Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last collection of views prints and ephemera contains over 190 mostly lithographic prints depicting physical locales primarily in the United States. These images date from 1824 to 1913 and include town and city views; pictorial maps and plans; landscapes and waterscapes; scenes of rural and wilderness areas; commercial and residential streets and individual buildings and structures; parks, bridges, and monuments; and a small number of interior views. The images often include depictions of people, animals, street traffic, and structures but share a focus on place, as opposed to genre scenes of everyday life or company- or product-based advertisements. The prints are organized geographically by region, and approximately 115 prints depict locales in the Northeastearn United States, twenty-eight in the American West, twenty-five in the Midwest, twenty-one in the South, and five of the prints depict places outside of the United States. The view prints provide rich resources for the study of nineteenth and early twentieth century American printing history, visual culture, and social history. The collection offers evidence of the development of printmaking techniques and trends, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creation of these prints. As a visual historical record, this collection provides documentary evidence of the interplay between individuals and their environments, and their perceptions and interpretations of their surroundings. Prints in the collection document the topography, development, and promotion of towns and cities; the impact of settlement, transportation, and infrastructure on both rural and urban environments; the architectural history of business and retail centers, civic buildings, private residences, churches, and education buildings; and perceptions towards wilderness and frontier areas. As well, information about social history emerges through the depictions of individuals and street scenes in many of these prints, including modes of transportation, fashion, tourism, and leisure and commercial activities.
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