Thursday, October 10, 2013

Bridge At Glen's-Falls, On The Hudson.

Bridge At Glen's-Falls, On The Hudson. 
Reproduced from a 7¼"x 4¾" Steel Engraving  from a Drawing by W.H. Bartlett
Bridge At Glen's-Falls, On The Hudson is Print # 43 of 53 on page 84 from Volume II
"AMERICAN SCENERY" or LAND, LAKE, AND RIVER Published in 1839 by
George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, London
This is an exact copy of the original 1839 text describing the above Print, from "AMERICAN SCENERY"


Few of our readers who will not consider this subject as one of the most picturesque in our collection, and yet many of them we fear have passed over the bridge in our View unconscious of the proximity of so extraordinary a scene as the Falls of the Hudson at this spot.

This was, at least, our own case when first visiting Lake George, from Saratoga ; and we would counsel every one to steal a few moments, even if travelling by the stage, to descend from the covered bridge to the rocky bed of the river. Miss Martineau observes—
" We were all astonished at the splendour of Glen's Falls. The full, though narrow Hudson, rushes along amidst enormous masses of rock, and leaps sixty feet down the chasms and precipices which occur in the passage, sweeping between dark banks of shelving rocks below, its current speckled with foam. The noise is so tremendous, that I cannot conceive how people can fix their dwellings in the immediate neighbourhood. There is a long bridge over the roaring floods, which vibrates incessantly; and clusters of saw-mills deform the scene. There is stone-cutting as well as planking done at these mills. The fine black marble of the place is cut into slabs, and sent down to New York to be polished. It was the busiest scene that I saw near any water-power in America."
Her description is excellent, but, as regards the mills, we cannot agree with her; they certainly add much to the picturesque effect of the scene.



This is an exact copy of the original 1839 text describing the above Print, from
"AMERICAN SCENERY" Volume II, Page 91, Published by George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, London

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