Rare Presentation Variant (1 results)

Fair. Lower right margin extended. Priced accordingly. Size 9.25 x 13 Inches. This is a rare presentation variant of Currier and Ives' 1870 lithograph view, 'The Great West.' Like many Currier and Ives prints, the image capitalizes on the American fascination with the dramatic scenery and potential of Westward Expansion. The present example represents a curious variant presented by Dr. S. VanMeter of Charleston of the Illinois Infirmary. A Closer Look The view looks on a green valley set against the backdrop of dramatic mountains, which can only be the Rocky Mountains. A four-car passenger train exits the valley and the small town, which is nestled at the base of the mountains. Rocky cliffs and pine trees occupy the foreground. Samuel VanMeter Samuel VanMeter was a homesteader whose family settled in Illinois when he was a child. VanMeter became a doctor and founded a hospital in Charleston, Illinois, known as the 'Infirmary'. He also published VanMeter's Journal of Health . Sometime in the 1870s, he commissioned a general run of small-format Currier and Ives prints bearing the dedication 'Presented by Dr. S. Vanmeter and Co. of Charleston Illinois, Infirmary.' Although otherwise similar to the standard prints, variants with the VanMeter dedication are much rarer. Publication History and Census This print was engraved and published by Currier and Ives in 1870. It appears on the market from time to time, but we see no other examples of the VanMeter variant. References: Springfield Museum, 2004.D03.218. Gale Research, Currier and Ives: a catalogue raisonné, #2879.