Köllner, Augustus [The Train! The Train!]

Augustus Köllner.  [The Train!  The Train!].  From Common Sights on Land and Water Delineated & Described for Young Children. 

Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1852.  Ca. 7 x 9 1/2.  Lithograph by Köllner.  Light stain upper right hand margin corner.  Else, very good condition. Very scarce.  Wainwright 2.  A/A

The American Sunday School Union was founded in 1824, its purpose “To establish a Sunday School in every needy neighborhood in the United States, and to publish and circulate a religious literature suitable for youths and adults.”  The Union boasted that they published a book every Saturday and one of the most delightful was a children’s picture book entitled Common Sights in Town & Country.  This work contained twelve lithographs by Köllner, each accompanied by a page of text.  The prints were based on images of common tradesmen and scenes in Philadelphia.  This series brought the trend of illustrating Philadelphia life in prints to a peak, for in these images the physical surroundings are only incidental to the genre scene depicted.  Other series Köllner contributed to were Common Sights on Land and Water (1852); City Sights for Country Eyes (1856) ; Country Sights for City Eyes (1858) and Picture Lessons Illustrating Moral Truth (ca.1855).