1860 The Cultivator, The Country Gentleman & Annual Register of Rural Affairs
DESCRIPTION
A wonderful celebration of nineteenth-century American farming, this large and beautifully illustrated advertising broadside is filled with engravings of livestock, agricultural machinery, country homes, and rural landscapes.
Printed in bold red and black, it promotes three influential agricultural publications issued by Luther Tucker & Son of Albany, New York. Horses, cattle, poultry, agricultural implements, and picturesque farm buildings surround the central advertisement, creating an exceptionally appealing portrait of American country life in the years preceding the Civil War.
The broadside advertises The Cultivator, described as the most popular and practical agricultural journal of its class; The Country Gentleman, a weekly publication devoted to the farm, garden, and fireside; and the Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs, an illustrated encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural knowledge. Annual subscriptions ranged from fifty cents for The Cultivator to two dollars for The Country Gentleman, while the Annual Register could be purchased for just twenty-five cents. The advertisement proudly emphasizes the extensive illustrations, knowledgeable contributors, and practical advice available to readers.
Luther Tucker was among the most important figures in early American agricultural publishing. Beginning with the Genesee Farmer in 1831, he helped establish a network of publications that introduced farmers to improved agricultural techniques, scientific developments, livestock breeding, and horticultural practices. His Country Gentleman, founded in the early 1850s, became one of America's most enduring agricultural periodicals. These publications circulated during a period when the nation's agricultural economy was undergoing tremendous change, as improved machinery, expanding railroads, and westward settlement transformed the American countryside.
Printed by Van Benthuysen of Albany, the broadside is particularly desirable for its abundance of finely engraved illustrations. Its elaborate border transforms what might otherwise have been a straightforward advertisement into a striking work of commercial art. An instruction along the bottom requests that the bill be posted in a conspicuous place, indicating its intended display in a shop, public building, or other well-traveled location. Professionally linen backed, this handsome survivor combines the history of American agriculture, early publishing, and nineteenth-century advertising in one exceptionally decorative piece.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622