[VIEWS IN CENTRAL PARK]. [with:] [NEW YORK STREET SCENES]

[Boston: Manufactured by L. Prang & Co., 1864].. Central Park: Thirty-six chromolithographic cards, each 4¼ x 2½ inches. Tipped to three album sheets. Street Scenes: Twelve chromolithographic cards, each 4¼ x 2½ inches, tipped to matching album sheet. Light soiling or foxing to a few images. Near fine. A marvelous collection of chromolithographic views of New York City's Central Park, issued by the renowned firm of Louis Prang and Company. In 1864, Prang issued numerous series of cards, often showing nature scenes, and meant to be collected and tipped into albums. Among these series, one of the rarest is the present series of thirty-six views of Central Park. When these cards were issued, Central Park was still a new attraction in New York City. In 1857 a competition had been announced to submit designs for the park, and the winning entry was the "Greensward Plan" submitted by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The park opened later in 1857.

This collection contains views of some of the most famous places in the park, including The Ramble and the Boat Landing. The scenes in this collection are:

1) "The Island."

2) "The Rustic Bridge."

3) "Entrance to Cave."

4) "The Lake."

5) "Rustic Arbor."

6) "The Brook."

7) "Moonlight on the Lake."

8) "Cascade."

9) "The Arch."

10) "The Ramble."

11) "Boat Landing."

12) "Marble Bridge Over the Lake."

13) "Rude Stairway."

14) "Abode of the Swans."

15) "The Silver Lake."

16) "Entrance to Cave From the Lake."

17) "The Tower."

18) "Ornamental Bridge."

19) "The Drive."

20) "The Bridle Path."

21) "The Music Temple."

22) "Sunset on the Lake."

23) "Rustic Arbor."

24) "A Glimpse of the Lake."

25) "The Marble Bridge."

26) "Vine Arbor."

27) "Bust of Schiller."

28) "The Fountain."

29) "On the Ramble, near the Lake."

30) "Fancy Bridge No. 14."

31) "The Casino."

32) "Bridge at the 7th Avenue Entrance."

33) "The Cove."

34) "Rustic Bower."

35) "Rustic Arbor."

36) "Evening on the Lake."

Prang followed the present three series of Central Park views with another two series issued in 1869. Any of the cards in the Central Park series are among the rarest of Prang cards.

With the Central Park series is another early Prang series, depicting street scenes and characters of New York. These charming images capture the spirit of the metropolis at the beginning of the Gilded Age. They are:

1) "Street Musician."

2) "The Drum Major."

3) "Emigrants Just Arrived."

4) "Muddy Street."

5) "The Fruit Pedlar."

6) "The Old Coin Merchant."

7) "The Street Singers."

8) "Walking Advertisement Balloon Seller."

9) "The Convoy Over Broadway."

10) "On Broadway."

11) "French Nurse."

12) "Newspaper Boy 'Tribune Sir?'"

An amusing collection of images of the sort of people who would have been found in Central Park in the 1860s.