Visual Materials
Jay T. Last Collection of Printing and Publishing: Louis Prang Archive
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Jay T. Last collection of military prints and ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last collection of military prints and ephemera contains approximately 4,900 printed items from 1785 to 1966, with the majority of material dating from 1860 to 1900. The collection consists of prints depicting primarily American battle scenes, forts, camps, prisons, and military officers; advertising ephemera with military-related images, more than 3,000 Civil War-era patriotic envelopes, and over 100 Civil War-era song sheets.Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items measuring less than 8 x 10 inches are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has nearly 400 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic and engraved prints including printed illustrations of battlefields, certificates and contracts, and portraits of major military and political figures during wartime. Small-size items in the collection number almost 4,500 items and are comprised mainly of patriotic envelopes (also known as patriotic covers) from the American Civil War. Other stationery such as postcards and printed billheads and letterheads (with and without manuscript text) are found in this series, as well as advertising ephemera with military-related illustrations. The collection mainly includes prints and ephemera related to the American Civil War, both contemporaneous and commemorative in nature. The American Revolutionary War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War are also represented. The images are primarily documentary or patriotic in nature and provide information about the American military, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by businesses during periods of conflict in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.
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Jay T. Last Collection of Horticulture Prints and Ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Horticulture Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 1,425 printed items from 1840 to 1933, with the majority of material dating from 1865 to 1920. The collection consists of advertising prints and ephemera promoting businesses whose products and services relate to growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables. This includes the tools, equipment, and supplies used for planting and cultivating gardens, orchards, and lawns for commercial and noncommercial purposes by nurseries, florists, fruit growers, and home gardeners. Seed companies are most prominently represented. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and selected small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has more than 50 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographs and engravings, including seed advertisements, decorative floral prints, and promotional materials related to fruit, vegetable, and floral products. Small-size items in the collection number almost 1,400 items and are comprised mainly of trade cards, stationery, handbills, and seed packets from various businesses. Approximately 285 ephemeral items featuring images of anthropomorphic fruit, vegetables, flowers, and other plants are also contained here, even though the products they promote do not always relate to horticulture. The collection's prints and ephemera are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about American fruit, vegetable, seed, and flower-related industries, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by these businesses in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in this collection also provide a perspective on American aesthetic sensibilities during this period, as many of these prints were offered as decorative items as well as advertisements. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.
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Jay T. Last Collection of Science Prints and Ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Science Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 40 printed items related to science and natural history in the United States from 1840 to approximately 1921, with the bulk of the content dating from 1880 to 1900. Most items are lithographs, but engravings and woodcuts are also included. The collection deals with products, services, activities, and imagery relating to the pursuit of knowledge by observation and/or experimentation in the fields of physical science: astronomy, chemistry, earth science, ecology, oceanography, and physics; life science: biology, botany, and zoology; and pseudoscience: astrology, alchemy, occult beliefs, and phrenology. Scientific illustrations, equipment, lectures, and expeditions of discovery can be found here. As graphic materials, the collection highlights developing techniques and trends in printmaking while documenting the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and select small-size items are fully inventoried with printers, artists, and publishers indexed by name. The collection includes 26 large-size items comprised mainly of astronomy and natural history prints. Small-size items number approximately 15 and contain a variety of materials, including trade cards, leaflets, documentary prints, and printed billheads and letterheads (with manuscript text). Notable items include a complete set of 15 astronomical drawing prints by E. L. Trouvelot published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1882 (Series II).
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Jay T. Last Collection of Views Prints and Ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Views Prints and Ephemera consists of approximately 250 mostly lithographic items depicting physical locales, primarily in the United States. While the majority of the collection features lithographs of American views produced by American artists, printers, and publishers, there are also a few engravings and foreign prints. The collection dates from approximately 1815 to approximately 1921 and includes town and city views; pictorial maps and plans; images of 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. Generic dwellings as well as homes of famous people are also contained here. The images often incorporate depictions of people, animals, street traffic, railroad trains, and structures but share a focus on place, as opposed to genre scenes of everyday life or company- or product-based advertisements. For advertisements or views of specific types of buildings see other Jay T. Last sub-collection subjects: e.g. for churches see Religion, for schools see Education, for grain mills see Food, and for breweries see Beverages. For monuments relating to the armed forces see Military. For views of the cosmos and natural phenomena occurring in the atmosphere see Science and Technology. The prints in this collection were produced for a variety of purposes including as art reproductions, as illustrations in books, and occasionally as promotional materials. They consist of color-printed and/or hand-colored images and uncolored images, and range in size from approximately 2 x 3 inches to 27 x 43 inches. The prints are organized geographically by region based on the four geographic regions of the United States recognized by the United States Census Bureau: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West, plus foreign views. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items measuring less than 8 x 10 inches are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The view prints provide rich resources for the study of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American printing history, visual culture, and social history. They offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers who created these items. 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; urban planning; the impact of settlement, transportation, and infrastructure on both rural and urban environments; the architectural history of business and retail centers, civic buildings, and private residences; and perceptions towards wilderness and frontier areas. Information about social history emerges through the depictions of individuals and street scenes in many of these prints, including modes of transportation, leisure, and commercial activities.
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Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Firefighting Prints and Ephemera contains more than 200 printed items that relate to firefighting and the activities and organizations of firemen in the United States from approximately 1820 to 1909. The collection consists of advertising and promotional materials, business records, and illustrations produced for or pertaining to firefighting organizations, related social or charitable events, and firefighting vehicles, equipment, and supplies. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more than 11 x 14 inches). Small materials broadly at the series level; large-size items have been fully inventoried and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has 40 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic and engraved prints that include: Fire department membership and discharge certificates Depictions of fires and firefighters working to extinguish blazes Builders prints of fire engines and similar vehicles Images and advertisements pertaining to social and charitable events involving fire departments and related organizations Small-size items in the collection number more than 160 and consist mainly of business documents and advertising and promotional ephemera such as printed booklets, trade cards, small programs, menus, tickets and invitations for charitable and social events such balls, concerts, musters, and celebrations, business cards, lapel ribbons, book and periodical illustrations, membership certificates, and stationery with printed billheads and letterheads filled out in manuscript.
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Jay T. Last Collection of Beverage Prints and Ephemera
Visual Materials
The Jay T. Last Collection of Beverage Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 3,240 printed items advertising beverage products and related businesses in the United States from the 1840s to the 1940s, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1850 to 1915. The collection consists largely of lithographed ephemeral items produced for American businesses affiliated with the manufacture, distribution, and sale of beverages such as coffee, tea, juice, milk, carbonated beverages, and alcoholic drinks including beer, wine, whiskey, and other liquors. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and select small-size items are fully inventoried and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes approximately 65 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographed advertising prints and product labels for tea, coffee, and spirits. Small-size items number nearly 3,200 and contain a variety of promotional materials including trade cards, calendars, die-cut scraps, booklets, and printed billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. The collection deals with beverage production, merchandising, advertising, and consumption -- including depictions of families and other groups drinking together -- and the images provide a resource for studying the history of American beer, liquor, coffee, tea, and carbonated beverage industries along with the evolution of their advertising in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in the collection produced for manufacturers and distributors of alcoholic beverages also provide a perspective on their advertising strategies in the face of a growing temperance movement in the United States leading up to Prohibition. As graphic materials, the prints offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.
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