Edward Penfield

Edgar Breitenbach | February 1962

For a brief moment in the 1890’s, artistic posters became a cultural rage—almost a mania—in America

“Is there anything under the sun which people will not collect?” the famous French novelist Balzac once asked. “They collect buttons, walking sticks, fans, political pamphlets and newspapers. One day,” he added contemptuously, “they may even collect posters.”

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