Charles D Kaufmann (4 results)

Photograph. An original, vintage panorama photograph of the John J. Jelke Company Sales Convention, Chicago, Ill., August 31 - September 2, 1927, made by Kaufmann & Fabry Co., Chicago. The photographers, Charles D. Kaufmann and Herman Fabry, are best known for their images of Chicago architecture and for being the official photographers of the Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago, 1933-1934. The photograph is a silver gelatin print on double-weight fiber-based paper. Size: 24 x 10 inches. Condition: There are glue marks to the top and bottom margins and a moisture stain to one corner. Will be mailed rolled in a heavy card tube and shipped the next business day after payment is received.…

Folio. 12.25 x 14.5 in. [52 leaves (unnumbered).], silver gelatin photo title w/calligraphic name of recipient added, 51 warm-toned silver prints with 8 x 11 in. images in center with 1.5 in. blank borders, each captioned in pencil, all mounted on white linen hinges. Full blue-gray morocco, gilt ruling & Art Deco lettering on front cover & spine, rounded corners, blue silk moire endpapers (lower margins of title, first two leaves renewed w/paper repairs, poorly removed former owner's bookplate on verso of silk moire front flyleaf carefully repaired), still a VG- exemplar, from the library of General Robert Elkington Wood (1879-1969), who served in the Philippine Insurrection, Quartermaster for the Panama Canal Railroad Company during the construction, with the 42nd Rainbow Division in the AEF in World War I, and after retirement with the du Point de Nemours Co. in Venezuela, and then as President of Sears Roebuck from 1928-1939, and chairmen until 1954. First edition of this spectacular presentation souvenir album for the Century of Progress which influenced modernist architects for decades, and served as an invaluable exhibit of art deco design motifs. The limited number of presentation albums appear to have been created as gifts by the photographers for the Board of Trustees, Officers, and Founder Members for the Exposition. These remarkable images include a night shot of the Grand Fountain; aerial views of the grounds; the facade of the Hall of Science which typified the linear, geometric Art Deco style of the Fair, designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret, and one of the interior shots showing the Great Hall announcing Planck's Quantum and Einstein's Relativity theories; the General Electric buildings; the stunning Transportation Building with it's amazing Art Deco facade, and a nighttime view of the Planetarium and Terrazzo Reflecting Pools. The photographers have also included an excellent photo of Italo Balbo's squadron of 24 Savoia-Marchetti SM.55X flying boats above Lake Michigan next to the fairgrounds. His planes had left Italy on June 30, 1933, and finally arrived over Chicago on July 15, 1933, and even carrying airmail, of which the commemorative envelopes are still very desired items by collectors. Also included are views of the Streets of Shanghai, Swift's Orchestra Shell, Admiral Byrd's South Pole Ship, the "City of New York," The Chrysler Motors Building, Swiss Village, Electrical building with fireworks in a night scene, and many others. Kaufmann & Fabry was an active commercial photographic firm specializing in architectural photography in Chicago from before 1910, and are still an active company. Founders were Charles D. Kaufmann (b. 1888), an Austrian-American, and Herman Fabry (1879-1955) German-American, who are perhaps best remembered as the official photographers of the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair, and were awarded not only the rights for publishing and distributing photographs and photos in publications, but also operated a camera shop and film processing lab on the Exhibition grounds through 1933 and 1934.…

