Antique Botanical Prints and Chromolithography

A while back I invested in a huge old falling apart salesman's book that contained many botanical prints.  They are chromolithographs, a fancy word for a color lithograph print. I love this method of printmaking, as the colors are dense and rich.  Because it is so time consuming, few, if any, do them anymore, thus making such prints a collectors item.

You can tell a chromolithograph print apart from any other method of printmaking by looking at the print with a loop or magnifying glass (some of you might be able to use your naked eye, lol). The surface of the print consists of a series of dots of color, many laid on top of one another. During the industrial revolution, many of the advertising cards, trade cards, postcards, die cuts, and prints were made with this method. Now it has nearly disappeared.

This book belonged to a salesman who marked the prices of the plants on the pages in pencil. Written on the front of this leather bound book was the type DO NOT MAKE MARKS IN THIS BOOK. Guess the salesman did not care. The printing and company were out of Rochester NY from 1892.

I have sold many of the prints to keep my heat and studio bills paid, and will be doing so for a while. They are rare, and quite lovely matted and framed, whether one or in pairs/groups.  I have prints of grapes, apples, currants, pears, blackberries, raspberries, quince, cherries,  flowering shrubs, and trees.

Here are a few of the florals I have left. They can be found on eBay and on Etsy under my seller name Catskillpaper.   Looking for something? Email me.  I can send you scans. And, they are priced at bargin prices.