Title |
Wagner & McGuigan |
Date |
fl. 1845-ca. 1858 |
Description |
Wagner & McGuigan, the partnership between Thomas S. Wagner and James McGuigan, active 1845- ca. 1858, was one of the premier
lithographic establishments of the mid nineteenth century. The firm, an innovator in the industry in color printing and steam
press technology, prolifically printed advertising prints in addition to lithographs in all branches of the trade.
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Originally established in 1845 as Pinkerton, Wagner & McGuigan, the firm, known for its experimentation with chromolithography,
reconfigured into Wagner & McGuigan following the 1845 departure of Edward Pinkerton. Under this new configuration, the partnership
flourished. By the end of the 1840s, the men operated about 40 presses and employed 30 men and remained active in the early
promotion of chromolithography in the city. The firm utilized the block style of the color printing formulated by premier
French lithographer Godefroy Engelmann (1788-1839) early on and became one of the main rivals to Wagner's former employer
P. S. Duval in size, innovation, and production. Although most prolific in the printing of advertising prints and maps, all
genres of lithographs, including postage stamps, sheet music, periodical and book illustrations, portraiture and view prints
came forth from the presses of the firm that employed a number of respected artists and lithographers, including Alfred Hoffy,
James Queen, William H. Rease, and Robert F. Reynolds.
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Between 1847 and 1850, the firm relocated to 4 Athenian Buildings (300 block Chestnut Street), exhibited examples of most
likely anastatic printing at the 1848 Exhibition of American Manufacturers; and in February 1850 promoted their print "Lord's
Supper" as executed by "the first lithographic steam power printing machine ever successfully invented." The year 1850 also
brought the firm printed acclaim in the preface to George Spratt's "Obstetric Tables" as well as tragedy, when on December
17 the Athenian building was set on fire through arson. Despite water damage, the firm remained innovative and productive
and in 1852 advertised "Having introduced steam power, which has proved an invaluable auxiliary, by our late improvements
to the Lithographic Press, enables us to employ the heaviest and Largest size presses and largest size Stones of any establishment
in the United States." In 1854, with their steam powered presses, Wagner & McGuigan fulfilled orders as large as 20,000 sets
of 4 plates for U.S. government reports.
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At the forefront of the use of steam powered presses, Wagner & McGuigan also excelled in the advertisement of their firm and
equipment and issued some of the only known antebellum era interior views of a Philadelphia lithographic establishment, including
the ca. 1847 print "Wagner & McGuigan's Lithographic Establishment for Drawing Lettering & Printing No. 116 Chesnut [sic]
St. Philadelphia" in the Harry T. Peters Collection at the Smithsonian. In addition the ca. 1855 print "Wagner & McGuigan's
Lithographic & Steam Power Printing Establishment No. 4 Athenian Buildings, Franklin Place Philadelphia" in the collections
of the Library of Congress depicted their steam powered press.
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By 1857, Wagner & McGuigan owned the Athenian building and "were chiefly engaged on the maps and views for the Report on the
Pacific Railroad and plates intended for the Patent Office reports." Unfortunately the year also saw the building in which
they had worked for a decade succumbed to fire yet again. On November 26, 1857, the destructive blaze destroyed the building,
of which they occupied all but the first floor and a second floor room, along with their stock of lithographic stones, finished
work, presses, and belongings worth $20,000. Proofs of the government prints remained and the firm continued in business for
about another year at 34/38 Franklin Place. After 1858, both Wagner and McGuigan continued in the lithographic trade and established
their own firms under sole proprietorships.
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Is part of |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
References |
See Duval, P. S.; Hoffy, Alfred; Pinkerton, Wagner & McGuigan; Queen, James; Pinkerton, Edward J.; Rease W. H.; and Reynolds,
Robert F.
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Has format |
LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-++PhPr-Ads-P-9578-2.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila1856-58-10840-O-9-adsection.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila-1859-65-10840-O-frontis.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcguigan-DirPhila1856-58-10840-frontis.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila1856-10578-Q-15-Frontad.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-P-8729-13.jpg |
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LOC-WagnerMcGuigan-PR13-CN-1997-105.jpg |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-Am1854-13701-O-2-39.jpg |
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Smithsonian-HCL-WagnerMcGuigan.jpg |
Call number |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
Bibliographic citation |
Catalogue of the 22nd Exhibition of American Manufactures (Philadelphia, 1822), 3 |
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Freedley, Philadelphia and Its Manufactures (1858), 184 |
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Groce & Wallace, 653 |
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Last, 156 |
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Library Company of Philadelphia research file |
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Peters, 393 |
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Press, November 28, 1857 |
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Public Ledger, February 21, 1850; December 18, 1850 |
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WWWAA, 3435 |
Image file |
LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-++PhPr-Ads-P-9578-2 |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila1856-58-10840-O-9-adsection |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila-1859-65-10840-O-frontis |
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LCP-WagnerMcguigan-DirPhila1856-58-10840-frontis |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-DirPhila1856-10578-Q-15-Frontad |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-P-8729-13 |
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LOC-WagnerMcGuigan-PR13-CN-1997-105 |
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LCP-WagnerMcGuigan-Am1854-13701-O-2-39 |
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Smithsonian-HCL-WagnerMcGuigan |
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LOC-WagnerMcGuigan |