William Russell Birch arrived in Philadelphia, the American capital, in 1794, where he soon influenced the course of the culture of the young nation by creating the first sets of engraved views ever published in the United States: The City of Philadelphia in 1800 and The Country Seats of the United States. In a period when images of the American landscape were still scarce, Birch"s prints provided the foundation of this key aspect of Americans" understanding of their country. Birch established an artistic career in London after a childhood in Warwickshire, working as an enamelist creating original portrait miniature paintings and copies of the work of his mentor Sir Joshua Reynolds. Like many others of his generation, Birch aspired to become a landscape artist someone who both created images and designed gardens professionally. He issued his first set of picturesque views, D?lices de la Grande Bretagne, in 1791. After Reynolds and his two most important London patrons died...