The Rabbit Hole

Research branch · image type first

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Two related datasets, not one pile. Bird’s-eye lithographs stay drawings. Old World photography stays photography. Label the image type before anything else — so an 1870 American print is never compared as if it were a lens.

Then the same method on the built world: what was there, what happened, what came afterward. Present status is recorded beside the plate. Chronology talks. The image is not asked to prove a thesis.

Camera first

World’s Fairs

Official plates and archive links. Not a verdict.

Same screen, labeled types

Compare city overviews: 1870 ± 10 years

Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Paris, London, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, St. Petersburg. Original images. Dates. Source institutions. Image type on every plate.

Open the 1870 window

The built world

What was there. What happened. What came afterward.

Bird’s-eyes as establishing shots. Photographs of named structures. Fires, earthquakes, demolition, and steel-frame construction as dated events. Gaps stay gaps.

Open the chronologies

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03 / 08

Panoramas and aerials

Drawn strips, stitched or wide photographs, and cameras in balloons. The type is the first fact.

All typesLithographElevated photoPanoramaAerialStreet photo
  1. Panorama of Saint Petersburg, 1861. Period drawn panorama (waterfront strip).. Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph.

    1861·St. Petersburg

    Panorama of Saint Petersburg

    Period drawn panorama (waterfront strip).

    Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph

    A long drawn strip of the Neva waterfront: spires, palaces, shipping. This is a panorama on paper, not a camera exposure. Record it as a drawn overview of the capital in 1861. Do not read it as a photograph.

    Open plate
  2. London from the south side of the Thames, c. 1865. Printed panorama (Leventhal Map Center / Wikimedia scan).. Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph.

    c. 1865·London

    London from the south side of the Thames

    Printed panorama (Leventhal Map Center / Wikimedia scan).

    Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph

    A drawn strip of London seen from the south bank: river, bridges, dome, a continuous skyline. An illustration of the whole, not a single exposure. Set it beside the rooftop photograph before deciding they show the same city the same way.

    Open plate
  3. Aerial view of Paris — Place de l’Étoile, 1868. Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon), from Henri Giffard’s tethered balloon.. True aerial photograph.

    1868·Paris

    Aerial view of Paris — Place de l’Étoile

    Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon), from Henri Giffard’s tethered balloon.

    True aerial photograph

    A camera in a balloon. The Arc de Triomphe sits in the star of new avenues Haussmann cut from the Étoile. Rooftops and roadbeds are seen from above, not imagined from above. BnF preserves a plate of eight views Nadar took from this tethered balloon in 1868. This is a true aerial photograph — the first surviving generation of Paris from the air.

    Open plate
  4. Chicago after the fire, 1871. Attributed to George N. Barnard. Photographic panorama.

    1871·Chicago

    Chicago after the fire

    Attributed to George N. Barnard

    Photographic panorama

    A wide photographic plate of the burnt district: chimneys, rubble, a horizon of ruin. This is a camera record after 8–10 October 1871. Set it beside Davis’s or Flint’s drawn ‘before’ views. One is an illustration of what was imagined as standing. This is what the lens found after.

    Open plate
  5. Panorama from the dome of St Peter’s, c. 1860s. Unidentified photographer. Albumen print from collodion negative.. Elevated photograph.

    c. 1860s·Rome

    Panorama from the dome of St Peter’s

    Unidentified photographer. Albumen print from collodion negative.

    Elevated photograph · Surviving

    Rome photographed from the cupola of St Peter’s: the basilica fabric in the foreground, the city spread beyond. An elevated photograph from a known high point, not a balloon plate and not a drawn bird’s-eye. The camera is on the dome.

    Open plate
  6. Paris from a balloon — Exposition Universelle, 1889. Alphonse Liébert, photographer. From a balloon above the Trocadéro.. True aerial photograph.

    1889·Paris

    Paris from a balloon — Exposition Universelle

    Alphonse Liébert, photographer. From a balloon above the Trocadéro.