Oblong 12mo. 6 x 4.5 in. [10 leaves (unnumbered).], w/ each separately featuring 5 linen-backed silver gelatin mounted photographs (50 in total), sized 3.5 x 5.5 in., rounded corners, many w/ negative no. in lower fore-edge w/in the negative, leporello accordion style black linen hinges for each leaf, mounted w/ linen hinges at gutter margin. Original stamped folding post-binder salesman case, w/ foldover flap, snapped clasp, w/ gilt lettering stamped on front (minor rubbing, shelfwear), still a VG bright copy. First edition, thus, of this exceedingly scarce original salesman sample photo catalogue for the short-lived truck manufacturer. Founded originally in 1862 by Stewart Sr., who opened the business originally in Covington, KY, the company quickly grew, and eventually divided into three separate corporations by 1902. The Stewart company cornered the market on cemetery fencing across America, manufactured the heavy duty trucks used by the US Army during World War I, and installed iron works and benches in New York City's Central Park, the light fixtures in Congress, fencing and gates at the Panama Canal, the jail cells at Alcatraz, Sing-Sing, and Leavenworth. These sales photographs illustrate many of the companies purchasing heavy trucks from the US Motor Truck Co. division following World War I. Depicted here are flatbed trucks for The Diem & Wing Paper Co. in Cincinnati, OH; Julius J. Bantlin Co. Wholesale Automotive Equipment and Saddlery; panel trucks for Baking companies, w/ delivery doors built into the sides; a freezer, or ice truck for the Niser Ice Cream Co., featuring curved cab similar to trolleys, and other rail cars; or a dump truck for T.W. Spinks Co., featuring a Lehigh lift bed. The Stewart Iron Works truck division would continue until 1928 and also was a key truck supplier for Dow Drug Stores, the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati Post, Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., and many others. Kaufmann & Fabry was an active commercial photographic firm specializing in architectural photography in Chicago from before 1910, and are still an active company. Founders were Charles D. Kaufmann (b. 1888), an Austrian-American, and Herman Fabry (1879-1955) German-American, who are perhaps best remembered as the official photographers of the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair, and were awarded not only the rights for publishing and distributing photographs and photos in publications, but also operated a camera shop and film processing lab on the Exhibition grounds through 1933 and 1934. No copies of similar photographic catalogues could be located in institutional holdings, or Worldcat, and in fact, almost no contemporary sales literature of the short-lived United States Motor Truck Co. division appears to have survived.…

First and only edition of this spectacular, highly limited-issue souvenir album for the Century of Progress exposition, an event which was to have a profound influence on modernist architects for decades to come, and served more generally as an invaluable "repository" of Art Deco motifs. A small number of these presentation albums were created as gifts for the Board of Trustees, Officers, and Founder Members for the Exposition by the official photographers. World Cat. records only 15 copies at 12 locations, all but a couple with identifiable recipients; just a handful of copies at auction. This copy from the library of Orville J. Taylor (1885-1969), noted Chicago Attorney, Century of Progress Trustee, World War I veteran who served as Major with the 86th Division of the A.E.F., but unfortunately is also remembered as the author of the whitewash "Taylor Report" on the black market activities of US personnel after World War II. The remarkable images include the spectacular Grand Fountain at night; aerial views across the grounds by night and day; the facade of the Paul Philippe Cret-designed Hall of Science, which typifies the linear, geometric Art Deco style of the Fair, together with an image of the interior of the Great Hall, where smartly dressed crowds scurry past wall text announcing Planck's Quantum and Einstein's Relativity theories; the Electrical Building with a shot of the circular court the central Electrical Fountain with its chromed canopy reflecting the iridescent jets of water playing below; the stunning Transportation Building at night with its sunrise façade brightly illuminated from within, and by day showing the cables from which the domed roof was "flown"; a night time view of the lowering Adler Planetarium which contained the only Zeiss projector in America at the time; a selection of views of the national "villages" - Black Forest, Belgian, English, Colonial, Italian, and the Streets of Shanghai - and a shot of Italo Balbo's squadron of Savoia-Marchetti SM 55X flying boats overflying Lake Michigan. Founded around 1910 by Charles D. Kaufmann (1888-1948), a Bohemian-American, and Herman Fabry (c.1879-1955) German-American, Kaufmann & Fabry was a Chicagoan commercial photographic studio specialising in architectural photography. The firm is perhaps best remembered for its work recorded here, as official photographers to the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair. They were not only awarded the rights for publishing and distributing photographs, and for the publication of photo illustrations, they also operated a highly lucrative camera shop and film processing lab on the Exhibition grounds for the duration of the Exposition. "Surprisingly little has been written about Kaufmann & Fabry - either the business or the men themselves. They claimed to have the most thoroughly equipped photographic plant in America. We are lucky in the next century to have this splendid sample of their artistry and a magnificent souvenir of the Century of Progress. of the thousands of printed books and souvenirs produced around the fair, Kaufmann & Fabry's album of photographs is by far the most beautiful" (Chicago by the Book, p.127). Folio (347 x 295 mm), original full blue-grey morocco by Arthur Hertzberg, gilt ruling and Art Deco lettering including the recipient's name on front cover and spine, blue moiré silk endsheets. 52 unnumbered leaves mounted on white linen hinges, the first with a silver gelatin photo title, the recipient's name added calligraphically, followed by 51 warm sepia-toned original silver prints (278 x 203 mm) each captioned in pencil in an attractive cursive hand. A touch rubbed, front hinge starting toward the head, but remains a excellent exemplar.…