The salamander safe. A millerite preparing for the 23rd of April – 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
A window into the past: The salamander safe. A millerite preparing for the 23rd of April, preserved in this antique lithograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
The salamander safe. A millerite preparing for the 23rd of April
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The 1843 lithograph *The Salamander Safe* takes aim at a follower of William Miller, a New York farmer turned preacher, who is shown readying himself for the end of the world on April 23. Miller had calculated that Christ would return around 1843 or 1844, and because many believers expected the earth to be destroyed by fire, a fireproof safe becomes the print's darkly comic refuge. Thomas Sinclair, a Philadelphia printer, produced the print, and the Library's copy was deposited for copyright on March 2, 1843, weeks before the predicted day. It belongs to a wave of satirical prints that treated the Millerite movement as a public joke.
| Created / published | 1843 |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : lithograph on wove paper ; 26.6 x 29.4 cm. (image) |
| Genre | Caricatures 1840-1850.Lithographs 1840-1850. |
| Notes | Entered . . . 1843 by T. Sinclair Pa. Printed by Thomas Sinclair, Philadelphia. The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright prior to the expected day of reckoning, on March 2, 1843. Title appears as it is written on the item. Murrell, p. 159. Weitenkampf, p. 73. Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress) Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1843-5. |
| Subjects | Miller, William,--1782-1849. Millerite movement--1840-1850. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,297 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-114868 |
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