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Stunning large format view of Middletown, Connecticut, published by Hughes & Bailey, 39 Gold Street, New York.
The view shows the town from the southeast, with the Connecticut River to the right and and Pameacha Pond at the top left. The streets arer named, with a list of nearly 200 businesses and prominent citizens named at the bottom. The Wesleyan University buildings ar the most prominent features toward the top.
This magnificent work includes 31 smaller images of important buildings, manufacturing companies and places of public interest, such as Wesleyan University and the town High School.
Rarity
The view is extremely rare. This is the first example we have ever seen on the market.
Reps locates 3 copies, plus another at the Connecticut State Library.
Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler (1842–1922), according to Reps "the most prolific of all American city viewmakers," produced views of over 240 cities and towns (426 views in total). Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Fowler began his viewmaking career as an agent and assistant for Albert Ruger, with his first documented work dating back to 1868. His first published views under his own name appeared in 1870, featuring two Wisconsin towns. Prior to working for Ruger he served in the Civil War and was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Subsequently, he worked as a tintype photographer.
Fowler collaborated with artists like O.H. and H. H. Bailey, and they formed Fowler & Bailey in the early 1870s. He was renowned for his detailed and accurate panoramic maps, which vividly depicted the rapid growth and urban development of late 19th and early 20th-century America. Fowler continued to create city views well into his seventies, with his final work published in 1922, shortly before his death.
