Earthquake in San Francisco, California, Oct. 21, 1868 – Antique Wall Art
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare antique engraving captures Earthquake in San Francisco, California, Oct. 21, 1868 in remarkable detail. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
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Earthquake in San Francisco, California, Oct. 21, 1868
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This wood engraving shows the earthquake of October 21, 1868, as it was pictured for readers far from San Francisco. The quake shook the city hard enough to damage buildings and is still counted among the most damaging to strike the Bay Area in the nineteenth century. The engraving appeared in *Harper's Weekly* on November 28, 1868, about five weeks after the event, when illustrated weeklies were a main source of news images. Wood engravings were carved on blocks and printed alongside text, so the scene reflects both reporting and the artist's interpretation.
| Created / published | 1868 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : wood engraving. |
| Notes | Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1868 Nov. 28. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,133 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-108209 |
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