American yachts, their clubs and races

Frederic Schiller Cozzens started his career in the 1860's as a Maritime artist always painting in watercolor. By 1883 his work was so much in demand that he decided to pursue other mediums and to expand the availability to the public. In 1884 Cozzens found a way to popularize his work in the form of sets of color lithographs. His training and technique in watercolor lent itself to the medium of lithography. The first of these sets was a brilliant series of twenty-six yachting prints published by Charles Scribner's & Sons., N.Y. entitled "American Yachts, Their Clubs and Races". They were published using a new color lithography technique "chromolithography" which allowed all the colors to be printed rather than the earlier use of handcoloring. This series of twenty-six prints is accompanied by a seperate text written by Lieutenant James Douglas Jerrold Kelley, which describes in detail each scene represented. Lieutenant Kelley's book describes the events shown in each plate. The book contains a good description of the race and general information about the history of yachting. It also gives technical descriptions about boats and owners.
The prints of the America's Cup are matted and affixed with an embossed gold medallion and ribbons to designate the Cup Winner's. This collection of lithographs includes portraits of more than one-hundred craft, including sloops, steamers, schooners and ice-boats. The scenes depict some of yachting's most memorable images of regattas, most notably (plate, 6) entitled "Second International Race, The Finish off Staten Island, Magic defeating Cambria August 8, 1870."