[A View of the Fairmount Waterworks with Schuylkill in the Distance. Taken from the Mount.] ([Philadelphia], ca. 1838). Crayon lithograph, hand-colored.

 

[A View of the Fairmount Waterworks with Schuylkill in the Distance. Taken from the Mount.] ([Philadelphia], ca. 1838). Crayon lithograph, hand-colored.

 

Before the introduction of chromolithography (printing lithographs in multiple colors) in Philadelphia in the mid-1840s, hand-colorists, mostly female, added color to prints intended for home display or book illustrations. Hand-coloring gave a cachet to prints, and usually doubled their price.

 

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