"He
talked with townspeople, gathered local documents and made quick
sketches everywhere he went - views that he turned into small,
delicate ink wash drawings and then wood blocks used to make engravings."
"The
illustrations depict each town center, with its homes and
churches, academies and courthouses sailboats plying a river or
harbor, an occasional factory belching puffs of smoke and always a
tiny figure or two, often the artist in his top hat,
sketching the scene or pointing to the view."
