The Wonder of the Age — Harper's Weekly, 26 May 1883

This spectacular original wood engraving by Charles Graham, published in Harper's Weekly on 26 May 1883 — just two days after the bridge's dedication on 24 May — captures the opening of what was immediately hailed as one of the greatest engineering achievements in human history: the New York and Brooklyn Suspension Bridge, today known the world over as the Brooklyn Bridge.

At 1,595 feet, the bridge was the longest suspension bridge ever built — nearly twice the span of any previous structure of its kind. Its twin Gothic towers, rising 276 feet above the East River, had dominated the skylines of both cities for over a decade as the Roebling family — first John A. Roebling, who conceived the design and died from an injury sustained during the survey, and then his son Washington Roebling, who directed construction from his sickbed while his wife Emily Warren Roebling served as his indispensable intermediary on site — drove the project to its triumphant conclusion.

Graham's centrefold illustration, depicting the bridge from the Brooklyn side with the New York entrance beyond, captures the full drama of the structure: the soaring cables, the promenade crowded with the curious and the celebratory, the river traffic below, and the two great cities united at last by a single, sublime span. President Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland attended the dedication; an estimated 150,300 people crossed the bridge on its first day open to the public.

Charles Graham was one of Harper's Weekly's most accomplished illustrators, and this centrefold ranks among the finest and most historically significant works of his career — a document of a moment when America looked at what it had built and felt, justifiably, that anything was possible.

• Publication: Harper's Weekly, New York
• Date: 26 May 1883
• Artist: Charles Graham
• Subject: Opening of the New York and Brooklyn Suspension Bridge (Brooklyn Bridge), viewed from the Brooklyn side
• Medium: Original wood engraving (centrefold illustration)
• Size: Approximately 26 × 40 cm (10 × 16 inches)
• Scan: 350 dpi
• Condition: Original antique print — age-toning consistent with period. Any slight tears along the edges of the original print will be repaired using acid-free archival tape. No original prints will be sold where there is damage to the principal image area.

An iconic piece for collectors of New York City history, American engineering history, Gilded Age art, or Brooklyn Bridge memorabilia — and one of the most recognisable and historically significant antique prints available.