A Set of Lithographs Illustrating the Danish West Indies, six

Notes

The titles and artists of each print are as follows:

• Parti of St. Thomas. Inscribed 'Efter H Hansens Daguerreotyp. lith af A Nay.'

• Christianssted (St. Croix). Inscribed 'Capt P Seidelm del. J. Hellesen lith.'

• Cruxbay (St. Jan.). Inscribed 'FG Melby pinz A Nay lith.'

• St. Jan (Parti af det Indre.). Inscribed 'Ffter F Melby A Nay lith.'

• Parti ved Frederikssted (St. Croix.). Inscribed 'Cap: P. Seidelin del.. E. Westerberg lith.'

• St. Thomas (Parti af Byen og Havnen). Inscribed 'Efter H. Hansens Daguerreotyp lith af A Nay.'

The present lot comprises rare lithographic views depicting what are now the U S Virgin Islands, formerly known as the Danish West Indies. Published in 1856 by Emilius Ditlev Baerentzen as part of Danmark, a lithographic survey of the Danish empire, these images represent some of the earliest known visual records of the islands.

Included in this lot are some early views of St. Thomas, based on daguerreotypes taken in the early 1850s by Hans Hansen (1819–1882), Chief Pharmacist at the A H Riise Apothecary in St. Thomas. These photographs reflect the period’s growing fascination with panoramic photography. However, due to the lack of a practical method for reproducing daguerreotypes at the time, the images were brought back to Denmark, where they were adapted and published as lithographs by Baerentzen & Co, the studio run by Emilius Ditlev Baerentzen.¹

^1. Dr Dante Berette (2017) Early St. Thomas Panoramas - 1850's, Virgin Islands History, online, accessed 9 October 2025.

Provenance

Property of a Collector.