Book cover to an Illustrated Tourist Guide of Noted Summer & Winter Resorts of California
ca. 1870–80
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 7/8 × 14 7/16 in. (25.1 × 36.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1948
Accession Number
48.120.252
Tags
Art Historical Context
This lithograph served as the book cover for an illustrated tourist guide promoting California’s summer and winter resorts, created around 1870–1880 by Emmanuel Wyttenbach and published by H. S. Crocker & Co. Measuring roughly 10 by 14 inches, the print was designed to catch the eye of potential visitors during a period when railroads and improved roads were opening the state’s scenic wonders to a growing leisure class. Lithography, a popular medium at the time, allowed for vibrant, affordable reproductions that could be widely distributed to advertise destinations. The cover’s imagery of bea...