Browse Similar Items
NO 2579: CHROMOLITHOGRAPH PLATE BOOK ILLUSTRATING FRUIT-BEARING PLANTS AVAILABLE FROM C. W. STUART & CO., NEWARK, N.Y.
(Rochester, N. Y. Stecher Litho Co., ca. 1890s). 230 x 145 mm. (9 x 5 3/4"). [59] plates.
Original brown imitation morocco, upper cover with gilt lettering, carefully rebacked with plain brown morocco, marbled endpapers, leather hinges. WITH 59 PLATES, 58 IN COLOR, DEPICTING FRUITS sold by the Stuart nursery. Front free endpaper with remnants of printed paper label. ◆Extremities somewhat rubbed, especially the corners, boards with a score of tiny scratches, minor loss of gilt to lettering, faint dampstaining to flyleaves as well as three plates at front and one at rear, mild thumbing throughout, a couple of slight creases, but a well-preserved copy of an ephemeral object, the colors lively and bright, the restored binding absolutely tight.
This portfolio of lusciously illustrated fruit was used by salesmen from the nursery of C. W. Stuart to sell fruit trees to farmers. In addition to an enticing picture of ripe fruit, each plate gives the cultivar's name and essential information about its growing habits--cold tolerance, productivity, fruit flavor, and the shipping and "keeping" qualities so important for produce that would be transported any significant distance. Charles W. Stuart established his nursery in Newark, New York, in 1864, and, according to the village's website, developed "one of the largest and most diverse direct selling enterprises in the country." Stuart's salesmen travelled the country selling fruit trees, bushes, and vines to farmers, drumming up business with tools like the present volume, which shows what the mature fruits would look like. The beautifully colored plates here were produced by Stecher Lithograph Company, established in nearby Rochester in 1887. These nurserymen's plates became sufficiently celebrated to be exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Because sample books like these were heavily used, many succumbed to wear and tear, or were broken apart for their illustrations. Complete copies in presentable condition, like the present one, are increasingly hard to find. (ST19567-141)
Price: $1,750.00