1896 Knapp (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 105 pages. Eloise Knapp Hay "Conrad's Self-Portraiture" / John S Lewis "'Artless Photos': Two Previously Unknown Photographs of Joseph Conrad" / Mario Curreli "Four Unpublished Conrad Letters" / Jean-Pierre Cap "A Conrad Letter to Henri Gheon" / Wray C Herbert "Conrad's Psychic Landscape: The Mythic Element in 'Karain'" / C Ponnuthurai Sarvan "Under African Eyes" / Dwight H Purdy "Creature and Creator in 'Under Western Eyes" / Allen F Stein "Conrad's Debt to Cooper: The Sea Lions and 'The Secret Sharer'" / Daniel E Lees "Conrad's Unpublished Pen and Ink Sketches for The Secret Agent: A Drama" / Hans van Marle "Conrad's English Lodgings, 1880-1896" / James Walt "At Home with Jessie Conrad" / Roger Little "A Letter about Conrad by Saint-John Perse" / Lyman Owen "Conrad and A Safroni-Middleton". (SL#82).

Good. Staining, creases, and repaired tears along the margins and edges. Two larger repaired tears at top-center and top-right. Small area of loss at upper-right corner. Size 11.75 x 9 Inches. A scarce complete 1896 calendar and chromolithograph promotional map produced by Knapp for the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company of New York City. Though little known today, the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company was, at the time this map was produced, the only viable competitor to Western Union, with which it eventually merged. A Closer Look This sheet includes a map of the United States and parts of Canada, with the company's network denoted in red, and proposed lines or lines under construction appearing as dashed lines. At bottom-left, an illustration of the company's grandiose headquarters near Manhattan's City Hall Park. The building still stands (at 253 Broadway), more or less as depicted here, but has since been merged with neighboring structures, now known collectively as the Home Life Building. Public Patronage A vignette of children scrutinizing telegraph poles and wires appears at bottom-right. A signpost states that 'Public patronage is essential to the maintenance of competition.' This sentiment might seem incongruous to a modern reader, but reflects the role that the federal and state governments played in establishing railway, telegraph, and other communications networks in the 19th century. It also obliquely references the company's rivalry with Western Union, a microcosm of broader concerns about monopolies. Chromolithography Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery. Publication History and Census This print was produced by the Knapp Company for the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company in late 1895. This is the only known surviving example.