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Lake Superior Scenery consists of 26 watercolor sketches produced by artist Albert L. Rawson during a steamboat tour of the Great Lakes (primarily Lake Superior) in 1865. The sketches were compiled into a presentation album gifted to Louise C. Ely, a fellow traveler befriended by Rawson during the tour.

Lake Superior Scenery consists of 26 watercolor sketches produced by artist Albert L. Rawson during a steamboat tour of the Great Lakes (primarily Lake Superior) in 1865. The sketches were compiled into a presentation album gifted to Louise C. Ely, a fellow traveler befriended by Rawson during the tour.

The album (27 x 35.5 cm) has full pebbled burgundy Morocco leather covers replete with gilt decoration and blind-stamped ornamentations. The words “Presented to Mrs. Louise C. Ely By ***** ***** A Lake Superior friend,” “Album,” and “Lake Superior Scenery” are gold stamped on the front cover, spine, and back cover respectively. The binder’s ticket of “Dean Smeal & Hoffman Blank Book Manufacturers and Book Binders 148 Lake Street up stairs, Chicago” appears on the inside of the front cover, likely indicating that Rawson traveled through Chicago at some point during the 1865 steamboat tour. A calling card of “Mrs. C. Arthur Ely” is also tipped-in and includes an inscription reading “Elyria, Lake Superior Views in Water Colors.”

• No. 1 Grand Portal Pictured Rocks.
• 2 Grand Portal, Interior.
• 3 Miners Castle.
• 4 Cascade.
• 5 Cliff, where Steamer Superior was wrecked 1859.
• 6 Sail Rock and Profile.
• 7 Wrecker’s Hut.
• 8 Stranded Fleet.
• 9 Carp River. Near Marquette.
• 10 Cascade near Miner’s Castle.
• 11 [blank] (untitled scene showing railroad tracks, a train with smoke billowing, a river, and a colorful sky)
• 12 Lake Michigumi. Round Islands.
• 13 Chapel. From the Water.
• 14 Chapel and Fall, East.
• 15 Dead River, near White’s Burnt Mill.
• 16 Grand Island Harbor.
• 17 Superior Iron Mine.
• 18 In the Woods near Chocolat.
• 19 Fort Mackinac.
• 20 Washington Harbor - Lake Michigan.
• 21 Lake Michigami.
• 22 Marquette from Chocolat.
• 23 Marquette from the Water.
• 24 Picnic Point, near Presque Isle.
• 25 View near Marquette. Partridge Isle, Picnic Point Presque Isle and grand Island in the distance.
• 26 Chapel, West.

The table of contents accurately lists the relative position of each watercolor within the album except for the first two items (“Grand Portal Pictured Rocks” appears to be located on pg. 2 while “Grand Portal, Interior” is located on pg. 1).

• Eight views depicting various formations of The Pictured Rocks such as the Grand Portal, Miners Castle, Sail Rock, Stranded Fleet, and the Chapel.
• The view titled “The Wrecker’s Hut” (No. 7) showing a man sat near a birch-bark hut erected on Chapel Beach close to the site where the steamer Superior was wrecked in 1856. The view titled “Cliff where Steamer Superior was wrecked 1859” (No. 5) appears to have gotten the year of the wreck wrong.
• The view titled “Cascade Near Miner’s Castle” (No. 10) showing the steamboat Comet (built 1857 as a cargo vessel before being converted to hold passengers; she sank in 1875 while carrying seventy tons of Montana silver ore, making her the one and only treasure ship of Lake Superior)
• Several views of scenes near Marquette, Grand Island, and Lake Michigamme.
• The view titled “Superior Iron Mine” (No. 17) showing a group of miners at work with sledgehammers and horse-drawn carts.
• The view titled “Washington Harbor, Lake Michigan” (No. 20) showing a docked steamer at Washington Island, Wisconsin.