Milbert's Hudson River: 54 Facsimile Lithographs

A complete set of fifty-four facsimile lithographs of the Hudson River, 1950s reprints of the original plates from the French publication Itinéraires Pittoresque du Fleuve Hudson et des Parties Latérales de l'Amérique du Nord (Picturesque Itinerary of the Hudson River and the Surrounding Parts of North America), issued in 1828–29 after drawings by Jacques Gérard Milbert (1766–1840).

Milbert came from France on a scientific mission between 1815 and 1822, one of many Europeans to travel the young United States in the early nineteenth century. He collected minerals, fauna, and flora, shipping samples home by the shipload, and drew maps and views of the places he passed through. His are the earliest drawings of the scenes along the Hudson; his original drawings were engraved by various artists and lithographers in France. A digital copy of the original publication may be consulted at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

The subjects range from Manhattan and Weehawken up through Tarrytown, Sing-Sing, West Point, Hudson, Albany, Troy, Saratoga Springs, Lake George, and the Adirondacks, with plates reaching as far as Niagara, the Mohawk and Black rivers, Boston, Providence, and the Passaic Falls. Each plate carries its title at the foot in French, English, Italian, and German; place names appear as originally printed.

The plates are printed on heavy india wove paper measuring 11⅜ by 16¼ inches, with image areas of 10¼ by 12¼ inches, large enough to hold a wall, and handsome framed as a group or singly.