Drawing Lessons for Family and School, No. 59
Publisher John Weik American, born Germany
Not on view
This small pamphlet demonstrates how central copying was to art students in nineteenth-century America. Few such emphemeral publications survive because they were often discarded after students had created their own drawings opposite the illustrations inside.
The publisher John Weik immigrated to Philadelphia from Germany, established a book and stationary shop, and published books and prints between 1851–73, a hiatus in those activities taking place during the Civil War when he served in the Union Army. Many Germans immigrated to America after revolutions in many states in 1848 created social unrest and then government repression. Philadelphia attracted a number of skilled lithographic priners who established shops that supported publishers and book and print sellers.
