“Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia” - An Engraving from "The Slave States of America" published in 1842.

 

“Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia” appears opposite page 413 in James Silk Buckingham’s second volume of The Slave States of America (published in London by Fisher, Son & Co. in 1842). Buckingham (1789-1855) was a British journalist and social reformer. The Slave States of America serves as both a travelogue and a critique of the American institution of slavery published just decades before the Civil War. One chapter of the book, about 20 pages, devotes itself to describing life in Richmond. Although published in 1842, Buckingham's travels in the south, including Richmond, took place primarily in 1839. 

Image from the Contents of the book showing subjects discussed in the chapter on Richmond. 

Read the chapter on Richmond HERE.

This steel engraving print of the city was composed by William Henry Brooke (1772-1860) - his name appears on the bottom left of the image. F.S.A. indicates he was a "Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London." 

The engraver was William Henry Capone (active c. 1832–1855). His name is seen on the bottom right. Capone was an English line engraver and printmaker and specialized in travel drawings and topographical sketches into steel plate engravings. 

From left to right one can see: Benjamin Henry Latrobe's Virginia State Penitentiary building, Robert Mill's Richmond City Hall, and Thomas Jefferson/Charles-Louis Clérisseau's Virginia State Capitol. 

There are two different copies of Vol. 2 of The Slave States of America available on the Internet Archive. The image above is taken from THIS version - which is listed on the site as "The slave states of America [microform]." A second version, simply titled "The slave states of America" is available HERE. The print seen in the first version is a better quality image although its cropped. You can see the entire print in the second version but it has a good amount of foxing. 

I hope you follow the link and read the description of the city. In the future I will post an essay on Buckingham's visit to Monumental Church. 

- Ray