(American, 19th century) THE FREEING OF THE BRITANNIA FROM BOSTON HARBOR, 1844 Tinted lithograph with hand coloring after a drawing by John Crookshanks King; printed by Bouve and Sharp, circa 1844; margins trimmed: 17 1/2 x 24 inches; Note: This print commemorates the unusual event in Boston history when the British steamship Britannia became icebound in Boston Harbor in February of 1844. The city's leading merchants were fearful of losing the business of the lucrative Cunard line to the port of New York, therefore, at the personal expense of $1500 and much manpower, they cut a seven mile passage through the ice in order to free the Britannia.* *Excerpted rom Boston Lithography 1825-1880, The Boston Athenaeum Collection, published 1991; plate 61.