Title
James B. Smith, Booksellers,
Coverage
Philadelphia
Date
ca. 1850s
Description
Lithograph.
This pictorial advertisement for the Philadelphia firm of James B. Smith offers a rare look at the mechanics of the mid-nineteenth-century binding trade. At the center of the sheet is a cutaway view of the bindery, showing employees cutting, sewing, gluing, and pressing, while in the border detailed vignettes illustrate the various machines and tools used in the binding process. An unusually large female presence in this broadside reflects the fact that binding was one of the few respectable trades open to women at the time.
This pictorial advertisement for the Philadelphia firm of James B. Smith offers a rare look at the mechanics of the mid-nineteenth-century binding trade. At the center of the sheet is a cutaway view of the bindery, showing employees cutting, sewing, gluing, and pressing, while in the border detailed vignettes illustrate the various machines and tools used in the binding process. An unusually large female presence in this broadside reflects the fact that binding was one of the few respectable trades open to women at the time.