Colonial America
Woodblock Printing Plate of the Historic Philadelphia Fire

Appeared in the Philadelphia Newspaper Spirit of the Times
c. 1839 Engraved Woodblock Printing Plate of the "Great Fire of Philadelphia," for an Illustration Print that appeared in the Philadelphia Newspaper, "Spirit of the Times", Choice Very Fine.
The 1839 Destructive Fire in Philadelphia destroyed 52 buildings and was said to be at that time the greatest fire ever known in Philadelphia. This ia A view of the Great Fire at Philadelphia, which occurred on October 4-5, 1839, depicted on an original, dark-brown, 5" x 3" x 1/2" thick Woodblock Printing Plate. Though unsigned, research has shown that this image appeared in the Philadelphia newspaper, "Spirit of the Times." The editor of that publication commented: "We reached the scene about 9 o'clock, this morning - drew a hasty picture of it, and by 12 o'clock, Johnson, the artist, had the representation ready for the press."



This historic Woodblock being the very one which Mr. Johnson engraved in less than 3 hours! Not only is the image an exact, line for line, match with that published in the newspaper, the blemishes in the block also match perfectly, though over the past 174 years, some additional flaws have appeared. There is a large warp split to one of the edges, with a sliver of wood missing, otherwise this block is excellent in every regard. This Printing Woodblock recalls the devastation wrought by urban fires before the advent of modern fire fighting methods. A wonderful example.