Illustrations of the Volume, to the number of twenty-six, are from original sketches of the scenes and objects described, taken in the course of the journey, and completed from descriptions noted on the spot. The manner in which these have all been drawn on wood by Mr. W. H. Brooke, and in which the greater part of them have been executed by the respective engravers whose names appear in the list, is such as, I hope, will confirm the established reputation of the artists themselves, at the same time that they cannot fail to gratify as well as to instruct the reader".