We recently acquired this lovely "Souvenir of the World's Fair," more specifically, "Souvenir of the World's Columbian Exposition" in photo-gravure, copyright 1893 by A. Wittenmann, New York. Of course, this is the Chicago World's Fair that Erik Larson featured in his book, "Devil in the White City." The Souvenir book's photos are in black and white and held together with a gold tassle (seen on the left) between soft grey boards. There is barely any wear to the boards--some on the very edges. The inside pages are tanned with age, but not otherwise marked, creased or dirty. The photo on the left was taken with a flash which darkens the grey but shows the still gorgeous gilt title over a detailed scene.
There were several publications around 1893, but we have found none available on the internet in either the condition of ours or by A. Wittenmann. As such, the 5" x 7 1/2" book is difficult to value. If you have any information on this item, we'd love to hear it.
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