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The D. M. Dewey color printed nursery sample book contains over 50 pages of full color botanical illustrations that were marketed to individuals involved in the seed trade for use as advertisements.

Dellon Marcus Dewey (1819-1889) was a bookseller, publisher, art patron, and illustrator based in Rochester, New York. In the mid-1850s, he became renowned for his stenciled watercolor bookplates of botanical products. He sold the illustrations to people involved in the floral and nursery trade for use as seed advertisements. Dewey employed many immigrant artists to create hundreds of illustrations that would be compiled into sample books.

Dewey utilized a multi-layer production process called “theorem painting” in which stenciled transparent watercolors were used to gradually construct layers of color before final touches were added by hand. However, in the 1870s Dewey began to transition into using the more cost-effective chromolithographic color printing process. By 1881, his company provided over 2,400 varieties of botanical illustrations. In 1888 Dewey's business was combined with the Rochester Lithographing and Printing Company before he passed away the following year.

The D. M. Dewey color printed nursery sample book contains over 50 pages of full color botanical illustrations that were marketed to individuals involved in the seed trade for use as advertisements.

The sample book (14 x 23 cm) contains a mixture of both stenciled watercolor and chromolithographic designs that depict a wide variety of fruits, flowers, and trees in vibrant color and exquisite detail. Also present is a printed list of flowers and crops with their prices as well as a newspaper clipping concerning the Colorado State Fair and its fruit and agriculture exhibits.

The collection consists of 100 albumen prints (23 x 17.7 cm) in two volumes (both 42.5 x 33 cm). Each volume has a brown leather cover with brass clasps. Each volume contains 50 mounted, consecutively-numbered albumen prints depicting the operations of the Army of the Potomac during and in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War.

The collection consists of 100 (23 x 17.7 cm) albumen prints in two volumes (both 42.5 x 33 cm). Each volume has a brown leather cover with brass clasps. Both volumes contain 50 mounted, consecutively-numbered albumen prints depicting the operations of the Army of the Potomac during and in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War.

Every image is preceded by a paragraph of text describing the context and background of the photograph that follows. The photographs cover the period between March of 1862 and June of 1865. Readers should be aware that the photographs in the album are not arranged in an exact chronological sequence; many, but not all of the photographs have dates associated with them. The majority of the photographs depict sites in Virginia, but photographs from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina are also present.