ComicBook Experience

From the exhibition

An Alphabetical List of Engravings Declared at the Office of the Printsellers' Association, London

Incorporated Printsellers' Association (London, England); Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) · Exact date uncertain; early 20th century

An Alphabetical List of Engravings Declared at the Office of the Printsellers' Association, London
What appears here is not a cartoon plate but the cloth-and-leather binding of a reference volume — specifically a trade catalog issued by the Incorporated Printsellers' Association of London, recording prints formally declared at their office. The cover is utilitarian: blue cloth boards with black leather corner-pieces trimmed in gilt double-rules. The spine, worn and partially legible, carries the institution's name and a partial title. No satirical imagery, captioned figures, or political argument is present. This volume served as an authoritative registration record for the London print trade, functioning much as a copyright log. It holds no relation to chromolithograph cartoon weeklies and contains no visual content subject to curatorial commentary on caricature or editorial politics.

Incorporated Printsellers' Association (London, England); Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) Public domain