Kurz, Louis “Wabash Avenue Methodist Church” [Wabash & Harrison, Chicago]

Louis Kurz.  “Wabash Avenue Methodist Church.”  [Wabash & Harrison].  From Chicago Illustrated.  Chicago: Jevne & Almini, 1866.  Ca. 8 1/4 x 12.  Tinted lithograph by the Chicago Lithographing Company.   Chip in upper left hand margin not affecting image.  Rare.  Very good condition.  A/A 

From the first, Chicago’s existence depended on its position as a transit point between the Great Lakes and the interior of America.  Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago grew significantly during the following decades, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan canal in 1848 and then the arrival of the railroads.  Chicago became the center for ten major railroads, with one hundred trains coming and going each day.  During the Civil War, Chicago was the nation’s major entrepot for cattle, with the Union Stockyards completed in 1865, though many other goods passed through Chicago on trains and ships.  On the evening of October 8, 1871, this booming, prairie metropolis began to burn and when the fire flamed out the following evening, about 300 Chicagoans were dead, nearly 100,000 were homeless, and Chicago had suffered property loss of around $200 million.  Its geographic position and the survival of the transportation network meant that Chicago was soon rebuilt, but much of the pre-fire city was lost forever.  Luckily, just five years before, an enterprising group of men had produced an unparalleled portrait of pre-fire Chicago.

Otto Jevne (sometimes spelled “Jevene”) and Peter M. Almini were partners in a Chicago decorating firm specializing in ornamental painting.  An 1866 advertisement for the firm listed them as “Fresco & House Painters, And Dealers in Artists’ and Painters’ Materials, Oil Paintings, Steel Engravings, Chromo Lithographs, Etc. Etc.”  After the war there was a spirit of civic boosterism in Chicago, and this inspired Jevne and Almini to embark on the publication of an elaborate work to illustrate the scenes and buildings of the city.  In 1865, Jevne and Almini joined with three lithographers, Louis Kurz, Otto Knirsch, and Edward Carqueville to form the Chicago Lithographing Co..  Kurz, later to form the famous Kurz & Allison firm, drew and lithographed the prints for the ambitious Jevne and Almini portfolio, entitled Chicago Illustrated.

As described in the prospectus, Jevne and Almini proposed “to publish, in Monthly Parts, an illustrated History of Chicago, –that is, a history of the more important and striking evidences of the City’s improvement and enterprise.” The portfolio was to consist of twenty-five part, each of which was to contain at least four tinted lithographs, accompanied by text description, and when completed it was to be accompanied by a “General View of the City.”  The parts were issued, at $1.50 per fascicle, between January, 1866, and January, 1867, when the project abruptly stopped.  The views showed street scenes, transportation sites, and major buildings throughout the city.  Only fifty-two images were completed, but they provide a fascinating documentation of pre-fire Chicago.  These rare views are among the most desirable nineteenth century images of any American city.