Morning Line for Albany. From the Steamboat Pier, Foot of Barclay-Street. Passage $1 50. The Low-Pressure Steamboat ALBANY, Capt. J.G. Jenkins.
New York: 1842. A decorative broadside advertising "The ALBANY". The fare is listed at a $1.50 - in 1825, under the Livingston-Fulton monopoly of the Hudson River, it had been $4 or more. The monopoly was dissolved in 1824 following the landmark Gibbons v. Ogden Supreme Court case, opening New York waters to all competitive steam navigation companies. In 1819 there were only nine steamboats in operation on the Hudson River; by 1840, customers could choose from more than 100 in service. This Steamboat and Captain were advertised in the press of the 1840s as paired with Captain Gorham of the "Troy". Captain Jenkins had a long career, working on the Philadelphia route in the 1820s and there followed a long career on the Hudson. The captain's names seem to be invoked as a reassurance for the traveling public, as there were often fires on the steamboats. The worst disaster was to arrive 10 years later in 1852, when the "Henry Clay" burned south of Yonkers, killing many notables, including Andrew Jackson Downing, the architect & landscape designer. 9 5/8 x 10 1/2", a sml. chip in the top affecting the "i" in 'Morning", where broadside was likely attached to a board trimmed a little close on the right side with slt. loss, clean. Handwritten in ink in a contemporary hand at bottom, "Monday April 11th" [1842]; with a wonderful depiction of the starboard view of sidewheel steamer ALBANY.
A handsome piece. Item #17387
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