The Hartford Hotel disaster – Historic Print
(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 antique engraving of The Hartford Hotel disaster brings a moment of history to your wall. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
The Hartford Hotel disaster
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What sets this engraving apart is its subject: a Hartford hotel disaster from 1889, shown as a finished illustration rather than the photograph it was based on. An engraver worked from a photograph by F.L. Hale of Manchester and printed the result in *Harper's Weekly* that year, on page 165. In the 1880s, illustrated weeklies like *Harper's* relied on hand-cut wood engravings because photographs could not yet be reproduced directly on the printed page, so an engraver's hand stood between the camera and the reader. The catalog tracings point to a fire or explosion, but the record is old and not fully verified, so the exact nature of the event is worth checking against period newspapers.
| Created / published | 1889 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : wood engraving. |
| Subjects | Wood engraving from a photograph by F.L. Hale, Manchester. Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1889, p. 165. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Conn.; Hotels--Conn.; Fires, explosions; Shelf. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 5,120 × 4,019 px · prints to 17 × 13 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-128646 |
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