The Chap-Book

William H. Bradley · 1895 · Lithographic Poster

Created for The Chap-Book, the American literary magazine that launched in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1894 before relocating to Chicago within its first year, this poster exemplifies the explosion of artistic poster design in 1890s America. Editor Herbert Stuart Stone commissioned Bradley for seven Chap-Book posters, including "The Twins," now considered the first American Art Nouveau poster, alongside work from French artists Félix Vallotton and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Bradley's flat color and sinuous linework held their own against the best European poster artists of the era, and helped ignite the American "poster craze" of the decade.

The poster is a picture, the greatest picture the world has ever seen.William H. Bradley

View this poster in The 29 Collection