[2] This sold well and went into multiple editions, inspiring similar collected views of New York City, and of suburban estates surrounding Philadelphia and Baltimore.

[4] According to curator Stephanie A. Munsing: "Birch was the first American ship portraitist, and his paintings were copied by countless artists and craftsmen in America and Europe.

[5] In addition to ships, they provide valuable images of bridges, lighthouses, docksides, and harbor fortifications in the Early Republic, especially those surrounding New York City and Philadelphia.

Another, may be the son's painting depicting an 1812 naval battle between USS United States and HMS Macedonian, that hung in the Oval Office of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

[7] An assessment from 1867 reads: Marine landscapes were painted thirty years ago by an Englishman in Philadelphia — Thomas Birch.