Nice view titled Passaic Falls, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. page size is 31.5 x 23.5 cm, approx. image size is 22.5 x 15.5 cm, text in English on the back. From William Cullen Bryant's Picturesque America, published by D. Appleton & Co., New York.

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), the distinguished American poet and editor, practised law until 1825 when he switched avocations and became editor and finally owner of the "Evening Post". In 1872 he edited "Picturesque America" and was responsible for choosing artists rather than photographers to interpret the beauty of America. This beautifully executed steelplate engraving, exemplifies the high point of 19th century intaglio printing and is a testament to William Cullen Bryant's genius.

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 Paterson,

city, seat (1837) of Passaic county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S., situated on the Passaic River, 12 mi (19 km) northwest of New York City. It was founded after the American Revolution by advocates of American industrial independence from Europe who saw the Great Falls of the Passaic, which drop 70 ft (21 m), as the best potential industrial site on the Atlantic Seaboard. The enterprise was chartered by the New Jersey legislature in 1791 as the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (SUM); the city was named for Gov. William Paterson, one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

A successful enterprise, SUM ultimately sold waterpower and building space to private manufacturers. The earliest industries were cotton mills, and in 1828 Paterson mechanics joined mill workers in the first recorded sympathy strike in America. Samuel Colt produced his first revolvers at the Old Gun Mill (preserved) in 1836. By 1837, when the locomotive industry was established, machine manufacturing had become important. The silk industry was introduced in 1839, and linen thread manufacture was begun in 1864. The city was the scene of many labour disputes, but by the mid-20th century it had become a centre of widely diversified industrial activity, including the manufacture of textiles, machinery, machine tools, and chemicals.

The William Paterson College of New Jersey (which was established as a normal school in 1855) is located at nearby Wayne. Paterson Museum is known for its collection of New Jersey rocks and Indian relics. One of the first successful submarines, the Fenian Ram, which was built by John P. Holland and sank in the Passaic River in 1881, was recovered in 1927 and placed on exhibit in Westside Park. Lambert Castle (1891) in the Garret Mountain Reservation houses the Passaic County Historical Society Museum. In 1976 the Great Falls area was designated a national historic site. Inc. 1851. Pop. (1990) 140,891.

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