Item #6383 Norfolk Agricultural Society Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of Horses, Live Stock, Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, &C. at Dedham! On Tuesday & Wednesday, Sept. 24th 7 25th, 1861.

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Norfolk Agricultural Society Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of Horses, Live Stock, Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, &C. at Dedham! On Tuesday & Wednesday, Sept. 24th 7 25th, 1861.

Boston: J. H. & F. F. Farwell, U. S. Mammoth Steam Job Printers, 112 Washington St., 1861. Broadside on linen printed in three colors, 42.5” x 30”. CONDITION: Very good, some soiling and toning.

A spectacular oversize broadside on linen printed in three colors and multiple typefaces, advertising an agricultural fair in Dedham, Mass. in September of 1861.

While the main event for the Dedhamites and others in the region would have been the horses and exhibitions of horsemanship advertised here, today it is rather more the color and delightful blend of typefaces on display in this broadside promoting what would have been an exciting and diverting event early in the Civil War era. The exhibition featured “horses, live stock, fruits, flowers, vegetables, &c.,” a “grand cavalcade or horses,” a dinner and an annual address.

Printers J. H. & F. F. Farwell were active in Boston from roughly 1839 to 1870 and sometime in the 1850s began printing unusually large broadsides, some in the dazzling style employed here, describing themselves variously in their imprint as "Times Steam Cylinder Job Press," “U.S. Mammoth Steam Job Printers,” “U.S. Mammoth Steam Job Printing Office,” “Plain and Decorative Steam Job Printing Establishment,” etc. They printed a multitude of playbills, as well as a variety of other broadsides, including a number of large scale Civil War recruitment broadsides. We have handled just one other large scale color broadside printed by the firm, advertising Ladies’ Fancy Furs at the Oldest Established Fur House in New England. The Largest and Most Select Stock of Rich Fur Goods Ever Offered in Boston. Generally speaking, the survival rate for large broadsides of this period is rather low. The present example has had the advantage of being printed on linen, a much more durable material than the thin paper typically used for broadsides of this era.

A lovely example of the Farwell’s large scale broadside printing in multiple colors.

Item #6383

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