Creator
Thomas Teller.
Title
Stories about the Elephant, Told by a Father to His Son.
Coverage
New Haven, CT:
Publisher
S. Babcock,
Date
n.d. [ca. 1845].
Subject
Eleven wood-engraved blocks of elephants.
Description
These wood-engraved blocks of elephants were used to print a now-scarce 19th-century children’s book published in New Haven, CT. The unmarked blocks, which lack any stamping, writing, or labels indicating their origin, contain a residue of what appears to be plaster of Paris, a material used in the process of stereotyping—thus offering a clue about how and when they were printed. Stereotyping entails applying plaster onto a relief printing surface to make a cast of the image; the practice was common in the 19th century.
Source
From the collection of Rare Book School