Original American Literary Poster, McManus, Blanche, Scribner's Fiction Number, c. 1896

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: On this turn-of-the-century poster for Scribner's Fiction Number issue, a young man stands at a ticket office window with his valet who carries his golf bag, a tennis racket and luggage. Illustrated by Blanche McManus. Lithograph, 14 x 23 inches This poster is conservation backed on acid-free paper and canvas. Original vintage posters are rare and availability is subject to prior sale.