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Illustrated Florida.
Buffalo, New York: Dodge Art Publishing; Jacksonville, Florida: [Ashmead Brothers] Publishers & Stationers, 1882. Set of 19 small format chromolithographic views, 4.25” x 6.875” plus margins, housed in original pictorial sleeve, 4.75” x 7.25” x .35”; label of Ashmead Brothers Publishers & Stationers, Jacksonville, Florida on verso of sleeve, with later silver stars affixed to it. CONDITION: Very good, some soiling and scuffs to sleeve, a few small surface losses to illustration on sleeve with minimal effect on images, one card with half-inch tear into left side, occasional light foxing and spotting to cards. A vivid and very appealing set of Florida souvenir views, picturing various city landmarks in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Palatka, as well as scenes of boat tours, river walks, orange groves, harbors, forts, and a range of other attractions. Focusing on northern and northeast Florida, this set of views pictures the Old Spanish Market (also known as the Old Slave Market) and the Spanish Cathedral in St. Augustine; the Carleton House, the Windsor Hotel, and the St. James hotel in Jacksonville; handsome urban residences and rural estates; lakes and harbors; a tableau of Florida fruits; and several scenes of African Americans, including a man paddling in a riverboat and an elderly gentleman and youth by their front door conversing with a banjo-toting traveler. Two of the more striking views show steamboats traveling on the Ocklawaha River (one by day, the other by night). Other views of steamboats show the St. Johns in Fernandina Harbor and the Frederick de Bary on the St. Johns River. Tourists, strolling or on horseback, populate many of the scenes. The views are titled as follows: Lower St. Johns River (the slipcase card); Bay Street, Jacksonville (title card); Residence Street, Jacksonville; Views in St. Augustine; a Street in St. Augustine; Old Spanish Fort and Harbor, St. Augustine; Balls Orange Arch, St. Augustine; On the Upper St. Johns River; The Mitchell Estate, St. Johns River; Moonlight on St. Johns River; Ocklawaha River by Day; Ocklawaha, Night; Sunrise, Orange Lake; Fernandina Harbor; River Front, Palatka; Ruins of Dungeness; Silver Spring; Way Down in Dixie; and The Sunny Land of Fruit and Flowers. The title card advertises several forthcoming sets of views by Dodge Art Publishing Co., showing “American Scenery” and vacation destinations such as the Catskills and the Hudson River, the White Mountains, the Great Lakes, California, and more, although the only other work in the firm’s projected “Illustrated Resorts” series we find recorded is Illustrated Chautauqua (1882), promoting Chautauqua Lake in New York. Dodge Art Publishing was founded by landscape artist and lithographer Loudon U. Dodge, who initially operated in Buffalo, then moved to Rochester, changing the firm’s name to L. U. Dodge Landscape View Co. Surviving works by Dodge seem mainly to be chromolithographic view books, but we have handled as well a very rare folio view of Gillen Orange Grove, Deland, Florida (Rochester, 1885). Founded by Clarence and William H. Ashmead, Ashmead Bros. booksellers and stationers were based in Jacksonville, Florida and operated from 1880 until 1884. The firm also published and distributed stereoviews. By 1886 Clarence had relocated to Philadelphia, while William had become an entomologist. OCLC records nine examples of this set (some of which are incomplete), at Columbia University, Jacksonville Public Library, State Library of Florida, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of South Florida, the Winterthur Museum, the AAS, and the Clements Library. A delightful set of northern Florida views, published prior to the construction of Henry Flagler’s railroad and the opening of southern Florida to greater development and tourism. REFERENCES: “Ashmead Bros. American, active 1880s” at The New York Public Library online.
Item #10460
Price: $1,500.00
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