Half-Dome, from the Merced River, engraved Yosemite illustration

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The engraving turns Half-Dome, the granite face that rises above the floor of Yosemite Valley, toward the Merced River in the foreground, with the river and meadow setting off the dome's sheer north side. Engravings like this were how many Americans first pictured Yosemite in the decades after the valley was set aside by Congress in 1864 as a public trust, when few had seen it firsthand. Artists working from sketches and survey work often reshaped the scenery for a wider public, so the dramatic cliffs and calm water here reflect as much the taste of the period as the valley's exact appearance. It is worth looking at how the engraver rendered the dome's tones with fine line work.

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