Whose Birthday Is It? March 27, 2017

Nathaniel Currier (1813)

Before photojournalism rendered illustrations of the news obsolete, Currier printed more than 7,000 lithographs—prints made using a stone block etched with grease to reproduce drawings—that greatly increased the public demand for graphic images. With his partner James Ives, he established outlets across the country, selling high-quality prints of disasters, landscapes, satirical subjects, and domestic scenes. Ives was neither a lithographer nor an artist, so why did Currier make him his partner? More…