A Dummy’s View of the 1876 Centennial Celebration
An 1876 Centennial: In the 19th Century these Publishers Mean Book Business
America’s Centennial! The 1876 Centennial Celebration was the United States of America giving itself one big party. A number of American publisher’s, especially in Philadelphia decided to make some profits from the whole feel-goodness-ity of it all.
You’re looking at an American publisher’s canvassing book or salesman’s dummy for a popular Centennial history of the United States. The “dummy” is comprised of sample text and illustration leaves, engravings, color plates, and cloth and leather binding samples.
Israel Smith Clare’s Centennial Universal History was published in Philadelphia in 1876 by two different publishers: J. C. McCurdy & Co., as seen here, and by P. W. Ziegler.
Toward the the back of the canvassing book you’ll see a horizontally-oriented, double-page prospectus for the book describing its contents, illustrations, binding styles, and costs. This prospectus bears McCurdy’s canceled “imprint” at the bottom. Beneath the cancel, the “imprint” of P. W. Ziegler can be clearly discerned, suggesting that Ziegler’s edition was published first.
The dummy itself, however, pays no attention to P. W. Ziegler. It reproduces McCurdy’s own proper title page and the cloth binding sample shows the book’s proposed spine stamped at its tail: “J. C. McCurdy & Co.” Looks like McCurdy took over or opted into Ziegler’s celebratory festivities, so to speak.
Leafing through the pages, you’ll notice color plates showing the flags of all nations and numerous portrait plates of famous men and women in world history. The usual suspects — George Washington, Abraham Lincoln — make their dutiful appearance.
The dummy also includes sample pages from a section of the book entitled The History of the First One Hundred Years of American Independence, including an Account of the Great Centennial Exhibition..
The two sample steel engravings used in the dummy are distinctly American: a portrait of George Washington and the “Permanent International Exhibition Building formerly the Main Centennial Exposition Building, Philadelphia.”
Also included here is a 6-page bound-in prospectus for The People’s Standard Edition of the Holy Bible, published by J. C. McCurdy & Co. It describes various binding styles available including one with “Raised Panels” and “Arabesque American Morocco.”
It is interesting to note that these two styles suggest the type of binding found here on McCurdy’s Centennial Universal History dummy; a luxurious, deeply embossed paneled binding, more typically reserved for Bibles, here used to market a special keepsake secular work.
Detail: Broadside prospectus for this book, either tipped- or bound-in. Notice the cancel lower right for J. C, McCurdy and Co., Publishers of Philadelphia.
These 19th century American publishers meant business —or at least tried to drum up business— by appealing to a burgeoning readership of middle class America seeking amusement and enjoyment.
The 1876 Centennial celebration seems to have really kicked off a flurry of these subscription books. During this time period in 19th century America, the mid-1870s, it often seems when one of these hopeful publishers went down for the count, or at least left the ring, another contender stepped in.
What profits were thought to be made — were and were not made — with these business models are questions we’ve always considered worth asking.