Incendie

1872 · 517 — Chicago: Max Stern 1872. 8vo. 195 x 130 mm. 7 ¾ x 5 inches. v 146 24 pp. plus 8 pp. ads. Illustrated with a folding stencil colored map and three folding lithographic plates. Bound in publisher's green cloth binding title in gilt on spine; edges of cloth a bit worn head of spine frayed some loss of color to cloth; illustrations separated at folds expertly repaired. This copy with the signature of Otto Lob on front free-endpaper and title-page. With faults a good copy. First edition self-published by the authors and printed by Max Stern. Contemporary account of the devastating fire that swept Chicago in October 1871. Published for the German language community in the United States it appears that numerous copies were also sent to Germany by the publisher Max Stern. An English language edition was published by Seeger in 1893 as part of the Columbian Exposition that took place in Chicago that year. The map entitled "Chicago as it is Showing the Burnt District" illustrates the impact of the fire in Wards 1 2 14 15 and 16 ranging from Taylor Street near the railroad depot running north to Lincoln Park. The map is colored by stencil in shades of red and green and evokes the destruction the fire caused to this populous part of the City. The book also contains three lithographic plates by Schrader Lith. Steam Press of St. Louis. One is a view of the City from Lake Michigan entitled "Chicago in Flammen". This is followed by a stunning lithographic entitled "Die Ruinen von Chicago" and a third dramatic image showing the burning of the Crosby Opera House and people fleeing the flames. "Saddened by the sight they came to the realization that they had been the protagonists of the last drama ever to be played out at Crosby's Opera House." Not in Howes or Graff. OCLC citing numerous copies in the United States and Germany. Peters American on Stone p. 360 for information on Schrader Lith. Steam Press. Eugene H. Cropsey Crosby's Opera House: Symbol of Chicago's Cultural Awakening Fairleigh Dickinson University Press 2000. Max Stern unknown books