    True aerial photograph

    A balloon photograph of the 1889 Exposition: the Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, Seine, Pont d’Iéna. Twenty-one years after Nadar’s Étoile plate. True aerial, not a lithograph of the fair. Outside the 1870 ± 10 window — keep it in the aerial drawer, not in that compare.

    Open plate
  7. San Francisco in ruins from a captive airship, 1906. George R. Lawrence Co. Camera suspended from kites, 28 May 1906.. True aerial photograph.

    1906·San Francisco

    San Francisco in ruins from a captive airship

    George R. Lawrence Co. Camera suspended from kites, 28 May 1906.

    True aerial photograph · Reconstructed

    A camera hung from kites about 2,000 feet up, 28 May 1906. The Ferry Building and the waterfront in the near field. Market Street running inland through a field of ruins. True aerial photograph — not a lithograph of the disaster. Six weeks after 18 April. The fire is out. The city as the lens found it.

    Open plate
  8. Melbourne from the dome of the Exhibition Building, c. 1905. Period stereograph. Camera on the 1880 Exhibition Building.. Elevated photograph.

    c. 1905·Melbourne

    Melbourne from the dome of the Exhibition Building

    Period stereograph. Camera on the 1880 Exhibition Building.

    Elevated photograph · Surviving

    Melbourne photographed from the dome of the 1880 Exhibition Building: parks, a grid, low masonry, a few taller piles. An elevated photograph from a known high point. The camera stands on world’s-fair architecture that was kept. Do not treat the view as a lithograph of the city.

    Open plate
  9. Looking down from the Woolworth tower, c. 1913. Period stereograph from the new tower.. Elevated photograph.

    c. 1913·New York

    Looking down from the Woolworth tower

    Period stereograph from the new tower.

    Elevated photograph · Surviving

    New York photographed from the Woolworth tower shortly after it opened: roofs, streets, the harbor edge. An elevated photograph from a known high-rise, not a bird’s-eye lithograph and not a balloon plate. The camera is on steel-frame architecture looking at whatever still stood around it.

    Open plate

All plates

Year order. Type is the first column after the date.

