North America

Antique Views of North America

This category brings together original antique views and prints depicting North America, from early colonial settlements and strategic port cities to frontier regions and emerging urban centres. These historic images offer a visual record of the continent’s transformation from scattered outposts into thriving communities during the 17th to 19th centuries.

Views of places such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal and other major centres reflect the priorities of navigation, trade, commerce and civic pride, while regional prints capture rivers, mountain ranges, rural life and the expanding frontier. Many of the finest examples were created from sketches made on site by artists and draughtsmen who travelled widely, and were later published as lithographs, engravings or aquatints for distribution in Europe and North America.

Collectively, these prints document changing landscapes, architectural landmarks, street scenes and cultural life as European settlement and Indigenous presence intersected, and as cities and towns evolved through economic change, population growth and political development. They are highly valued by collectors, historians and enthusiasts for their combination of visual character, documentary value and significance within the broader history of North American geography.

As original period works on paper, these views offer a window into the visual culture of early America and Canada, providing context for how cities, regions and communities were perceived and represented in the age before photography.