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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07 / 08

Skyscraper transition

Steel-frame construction inside cities that the earlier plates show as masonry and harbor. Same city, later cameras. Demolition of a tower is a separate documented event — not implied by the existence of a later skyline.

  1. 03 · New York

    New York — masonry to steel frame

    An 1873 harbor lithograph, then cameras on steel-frame construction: Flatiron 1902, Woolworth ironwork 1912, the finished tower, the city seen from it. Singer Tower, photographed standing, was demolished in 1967–68 — that demolition is a separate documented event.

    1. Before

      1873

      Harbor lithograph

    2. Transition

      1902

      Flatiron, completed, from the street

    3. Transition

      1912

      Woolworth frame going up

    4. After

      c. 1913

      Woolworth completed

    5. After

      c. 1913

      The city from the new tower

    Open this chronology

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