The history of the Statue of Liberty is a fascinating one, and these remarkable and rare photographs show the early phases of the construction and travel of the 200,000 pound copper monument. Mashable’s Retronaut has a fascinating write up, check it out.

1878 World Fair in Paris, Park of the Champ-de-Mars, On the left: Bull sculpted by Isidore-Jules Bonheur (1827-1901), On the right: planished copper bust of the Statue of Liberty (original by Auguste Bartholdi, 1834-1904), by Monduit, Gaget and Gauthier, Detail of a stereoscopic view. (Photo by Léon et Lévy/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)
The surfaces should be broad and simple, defined by a bold and clear design, accentuated in the important places. The enlargement of the details or their multiplicity is to be feared.

The head of the Statue of Liberty on display in the garden at the Champ de Mars at the World’s Fair in Paris to drum up support and contributions for the completion of the great project, 1878. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES – CIRCA 1890: The Statue of Liberty on the Bedloe island in the bay of New York (Photo by Unidentified Author/Alinari Archives, Florence/Alinari via Getty Images)

1883, Paris, France — A crowd of people looking at the head of the Statue of Liberty outside Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s Paris warehouse in 1883. — Image by © CORBIS