Visual Materials

Series II. Manuscripts, business records, and photographs

Description: This series contains approximately 160 items related to Louis Prang's personal and business dealings. Letters, receipts, business records, letters patent certificates, memo and stock books, and a small number of photographs are included. Notable items include a certificate from a German association in Boston, Massachusetts, expressing their mourning over the death of lithographer Louis Prang (priJLC_PRG_002326), an L. Prang & Co. stock book full of handwritten notes and lists (Box 5, with photocopy of contents), a June 15, 1870, letter to Louis Prang from artist Albert Bierstadt praising the reproduction of his painting Sunset, and a series of letters from 1896-1898 in which Louis Prang writes to Max Levy regarding screen printing (Binder 10).
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Date: approximately 1861-1911
Call number: priJLC_PRG
Creator

Booklets: Art Education and Natural History, A-Z, by series & title (between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size)

Visual Materials

Smith, Walter. American Text Books of Art Education: Freehand Drawing number one. (Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow & Co., 1875) Smith, Walter. American Text Books of Art Education: Freehand Drawing number two. (Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow & Co., 1875) Smith, Walter. American Text Books of Art Education: Geometrical Drawing number two. (Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow & Co., 1875) Smith, Walter. American Text Books of Art Education: Freehand Drawing number four. (Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow & Co., 1875) Smith, Walter. American Text Books of Art Education: Freehand Drawing number five. (Cambridge: Welch, Bigelow & Co., 1875) Smith, Walter. American Text-Books of Art Education Revised Edition. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1879) Clark, John S., Mary Dana Hicks, and Walter S. Perry. No. 8 Prang's Complete Course in Form Study and Drawing. (Boston: The Prang Educational Company, 1894) Clark, John S., Mary Dana Hicks, and Walter S. Perry. No. 10 Prang's Complete Course in Form Study and Drawing. (Boston: The Prang Educational Company, 1892) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Birds of Prey. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Birds of Prey. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Swimming Birds. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Wading Birds. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Cat Family. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Cat Family. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Calkins, Norman A. and Mrs. A. M. Diaz. Prang's Natural History Series for Children. Cat Family. (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1878) Mathews, F. Schuyler. Wayside Flowers. Series I. being a description of American wild flowers that bloom in April, May, and Early June. (Boston & Springfield, MA: Taber-Prang Art Co., 1898) Mathews, F. Schuyler. Wayside Flowers Series II. being a description of American wild flowers that bloom in late May, June, July and early August. (Boston & Springfield, MA: Taber-Prang Art Co., 1898) Mathews, F. Schuyler. Wayside Flowers Series III. being a description of American wild flowers that bloom in July, August and September. (Boston & Springfield, MA: Taber-Prang Art Co., 1898) Mathews, F. Schuyler. Wayside Flowers. Series IV. being a description of American wild flowers that bloom in August, September, October, and June to October. (Boston & Springfield, MA: Taber-Prang Art Co., 1898)

priJLC_PRG

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Subseries A. Prints and ephemera (small size)

Visual Materials

This series contains a variety of materials including album cards, stock cards, trade cards, calendars, booklets, catalogs, greeting cards, proof books, sample books, clippings, book illustrations, and small-format art prints. Notable items include 12 issues of L. Prang & Co.'s in-house periodical publication Prang's Chromos from December 1867 to December 1871 (Box 9), and an art auction catalog from the American Art Association's 1892 sale of art from the Collection of L. Prang & Company of Boston (Box 7).

priJLC_PRG

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Manuscripts and photographs: 1861-1911, by date (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

Visual Materials

The Jay T. Last collection of printing and publishing: Louis Prang archive contains over 3,600 items dating from 1858 to 1916, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1860 to 1897. This archive chronicles the business history of Boston lithographer Louis Prang through art prints, advertisements, printed volumes, and promotional ephemera produced by L. Prang & Co. and its successor companies: Prang Educational Company and Taber Prang Art Co. The archive also contains catalogs, certificates, price lists, business records and correspondence, personal letters and photographs, news clippings, and original art considered for lithographic reproduction. The collection provides a resource for studying the business and output of one of the most influential major lithographic firms in the United States in the 19th century. The images provide information about American tastes and culture as well as the evolution of advertising strategies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the prints offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

priJLC_PRG

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Series I. Printed materials

Visual Materials

priJLC_PRG

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Manuscripts: 1866-1907, by date (between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size)

Visual Materials

priJLC_PRG

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Jay T. Last Collection of Printing and Publishing: Louis Prang Archive

Visual Materials

The Jay T. Last Collection of Printing and Publishing: Louis Prang Archive contains over 3,650 items dating from 1857 to 1916, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1860 to 1897. This archive chronicles the business history of Boston lithographer Louis Prang through art prints, advertisements, printed volumes, and promotional ephemera produced by L. Prang & Co. and its successor companies: Prang Educational Company and Taber Prang Art Co. The archive also contains catalogs, certificates, price lists, business records and correspondence, personal letters and photographs, news clippings, and original art considered for lithographic reproduction. Materials are broadly divided into two series: printed materials (primarily items produced by or for the business) and manuscript materials (primarily items documenting business operations and the personal life of Louis Prang). Series I is further divided into three subseries: small size prints and ephemera (11 x 14 inches or smaller), large size prints and ephemera (larger than 11 x 14 inches), and hardbound volumes. Small-size items 8 x 10 inches or smaller are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and most small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size are fully inventoried with printers, artists, and publishers indexed by name. The collection includes over 260 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic art prints produced by L. Prang & Co. Small-size items number approximately 3,200 and contain a variety of materials including album cards, trade cards, calendars, booklets, catalogs, greeting cards, proof books, sample books, clippings, and small-format lithographed prints. Hardbound volumes number approximately 40 and include illustrated books with verses, art instruction texts, and children's natural history educational books, as well as Prang's pinnacle achievement, Oriental Ceramic Art, a sumptuously lithographed catalogue in ten volumes featuring Asian ceramics from the collection of Baltimore businessman William T. Walters (1820-1894). Series II contains mainly manuscript business correspondence, as well as memo and stock books, letters patent certificates, personal letters, and a small number of photographs. The bulk of the material is in English, but a small amount of correspondence is written in German. The collection provides a resource for studying the business and output of one of the most influential major lithographic firms in the United States in the 19th century. The images provide information about American tastes and culture as well as the evolution of advertising strategies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the prints offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

Series II. Manuscripts, business records, and photographs

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Booklets: Art Education and Natural History, A-Z, by series & title (between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size)

Subseries A. Prints and ephemera (small size)

Manuscripts and photographs: 1861-1911, by date (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

Series I. Printed materials

Manuscripts: 1866-1907, by date (between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size)

Jay T. Last Collection of Printing and Publishing: Louis Prang Archive