Main entry:

Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834, author.

Title & Author:

The country seats of the United States / William Russell Birch ; edited with an introduction by Emily T. Cooperman.

Publication:

Philadelphia, Pa. : University of Pennsylvania Press,
©2009.

Description:

87 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 24 cm.

Series:

Penn studies in landscape architecture

Notes:
"First issued ... in 1808"--Introduction.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Hoboken, Hoboken, New Jersey -- Hampton, Towson, Maryland -- Lansdowne, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Echo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Mount Vernon, Alexandria, Virginia -- Fountain Green, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Solitude, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Devon, Bucks County, Pennsylvania -- Mount Sidney, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- The seat of Mr. Duplantier (Delord-Sarpy Mansion), New Orleans, Louisiana -- Montebello, Baltimore, Maryland -- Woodlands, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Sedgeley, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Belmont, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- York Island, New York, New York -- Mendenhall Ferry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- China Retreat, Bucks County, Pennsylvania -- Springland, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Summary:

William Russell Birch (1755-1834) has long been recognized as the first artist to achieve true commercial success in depicting American scenes for the domestic market. In his early career in London, Birch was influenced by the landscape painters whose work arose in the rich artistic ferment he encountered there in the 1770s and 1780s. After immigrating to Philadelphia in 1794, Birch sought to make his living recording scenes of the young republic, the better to promote "taste" in architecture and landscape design. The illustrations in his copperplate books soon proved to be vehicles for developing uniquely American pictorial subject matter. Of these, The City of Philadelphia in 1800 became very successful, going through four editions from 1800 to 1828. Birch's third publication, The Country Seats of the United States, first published in 1808, was the result of the engraver's travels through the mid-Atlantic, as well as his intimate knowledge of the Philadelphia region. Both of Birch's American books are of considerable importance in documenting the cultural developments of the young nation. The Country Seats of the United States consists of twenty plates depicting eighteen estates, all but one of which were located on the eastern seaboard between Mount Vernon in the south and New York City in the north, with many properties along the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. The remaining property in New Orleans was included to represent the recent Louisiana Purchase. Reproduced in its entirety with twenty color plates, this edition includes Birch's introduction and comments on the images, and a biographical essay situating Birch within his world and discussing the individual sites Birch depicted. -- Book Jacket.

Resources:
Table of contents

ISBN:

9780812241327 (alk. paper)
0812241320 (alk. paper)

Subject:

Historic buildings United States.
Historic buildings United States Pictorial works.
Landscape architecture United States History 19th century.
Suburban homes United States History 19th century.
Historic buildings Middle Atlantic States.
Historic buildings Pennsylvania.
Architecture du paysage États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Historic buildings
Landscape architecture
Suburban homes
Travel
United States Description and travel.
United States History, Local.
Middle Atlantic States History, Local.
Pennsylvania History, Local.
États-Unis Descriptions et voyages.
États du Moyen-Atlantique (États-Unis) Histoire locale.
Pennsylvanie Histoire locale.
Middle Atlantic States
Pennsylvania
United States

Form/genre:

illustrated books.
Illustrated works
History
Local history
Ouvrages illustrés.

Added entries:

Cooperman, Emily T.
Penn studies in landscape architecture.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 260200
Call No.: BIB 191089
Status: Available