Series V: Lithograph Album by Julius Bien

Series V dates from ca. 1860 and consists of a series of 150 lithographs (bearing plate numbers 1-95) bound into one oversize volume measuring 34.5 x 24.5 inches. The album contains plans, sections, and elevations of lighthouse towers, buoys, lamps, lanterns, lenses, light vessels, and other equipment for lighthouse service.

Julius Bien (1826-1909) was a German-born painter, cartographer and lithographer who immigrated to the United States in 1849. He settled in New York and became known as a one of the country's finest mapmakers. Bien did extensive cartographic work for the United States Government. This album is stamped "U.S. Light House Establishment," and "Col R Delafield Corps of Engineers" is inscribed on the cover. It is presumed that the album was once in the possession of Richard Delafield (1798-1873), who was in charge of New York Harbor defenses from 1861-1864 and was Chief Engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1864-1866. Each plate in this reads "Lith of J. Bien 60 Fulton Street," an address from which Bien is known to have worked only in 1860.