Original American Literary Poster, Barrie's Sentimental Tommy in Scribner's, 1896

Tommy Sandys is a poor Scottish boy who has an endless imagination. At the age of 16, he comes to the town of Thrums with his sister, Elspeth. They meet Grizel, a sweet young girl whose mother is known as the Painted Lady. This woman was deceived by a man and is now unhinged; Grizel is actually head of the household, and she takes care of all the chores. Tommy protects Grizel from the taunts of the local boys, and she falls in love with him. Because of his vivid imagination, Tommy eventually goes to London and becomes a very successful novelist. He returns to Thrums where he finds that Grizel still loves him. In a sentimental moment, he proposes to her. Grizel realizes that he doesn't really love her and she turns him down. So Tommy returns to London where he is lionized by Lady Alice Pippinworth and her friends. This whimsical film was based on two of Sir James M. Barrie's novels, Sentimental Tommy and Tommy and Grizel. An example of this poster is in the Library of Congress collection. Travelers to France in the 1890s became entranced by the colorful posters appearing on the streets of Paris. Nothing like those existed in the U.S. until Edward Penfield started designing posters for Harper's Magazine in 1893. Other publishers quickly followed and the “poster craze” was born. Their small sizes, c. 11x18, were designed for bookstores and enabled devotees to assemble significant collections. Designers and artists competed to produce startling posters. This fad lasted for about 10 years but, miraculously some collections survived. Poster Plus in the 1970s was able to find some of these treasures which were sold to collectors and found their way to museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We still have some wonderful examples which we are pleased to offer:     Lithograph, 13 X 17 inches Note: The poster has retained its original horizontal fold line. This poster is conservation backed on acid-free paper and canvas. Original vintage posters are rare and availability is subject to prior sale.