New Best 50

In 1988 Marshall Berkoff, president of the American Historical Print Collectors Society (AHPCS) asked the membership to select what they felt were the best 50 large and small folio Currier & Ives prints today. This new selection would reflect the changed tastes over the fifty year period since the first selection was made.

The total AHPCS membership was asked to nominate any print they felt deserved this new honor. From this massive input the top two hundred large and two hundred small folios made the first selection. On April 22.1989, a national panel, consisting of thirty collectors, dealers and institutions gathered at The Museum of the City of New York to view most of these nominated prints from the Harry T. Peters collection which is housed there.

The panels task was to narrow the number of prints nominated. Their decision made, one hundred large and one hundred small folios were available to the AHPCS’s membership for their final vote.

Rank	Title / sub title - Image area measurements = inches.16ths - date	Folio	Conn	Gale
1	ROAD - WINTER, THE / (17.11x26.8) 1853, N. Currier	L	5171	5613
2	MIDNIGHT RACE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, A / (18.7x28.2) 1860	L	4116	4476
3	HUSKING / (Painted by E. Johnson) (21.1x27.6) 1861	L	3008	3249
4	ACROSS THE CONTINENT / (17.14x27.6) 1868	L	33	39
5	WINTER IN THE COUNTRY / Getting Ice / (18.8x27.1) 1864	L	6737	7274
6	AMERICAN FOREST SCENE / Maple Sugaring / (18.11x27) 1856, N. Currier	L	157	170
7	CENTRAL PARK, WINTER / The Skating Pond / (18.6x26.12) 1862	L	954	1047
8	AMERICAN FARM SCENES / No.4 (Winter) (16.13x23.15) 1853, N. Currier	L	136	149
9	AMERICAN NATIONAL GAME OF BASEBALL, THE / (19.14x29.14) 1866	L	180	194
10	HOME TO THANKSGIVING / (Painted by G.H. Durrie) (14.12x25.1) 1867	L	2882	3115
11	CHAMPIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI / (18.4x27.14) 1866	L	992	1076
12	ROCKY MOUNTAINS, THE - EMIGRANTS CROSSING THE PLAINS / (17.7x25.13) 1866	L	5196	5633
13	LIGHTNING EXPRESS" TRAINS, THE / Leaving the Junction / (17.14x27.14) 1863	L	3535	3803
14	AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAIN / (Palmer) (18x30) 1864	L	130	143
15	CLIPPER SHIP "RED JACKET" / (16.4x23.12) 1855, N. Currier	L	1165	1283
16	LIFE OF A HUNTER, THE / A Tight Fix / (18.12x27.1) 1861	L	3522	3790
17	TROLLING FOR BLUE FISH / (18.8x27.14) 1866	L	6158	6641
18	AUTUMN IN NEW ENGLAND / (14.13x25.4) 1866	L	322	350
19	AMERICAN WINTER SCENES / Evening / (16.12x24.2) 1854, N. Currier	L	207	221
20	NEW ENGLAND WINTER SCENE / (16.7x23.10) 1861	L	4420	4801
21	WINTER IN THE COUNTRY / The Old Grist Mill / (18.6x26.15)) 1864	L	6738	7275
22	GREAT FIRE AT CHICAGO / (16.14x24.8) 1871	L	2615	2835
23	"WOODING UP" ON THE MISSISSIPPI / (18.4x27.13) 1863	L	6776	7326
24	LIFE ON THE PRAIRIE / The Trapper's Defense / (18.7x27.2) 1862	L	3528	3797
25	AMERICAN WINTER SCENES / Morning / (16.8x24.1) 1854, N. Currier	L	208	222
26	PREPARING FOR MARKET / (Child in doorway, no toy.) (18.11x27.4) 1856, N. Currier	L	4870	5280
27	"TROTTING CRACKS" AT THE FORGE / (19.6x29.5) 1869	L	6169	6651
28	ARGUING THE POINT / (18.5x23.14) 1855, N. Currier	L	265	287
29	LIFE OF A FIREMAN / The New Era / (17.1x25.14) 1861	L	3517	3785
30	LIFE ON THE PRAIRIE / The "Buffalo Hunt" / (18.7x27.1) 1862	L	3527	3796
31	LEVEE -- NEW ORLEANS, THE / (19.15x29.14) 1884	L	3480	3750
32	WINTER IN THE COUNTRY / A Cold Morning / (18.5x27) 1864	L	6736	7273
33	MISSISSIPPI IN TIME OF PEACE / (18.4x27.12) 1865	L	4160	4518
34	WHALE FISHERY / Attacking A Right Whale / (16.3x23.12)	L	6623	7157
35	FARMER'S HOME -- Harvest, The / (16x23.6) 1864	L	1890	2046
36	AT THE FAIR GROUNDS / (High-wheeled sulkies) (19.2x28.4) 1890	L	294	327
37	FARMER'S HOME -- Winter, The / (16.3x23.13) 1863	L	1892	2048
38	BROOK TROUT FISHING / "An Anxious Moment" / (18.10x27.2) 1862	L	703	789
39	SNOWED UP - RUFFED GROUSE IN WINTER / (15x20.6) 1867	L	5581	5976
40	COTTON PLANTATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI, A / (20x30.1) 1884	L	1271	1394
41	AMERICAN HUNTING SCENES / "An Early Start" / (18.15x27.11) 1863	L	173	187
42	AMERICAN WINTER SPORTS / Trout Fishing "On Chateaugay Lake" / (First State) (Prtd. Endicott) 1856, N. Currier	L	210	224
43	LIFE OF A FIREMAN / The Metropolitan System / (17x26.4) 1866	L	3516	3784
44	AMERICAN RAILROAD SCENE / Lightning Express Leaving the Junction / (1st State)	L	185	199
45	LANDSCAPE FRUIT AND FLOWERS / (F. Palmer, del.) (19.12x27.8) 1862	L	3440	3710
46	WILD DUCK SHOOTING / A Good Day's Sport / (18.7x25.12) 1854, N. Currier	L	6670	7212
47	NIGHT ON THE HUDSON, A / (18x27.12) 1864	L	4474	4860
48	MINK TRAPPING / "Prime" / (19.1x27.12) 1862	L	4139	4502
49	CATCHING A TROUT / "We Hab You Now, Sar!" / (18.5x25.12) 1854, N. Currier	L	845	938
50	WHALE FISHERY, THE / The Sperm Whale In A Flurry / (16x24)	L	6627	7160

