Title page of Picturesque America, 1872-1874.

Title page of Picturesque America. This two volume set of books, with over 900 images and detailed descriptions, encouraged tourism by describing and illustrating American natural and cultural scenery. Many of the images first appeared in Appleton’s Journal and the books were published as a subscription book from 1872 to 1874. Subscribers agreed to a two-year commitment in which they paid small installments on the total cost of $24 and received sections as they were printed that could later be bound into a book. By 1880 at least 100,000 subscriptions had been sold and over a million copies may have been sold by the early 1900s. See Sue Rainey, Creating Picturesque America, Monument to the Natural and Cultural Landscape (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1994).
Courtesy of Eastern Kentucky University Archives.

This image is featured in Exploring Vacation and Etiquette Themes in Social Studies by Cynthia Resor

One thought on “Title page of Picturesque America, 1872-1874

  1. This picture would be a great primary source document to use in the classroom when teaching about travel and tourism. This title page would be great to show students an example of a book that encouraged tourism, similar to travel blogs or magazines today.

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