A Glimpse into Kingston’s Past
The year is 1838. You are seated on the grass near the citadel of Kingston, which overlooks the vast expanse of the St. Lawrence River. What would catch your eye? The fortress to your right, guarding the waters for a possible American advance? The islands covered in luscious shrubbery, rising out of the calm waters? Or perhaps the river itself, dotted with sailboats fading into the horizon?
Each of these elements, and more, caught the eye of William Henry Bartlett (1809-1854). Born in London to middle-class parents, Bartlett became one of the foremost illustrators of topography of his generation. His travels took him far and wide – the globetrotting Englishman explored the lands of the Middle East, Asia Minor, Europe, the United States, and Canada. Commissioned by publishers in his home country, Bartlett would embark on these expeditions across the world in order to sketch “lively impressions of actual sights,” which would then be made into steel engravings and used to fill the pages of nineteenth-century travel books (Bartlett, 1861).
In 1838, Bartlett travelled through Canada, designing sketches for Nathaniel Parker Willis’ book Canadian Scenery Illustrated, published two years later. His travels remain relatively obscure, as none of his letters from this period survive today. It appears that he travelled from the Maritimes to Quebec, and then to Niagara before visiting his publisher, Willis, in New York (Ross, 2003). During these years, he completed the sketch for the print which has now, in 2021, fallen into the hands of the Murney Tower Museum. One of the most recent additions to our General Collection, the print above is the second of a set of three Kingston prints by Bartlett (you can read about the first print here). Bartlett presumably would have first completed a sepia wash drawing of the scene, and, once back in England, the illustration would have been engraved in steel. The name R. Wallis at the bottom right-hand corner of the image indicates the name of the engraver of this particular piece.
While often overlooked in favour of the greater masterpieces of his time, Bartlett’s prints nevertheless hold unmistakable historical value. The above print features in Volume I of Canadian Scenery Illustrated and is titled “View from the Citadel at Kingston.” Beneath the English title are French and German renditions of the same, both of which can be translated as “the Citadel of Kingston as seen from St. Lawrence.” The image itself depicts two men with shovels in the foreground near five soldiers in uniform conversing amongst themselves. Each man stands near the edge of the citadel, which looms above the scene. The domineering, brick-lined citadel is surrounded by a ditch (just as Murney Tower is). On the left, a house can be seen on the waterfront with smoke billowing from the chimney, and beyond the shoreline is the vast St. Lawrence River. Dotted with lush islands and the occasional sailboat, the scene is one of homeliness and tranquility.
Those who have spent their afternoons on the Kingston waterfront, those who have walked alongside the waves of Lake Ontario or the ripples of the St. Lawrence River, will recognize Bartlett’s special talent in capturing the intimate and familiar moments that shape the daily lives of a city’s inhabitants. Although a British-born artist who had never before visited Canada, Bartlett succeeded in identifying and depicting those scenes that evoke, even today, appreciation of and fondness for our Limestone City. Murney Tower Museum is deeply grateful to our donor, Marjan Mozetich, for this valuable print which wonderfully illustrates Kingston’s past.
References
Bartlett, W. H. (1861). The Nile Boat, or Glimpses of the Land of Egypt (4th ed.). Virtue.
Jones, E. (1975). Review of the book William Henry Bartlett: Artist, Author, and Traveller, by A. M. Ross. The Canadian Historical Review 56(4), 458–59.
Ross, A. M. (2003). Bartlett, William Henry. In Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/bartlett_ william_henry_8E.html.
Warner, O. (1974). Review of the book William Henry Bartlett: Artist, Author and Traveller, by A.M. Ross. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 122(5217), 635–36.
Willis, N. P., & Bartlett, W.H. (1967). Canadian Scenery: Illustrated. P. Martin Associates.