Vue de New York et de l´entree de la riviere de l´est prise de L´ille Ellis

Antique 19th Century color lithograph of New York harbor / Manhattan and East River panoramic view as seen from Ellis Island. 61 x 48 cms. Sailing ship in the foreground has an American flag design popular in the 1840's known as the Grand Luminary where the individual stars form a single, larger star. Inscription bellow the image states "del et lith par L. Lebreton." Louis Lebreton (1818-1866) was a French Naval surgeon, painter and noted lithographer of ships and nautical subjects.

At age nineteen Lebreton embarked on a three year trip to the South Pole and Oceania as assistant surgeon of the vessel Astrolabe. The Astrolabe and the Zélée where two French Navy corvettes commanded by naval officer and explorer Dumont d’Urville (1790–1842). The young artist Ernest Goupil (c.1814-1841) was responsible for recording the places, people, flora and fauna encountered during the expedition which sailed from Toulon, southern France on 7 September 1837. Goupil caught disentery while passing through Malaysia and died during the night of December 31st 1839. From then on, Lebreton took over recording the expedition. Back in France, Lebreton also worked on the publication of the trip entitled "Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée." After several other voyages, Lebreton finally resigned his post as Naval Surgeon and settled in Paris where he devoted himself to painting and engraving a variety of nautical subjects. He died in 1866 when he was 48 years old.