Avery’s Architectural Novelties

Buildings of New York > Buildings of New York

The cover of this floriated case betrays no hint of its contents: nineteenth-century photographs of New York City buildings. Produced by the Boston Diatite Company, Buildings of New York may have been intended as an advertisement for the company's product, the thermoplastic material used to create the case. The Boston Diatite Company was listed in the Boston City Directories from 1870 to 1876, which helps to date the views of New York. These were mounted onto a single sheet of paper and folded accordion-style into the case.

 

Within the case, twelve round albumen prints show St. George's Church, Tabernacle Church, the Academy of Design, Union Square, the Grand Hotel, the Grand Opera House, the Academy of Music, the A.T. Stewart residence, City Hall, Everett House, the Union League House, and St. Luke's Hospital.

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