JOSHUA H. BEAL (AMERICAN, 1832-1902) PANORAMIC VIEW OF MANHATTAN, SHOWING BROOKLYN BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

1876. Five albumen prints mounted to board and framed together. Tidemark along top edge; other scattered dampstaining and surface abrasions.
10 x 88 in. (25.4 x 223.5cm).
Unexamined out of frame.

Captured from the east tower of the still-under-construction Brooklyn Bridge in January 1876, Beal's composite photo provides a sweeping view of Lower Manhattan. Numerous landmarks can be seen including Trinity Church, the New York Tribune and Western Union buildings, at the time the city's tallest buildings. This rare photograph (only five other copies are known to exist) captures New York during its early transformation from a dense fabric of low-rise buildings to the modern metropolis we see today.