Object of the Month June 2023 - Print, Vue de Boston by Franz Xaver Habermann

June 2023

Print, Vue de Boston by Franz Xaver Habermann
1770s
2017.0001.001

This etching, likely created in the 1770s, is said to depict the Old State House and King Street (now known as State Street) in Boston, Massachusetts. Interestingly, nothing in the depiction is accurate; the artist was German and seemingly never visited Boston, nor did he use an accurate image of the city as reference. The print was made to be used with a zograscope, a device used to magnify and give depth to an image, hence the reversal of some of the text.

Click here to view this object in our collection.