  1. printed 1844OxfordHigh Street, OxfordStreet photograph
  2. 1858CairoStreet view in CairoStreet photograph
  3. 1857–58GizaThe Pyramids of El-Geezeh, from the south-westStreet photograph
  4. 1858JerusalemJerusalem from the Mount of OlivesElevated photograph
  5. c. 1860BostonWashington Street, BostonStreet photograph
  6. 1860PragueOld Bridge over the MoldauElevated photograph
  7. 1861St. PetersburgPanorama of Saint PetersburgBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  8. c. 1861WashingtonUnited States Capitol — the Walter dome risingStreet photograph
  9. c. 1860sLondonCrystal Palace, SydenhamStreet photograph
  10. 1863YokohamaYokohama from the hillPhotographic panorama
  11. 1864Annapolis, MarylandBird’s eye view of the city of Annapolis, Md.Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  12. ca. 1850–1880EdinburghPrinces Street and the Scott MonumentStreet photograph
  13. c. 1865LondonOn the rooftops of LondonElevated photograph
  14. c. 1865LondonLondon from the south side of the ThamesBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  15. c. 1865ParisPlace DauphineStreet photograph
  16. between 1860 and 1870ParisRue de Rivoli and the Hôtel du LouvreElevated photograph
  17. c. 1860sRomePanorama from the dome of St Peter’sElevated photograph
  18. 1860sAngkorAngkor WatStreet photograph
  19. 1861–1873San FranciscoLick House, Montgomery Street frontStreet photograph
  20. late 1860sBombayShaik Memon Street, BombayStreet photograph
  21. 1868Omaha, NebraskaBird’s eye view of the city of Omaha, NebraskaBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  22. 1868ParisAerial view of Paris — Place de l’ÉtoileTrue aerial photograph
  23. 1869Kansas City, MissouriBird’s eye view of Kansas City, Missouri. Jan’y. 1869Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  24. 1868–1870PekingCentral Street, Chinese City, PekingElevated photograph
  25. 1870BostonView of Boston, July 4th 1870Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  26. ca. 1870CalcuttaTown Hall, CalcuttaStreet photograph
  27. 1870DamascusThe street called StraightStreet photograph
  28. 1870Salt Lake City, UtahBird’s eye view of Salt Lake City, Utah TerritoryBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  29. c. 1870ViennaSt Stephen’s Cathedral, ViennaElevated photograph
  30. 1870ViennaStaatsbahnhof under construction, 13 March 1870Street photograph
  31. 1871Atlanta, GeorgiaBirds eye view of the city of Atlanta, the capitol of GeorgiaBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  32. 1871BerlinBerlin from a bird’s-eyeBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  33. 1871ChicagoBird’s-eye view of Chicago as it was before the great fireBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  34. 1871ChicagoChicago after the firePhotographic panorama
  35. 1872ChicagoThe City of Chicago as it was before the great conflagrationBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  36. 1872Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wis.Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  37. 1873New YorkNew York — Battery Park and the East RiverBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  38. 1870–77ViennaToward the center of Vienna from MariahilfStreet photograph
  39. 1874DenverDenver, Colorado, 1874Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  40. 1874St. LouisThe City of St. LouisBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  41. c. 1870sLondonLondon Bridge from the Southwark sideStreet photograph
  42. c. 1875ShanghaiThe Bund, ShanghaiElevated photograph
  43. 1876Louisville, KentuckyBird’s eye view of Louisville, KentuckyBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  44. 1876PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, 1876 — chromatic viewBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  45. c. 1877ParisAvenue de l’Opéra — demolitionStreet photograph
  46. c. 1878ParisAvenue de l’Opéra, toward Palais GarnierStreet photograph
  47. 1878San FranciscoThe City of San Francisco, from the bay looking south-westBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  48. 1878Seattle, WashingtonBird’s eye view of the city of Seattle, Puget Sound, Washington TerritoryBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  49. 1879Leadville, ColoradoBird’s eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo.Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  50. 1879MinneapolisPanoramic view of the city of MinneapolisBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  51. ca. 1880CologneCologne Cathedral, south side, towers scaffoldedStreet photograph
  52. 1883DuluthView of Duluth, Minn.Bird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  53. c. 1880–1900ConstantinopleHagia Sophia from the southStreet photograph
  54. c. 1880sMelbourneRoyal Exhibition BuildingStreet photograph
  55. 1888–1900MelbourneCollins Street, Grosvenor ChambersStreet photograph
  56. 1886–1892BerlinUnter den Linden, from west to eastStreet photograph
  57. 1889ParisParis from a balloon — Exposition UniverselleTrue aerial photograph
  58. ca. 1880–1900AlgiersAlgiers from the CasbahElevated photograph
  59. c. 1890Buenos AiresCasa RosadaStreet photograph
  60. c. 1880–1900ParisPalais GarnierStreet photograph
  61. ca. 1885–1895Rio de JaneiroCentral Rio from Morro do CasteloElevated photograph
  62. 1893ChicagoState Street, ChicagoStreet photograph
  63. 1893St. PaulSt. Paul, looking west from Dayton’s BluffBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  64. ca. 1890–1900MoscowRed SquareStreet photograph
  65. 1902New YorkFlatiron Building, Fifth Avenue and BroadwayStreet photograph
  66. 1902Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaBird's-eye illustration / lithograph
  67. c. 1903AgraThe Taj Mahal from the gardenStreet photograph
  68. c. 1900MoscowCathedral of Christ the SaviourStreet photograph
  69. c. 1904Mexico CityMetropolitan Cathedral, Mexico CityStreet photograph
  70. c. 1904PhiladelphiaCity Hall, PhiladelphiaStreet photograph
  71. c. 1905MelbourneMelbourne from the dome of the Exhibition BuildingElevated photograph
  72. 1906San FranciscoSan Francisco in ruins from a captive airshipTrue aerial photograph
  73. c. 1909New YorkSinger Tower from the North RiverElevated photograph
  74. 1912New YorkWoolworth Building — ironwork, 4 April 1912Street photograph
  75. c. 1913New YorkWoolworth BuildingStreet photograph
  76. c. 1913New YorkLooking down from the Woolworth towerElevated photograph