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Description

Untraced. Not in Reps.

Fine wood engraved view of Dubuque as it stood in 1846, as remembered by the longtime resident and artist Alexander Simplot.

The view shows Dubuque from across the Mississippi, in what is now East Dubuque. The town is nascent and limited to a small assortment of buildings. Steamships cross the river in the foreground. In all, an attractive and well-designed view.

This view advertises the firm of Leathers & Trewin, notaries that provided title insurance.

Alex Simplot

The son of French immigrants, Simplot was born in Dubuque in 1837 during the earliest time in Dubuque's history. His father, a local businessman, was one of the wealthiest men in the small town, which allowed Simplot to study art. During the Civil War, he was hired to serve as an artist and correspondence, and he wrote for Harper's Weekly. He returned home in ill health in 1863 with a Confederate flag, the first seen in Dubuque, which was hung in the local general store.

Following his return, he attempted to work as a merchant, but his main source of income was his artwork. Much of his work turned on his native Dubuque, as the present piece does. Many of Simplot's original artworks now resides at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Simplot was responsible for an 1870 view of Dubuque (Reps Views & Viewmakers 1038), which was printed by Chicago Lithographing Co.

Dating

Simplot died in 1914, but most of his work was done in the 1890s. The firm Leathers & Trewin is listed in an Iowa business directory in the years 1904 and 1905. A date of circa 1895 matches the view's print type and the artist's history.

Rarity

We do not find any record of this view in OCLC.

Condition Description
Hand-colored wood engaving. Toning and cracking at edges (could be trimmed away or matted out as needed), some minor even toning throughout. Backed on old linen.
Reference
Alexander Simplot, Encyclopedia Dubuque