Acquisition of Original Newcastle 1889 Colour Lithograph
Special Collections in the Auchmuty Library of the University of Newcastle (Australia) recently acquired this original colour lithograph of Newcastle NSW in 1889.
Please click on the image above to access the high resolution version in exquisite detail.
Many thanks to David Threlfo who produced this promotional video as Episode 7 of his 4 Local Stories of Us series.
Details
Newcastle, N.S.W. by artist Alf Scott Broad (1854-1929).
Published in Sydney, Geo. Murray & Co., printers, 1889.
Lithograph 1 view : color ; 52 x 80 cm, on sheet 76 x 101 cm.
Bird’s-eye-view map originally published in the “Supplement to ‘The Illustrated Sydney News,’ June 27, 1889”. Includes advertisements in margins.
Accompanying Text and Illustrations
In 2017 we digitised the illustrations and accompanying text from the black and white microfilm copy of the Illustrated Sydney News. It is available here:
In addition, have a look at another set of engravings from the period here:
Enjoy.
Gionni Di Gravio, OAM
University Archivist & Chair, Hunter Living Histories
I am confused about the engraving in the lithograph of 1889. The facade of Tyrrell House in Telford St is clearly visible, just as it is today. However, the foundation stone on the left of the front entrance has the date 1920. Are you able to explain this anomaly? Thank you
Thanks for this magnificent article. Question: Do you have a cast-iron attribution for Alf Scott Broad as the artist who drew the 1889 Newcastle bird’s-eye panorama? He did claim towards the end of his life that he was responsible for aerial perspectives of Newcastle, Broken Hill and Maitland. As I understand it, he was in charge of the illustration department of the Illustrated Sydney News. He had working under him a classically trained (Ecole des Beaux Arts) artist, W A Clarson, who is known to have produced the 1888 panorama of Brisbane and another of Wollongong 1887. The technique and stylistic features of the Newcastle Panorama closely resemble Clarson’s work. It would not surprise me if Scott Broad took care of the advertising while Alfred Clarson took on the enormous job of surveying Newcastle street by street and then filling in the skeletal aerial perspective building by building. I say this because the few examples I’ve seen of A Scott Broad’s other illustrations suggest that his skills weren’t up to the task. But I’d love to be proved wrong.