'King of Tompkins County Apple' illustration   Save
Printed Material
Description: "King of Tompkins County Apple" is an illustration from "The Specimen Book of Fruits, Flowers and Ornamental Trees. Carefully Drawn and Colored from Nature for the Use of Nurserymen" (Rochester: D.M. Dewey, 1872). The image is of a bright red apple with leaves and a broken stem set against an off-white background. The words "M. Dewey's Series colored from nature" are printed in the lower left corner; in the lower right corner is printed "American Fruits and Flowers." Penciled notations include "1/4" "W" and "g." Dellon Marcus Dewey (1819-1889) was a bookseller and publisher in Rochester, New York. He recognized an opportunity in the booming horticulture industry of the mid- to late 1800s. Beginning in the late 1850s Dewey produced "plates," brightly colored illustrations of fruits, flowers, and ornamental trees. Traveling sales representatives from nurseries used these plates to market their company's products to consumers. By the 1870s Dewey began compiling portfolios and custom plate books and portfolios for customers. He employed a staff of artists and other workers to create the images. In 1888 Dewey merged his company with Rochester Lithographing and Printing Company, a firm noted for its expertise in chromolithography. Dewey died late the following year. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05787
Subjects: Dewey, Dellon Marcus, 1819-1889; Nurseries (Horticulture)--Catalogs; Trade catalogs; Botanical illustration
Places: Rochester (New York)