1899 Dupont / Garnier Promotional Poster Advertising Wahl's 'Géographie'

A massive and lavish French chromolithograph poster promoting the 1899 Garnier Frères release of Maurice Wahl's Nouvelle Géographie Générale. Wahl's Géographie was a two-volume mass-market geographical text by the well-known academic geographer and pedagogue Maurice Wahl (1853 - 1900). As an affordable production rich with practical information, it received wide acclaim and was a publishing success - no doubt in part because of this poster.

A Closer Look

This piece is more typical of French wine, spirits, and travel posters than geography texts. It is a lavish chromolithograph production of impressive proportions and includes images of African, American Indian, Asian, and South Asian figures wearing traditional clothing. A globe focusing on the Northern Hemisphere appears in the bottom left, as well as vaguely geographical views ranging from icebergs to tropical bays.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This large promotional poster was printed in 1899 by Paul Dupont, of Paris, to promote Garnier Frères' release of the Nouvelle Géographie Générale par Maurice Wahl. The poster is rare, with only the Bibliothèque nationale de France holding another example.