The Curtis Publishing Company Building / Independence Hall

Detroit: Detroit Publishing Company, 1926. First Edition. Very good. Large advertising card; 5 1/2 x 10 1/2; lithographed, "Phostint" image to recto, text to verso; a few very minor spots to upper margin of verso; in very good to near fine condition.A beautiful advertisement for the Curtis Publishing Company, it was created by the Detroit Publishing Company via a lithographic process, first developed in Switzerland, to which the company had acquired the rights in 1907. Founded in the 1890s by publisher William A. Livingstone and photographer Edwin H. Husher the business would rapidly become one of the major image publishers in the world for nearly 30 years. By the time of WWI, its sales would start declining, it would declare bancruptcy in 1924 (the current card was published during that period), and would be liquidated in 1932. The Curtis Publishing Company advertised here was founded in 1891 in Philadelphia by Cyrus H. K. Curtis and it would become one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States in the early 20th century. The verso of the card listed "A Few Figures" - facts and numbers, related to the company.