Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from the Histories of Poor Boys and Famous People series of booklets (N79) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Overall (Booklet closed): 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 cm) Overall (Booklet open): 2 3/4 × 2 7/8 in. (7 × 7.3 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.204.79.29
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with this charming chromolithograph booklet, *Life of Henry Wadsworth Long*, from the *Histories of Boys and Famous People* series (N79). Produced in 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company this petite ephemera—measuring 2¾ × 1½ inches when closed—was tucked into Duke brand cigarette packs as a promotional giveaway. Its vivid commercial color lithography brought affordable, eye-catching illustrations to everyday consumers, showcasing portraits and biographical vignettes of rags-to-riches figures like the beloved...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...