A View of the Charles River

Two very similar existing prints of the same scene could have been the source for this watercolor. The first, by the Boston engraver Samuel Hill (1766-1804), was made to accompany a September 1789 feature on the engineering of the Charles River Bridge in Massachusetts Magazine. The anonymous article, which heralds the structure as a marvel of modern engineering, is captioned: "Illustrated by a view of that beautiful structure, taken from Atkin's Wharf". 6 years later, an almost identical print, accompagnied by the very same article, appeared in a September issue of New York Magazine (published by Thomas and James Swords). In this print, signed by the New Yorker John Scoles (1772-1853), very little has changed in the image except for an alternate label engraved below the illustration meant to show New York Magazine readers that the bridge was located in Massachusetts. Although the A. Lyde watercolor omits two figures in the foreground of the original image, the similarity between the watercolor here and this second print, as well as Lyde's New York locale, suggest that Lyde would have based his own painting on the version (or one similar to that) illustrated in New York Magazine.