21.07.2023 - 22:52 / awaytogarden.com

kudos, boston public library: vintage plant prints

ALL HAIL TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM, and especially those institutions that are finding funds and making time to digitize their precious assets and share them with an ever-wider community. You’ve heard me praise the Library of Congress before; today let’s visit Boston Public Library, America’s oldest free municipal library system, whose collection of 19th-century chromolithographs by Louis Prang & Company is just one of many reasons to make the stop. A slideshow sampler of some of my favorites follows:

As the text on Boston Public’s Flickr photostream explains, Louis Prang (1824-1909) was a German immigrant whose highly successful Boston-area printing operation made high-quality prints and also, in the 1870s, began producing America’s first Christmas cards, virtually starting that tradition.

But what caught my eye when Flickr-lurking friend Pam Kueber of the Retro Renovation blog passed me the Boston Public link, were juicy heirloom tomatoes (above) and tender portraits of familiar animals and local vegetation. Some of what I loved from the giant trove of riches you simply must “go” see is in the show below.

Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, then toggle from slide to slide using the arrows beside each caption. Enjoy!

Giant thanks to Boston Public Library for its extensive online collections and its Flickr photostream.

Categoriesslideshows

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