Rank	Title / sub title - Image area measurements = inches.16ths - date	Folio	Conn	Gale
1	AMERICAN RAILROAD SCENE / Snowbound / (8.8x12.7) 1871	S	187	201
2	MAPLE SUGARING / (8.7x12.8) 1872	S	3975	4305
3	CENTRAL PARK IN WINTER / (Moonlight Scene) (8.8x12.7)	S	948	1041
4	ICE-BOAT RACE ON THE HUDSON /	S	3021	3258
5	AMERICAN HOMESTEAD - WINTER / (8x12.8) 1868	S	172	185
6	PRAIRIE FIRES OF THE GREAT WEST / (8.7x12.8) 1871	S	4859	5269
7	AMERICAN WHALERS CRUSHED IN ICE / (8.8x12.8)	S	205	219
8	CENTRAL PARK, WINTER / The Skating Carnival / (8.1x12.9)	S	953	1046
9	MIDNIGHT RACE ON THE MISSISSIPPI, A / (9x13.3) 1875	S	4117	4477
10	BOUND DOWN THE RIVER / (7.14x12.7) 1870	S	627	702
11	GOLD MINING IN CALIFORNIA / (8.8x12.8) 1871	S	2412	2622
12	THROUGH THE BAYOU BY TORCHLIGHT	S	6050	6526
13	WINTER EVENING / (10.6x15) 1854, N. Currier	M	6734	7271
14	WINTER MORNING IN THE COUNTRY / (8.7x12.7) 1873	S	6742	7280
15	THROUGH TO THE PACIFIC / (7.15x12.9) 1870	S	6051	6527
16	ON THE MISSISSIPPI / LOADING COTTON / (7.15x12.7) 1870	S	4607	5004
17	HOME IN THE WILDERNESS, A / (8x12.8) 1870	S	2861	3094
18	FROZEN UP / (8.8x12.8) 1872	S	2155	2335
19	SKATING SCENE -- MOONLIGHT / (8x12.9) 1868	S	5546	5941
20	DESTRUCTION OF TEA AT BOSTON HARBOR / 1846, N. Currier	S	1571	1706
21	EXPRESS TRAIN, THE / (8x12.8) 1870	S	1792	1944
22	GREAT MISSISSIPPI STEAM BOAT RACE / (8x12.7) (moonlight)	S	2630	2850
23	EARLY WINTER / (9.10x16.15) 1869	M	1652	1790
24	SLEIGH RACE, THE / #90	S	5558	5952
25	HOME ON THE MISSISSIPPI, A / (8.7x12.7) 1871	S	2876	3109
26	ROUTE TO CALIFORNIA, THE / (8.7x12.8) 1871	S	5225	5664
27	EXPRESS TRAIN, THE / (J. Schutz, del.) (7.12x12.14) N. Currier	S	1790	1947
28	WHALE FISHERY, THE "Laying On" / 1852, N. Currier	S	6626	7163
29	WINTER MORNING / (11.5x15.5) 1861	M	6740	7277
30	WINTER SPORTS -- PICKEREL FISHING / (8.7x12.8) 1872	S	6747	7285
31	GREAT EAST RIVER BRIDGE / (8.7x12.6) 1872	S	2584	2808
32	WINTER PASTIME / 10.6x14.15) 1870	M	6744	7282
33	BLUE FISHING / (8.2x12.8)	S	578	645
34	AMERICAN HOMESTEAD - AUTUMN / (7.15x12.8) 1869	S	168	181
35	HARBOR OF NEW YORK / From The Brooklyn Bridge Tower / (9x12.15)	S	2725	2954
36	SHAKERS NEAR LEBANON / (8x12.12) N. Currier	S	5475	5875
37	BASS FISHING / (7.15x12.7)	S	376	416
38	GREAT WEST, THE / (7.15x12.8) 1870	S	2658	2879
39	AMERICAN HOMESTEAD - SUMMER / (7.15x12.8) 1868	S	171	184
40	SNOW STORM, THE / (11x15.7)	M	5580	5978
41	BEAR HUNTING / (Winter Scene) (8.6x12.4)	S	446	497
42	KISS ME QUICK / #700 / (8.14X11.9)	S	3349	3615
43	FALL OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, THE / 1865	S	1822	1982
44	NIGHT EXPRESS, THE / The Start / (8.8x12.12)	S	4473	4856
45	AMERICAN HOMESTEAD - SPRING / (7.15x12.8) 1869	S	170	183
46	AMERICAN WINTER SCENE, AN / (5.8x7.8) (Very rare) (Oval)	VS	206	220
47	AWFUL CONFLAGRATION OF THE STEAM BOAT LEXINGTON / (8.7x12) (First State) N. Currier	S	327	357
48	VIEW OF NEW YORK / (8.7x12.15)	S	6401	6913
49	BLACK BASS SPEARING / (11.6x15.14)	M	543	610
50	GREAT FIRE AT BOSTON / (8x12.11) 1872	S	2614	2834