A fine German edition of Currier & Ives bird's-eye view of the city of New York from the south.

The developed city stretches to the horizon, with many familiar buildings easily identifiable and with Central Park clearly delineated in the far distance. Both the East River and the Hudson filled with ship traffic, including images of the steamers Massachusetts, Providence, and City of New York. Perhaps the most surprising feature is the large view of the "Great East River Suspension Bridge" (i.e. the Brooklyn Bridge), in anticipation of its completion some seven years following the publication of this view.

Currier and Ives were the most famous lithographic print publishers of the nineteenth century. Among their vast body of work are a number of topographical views; these are usually restricted to the large metropolises and especially New York, which was not only their home town but also their largest market. Their strategy to attract their audience appears to have been to create very large, highly detailed views from a breathtaking bird's-eye perspective, and to issue new editions of this view to keep up with the ever-changing skyline of the city.