Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Huntington Library Louis Prang Collection
- Dates:
- 1860-1917, bulk 1860-1897
- Abstract:
- The Huntington Library Louis Prang Collection contains over 150 items dating from 1860 to 1917, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1860 to 1897. This artificial collection intellectually brings together the Library's holdings of items produced by and related to Boston lithographer Louis Prang. Contents include books and booklets, art prints, printer's proof books and sample books, maps, and a variety of ephemera made and sometimes used by L. Prang & Co. as well as its successors, Prang Educational Company and Taber Prang Art Co.
- Extent:
- approximately 150 items
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Item title, Call number]. Louis Prang Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Huntington Library Louis Prang Collection contains over 150 items dating from 1860 to 1917, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1860 to 1897. This artificial collection intellectually brings together the Library's holdings of items produced by and related to Boston lithographer Louis Prang. Contents include books and booklets, art prints, printer's proof books and sample books, maps, and a variety of ephemera Made and sometimes used by L. Prang & Co. as well as its successors, Prang Educational Company and Taber Prang Art Co. The collection provides a resource for studying the business and output of one of the most influential major lithographic firms in the United States in the 19th century.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Louis Prang (1824-1909) was a printer, lithographer, and publisher who is sometimes referred to as the “father of the American Christmas card.” He introduced holiday greeting cards to America, developed and promoted the year-round tradition of exchanging cards, and became the key producer of American greeting cards for decades.
Prang was born in Breslau in Prussian Silesia. As a teen, he apprenticed in his father’s fabric printing and dyeing factory. After arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1850 and finding few opportunities for textile printers, he worked as an engraver and a lithographer. In 1856 he formed a partnership with Julius Mayer as Prang & Mayer, producing business cards, scenic views, and advertising posters. Prang founded his own firm in 1860, L. Prang & Co., and made it one of the most significant American color lithographic establishments of the 19th century.
L. Prang & Co. printed maps, battle scenes, and military portraits during the Civil War. In 1866 the firm introduced color picture cards in sets, and chromolithographs of fine art paintings that sold briskly. By December 1867 Prang had launched a quarterly periodical called Prang’s Chromo, A Journal of Popular Art, to promote and sell his prints. The publication ran until 1871, helping L. Prang & Co. become known for the artistic and technical quality of their "chromos."
Prang continued to expand his product line, adding greeting cards in 1874. They sold so well that in 1881 he printed almost 5 million cards. Prang also achieved success producing botanical and natural history lithographs as decorative prints, cards, and book illustrations for such titles as Selmar Hess’s Our Living World and Prang’s own Natural History Series for Children. Also around this time, 1882, he started the Prang Educational Company, publishers of books on art education. Then in 1897 Prang produced his pinnacle achievement, Oriental Ceramic Art. This catalogue, comprising ten large folios, features 116 chromolithographs of vases and other decorative objects from The W. T. Walters Collection. It is a benchmark work in lithographic quality and scope, with each plate requiring from 20 to 44 separate lithographic stones to print.
In 1898, L. Prang & Co. became the Taber Prang Art Company and relocated to Springfield, Massachusetts. Louis Prang retired from active business in 1899 and passed away in Los Angeles on June 14, 1909, but the companies he founded lived on. In 1912, the Prang Educational Company changed its name to the Prang Company, and the Taber Prang Art Co. continued operations until 1937.
- Acquisition information:
- The Huntington Library Louis Prang collection is an artificial collection of materials. A finding aid was created in 2017 to enhance access to the Huntington's varied materials created by and related to Boston lithographer Louis Prang.
- Arrangement:
-
Materials are broadly divided into seven series:
- Series I. Books and booklets
- Series II. Catalogs
- Series III. Ephemera
- Series IV. Maps
- Series V. Prints
- Series VI. Proof books
- Series VII. Sample books
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Note:
-
Finding aid last updated on July 31, 2019.
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2017
- Date Encoded:
- Machine readable finding aid encoded by Charla DelaCuadra in January 2017 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
- Terms of access:
-
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Item title, Call number]. Louis Prang Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191