Winter, George “Prairie on Fire” From "The Ladies’ Repository”

George Winter (1809-76).  “Prairie on Fire.”  From The Ladies’ Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted To Literature and Religion. 

Cincinnati: 1852.  4 ¼ x 7.  Engraving by C. A. Jewett.  Uncolored as originally issued.  Faint foxing in margins.  Else, very good condition.  

A print from an unusual and scarce group of engravings from The Ladies’ Repository.  This mid-nineteenth century periodical was produced in Cincinnati by members of the Methodist Church.  It was a magazine “Devoted To Literature and Religion,” containing articles, poetry, fiction, and notes of interest to its readers.  One of its most interesting aspects was the inclusion of engravings.  Many had a religious or “genre” theme, but others were topographical views of different parts of the United States.  This magazine had a limited circulation and so these prints are quite a bit more scarce than most engravings of the period.  Some of the views are based on images by W.H. Bartlett, but others are taken either from some of the large folio views of the period or are drawn first hand for The Ladies’ Repository.   Whatever their source, these are among the most interesting and hard-to-find American views of the middle of the 19th century.