Dear Penny:
The Moss Engraving Company, which also prepared the
illustration plates for *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,* was at
535 Pearl Street in New York according to the Trow directories of
1883-84 and 1884-85. Their ad in the 83-84 directory reads:
"MOSS ENGRAVING COMPANY 535 PEARL ST. NEW YORK
LARGEST ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KIND IN THE WORLD
ENGRAVINGS FOR BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, CATALOGUES &C.
MOSS'S NEW PROCESS SUPERIOR TO ANY OTHER METHOD
THIRTEEN YEARS PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
SEND GREEN STAMP FOR ILLUSTRATED CIRCULAR." (*Trow's New York City
Directory,* vol. 47 (year ending 1 May 1884): "Commercial Register," 36)
The textual introduction of the Works of Mark Twain edition of
*Huck Finn* gives some information about their 1884 procedures and prices,
derived in part from the processing notations on extant
Kemble drawings and in part from Charles L. Webster's accounts of expenses.
Webster delivered Kemble's drawings for *Huck* to the Moss
company in batches; the Moss company assigned a number to each batch and
each picture, marked each one for reduction (usually 50%), and also
marked the date of processing. To give you an idea of costs,
Webster paid $45 for the first 31 completed electros on 4 June
1884 (about $1.45 each). The company routinely pulled picture proofs
which were sent Webster for approval (Webster sent them on to Clemens). The
approved illustration electrotypes then went to the printer,
Joseph J. Little: see *Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* (ed. Walter
Blair and Victor Fischer, University of California Press, 1988), pp.
456-65, for more details.
During production of *Huck,* Charles L. Webster and Co. was located at 658
Broadway, and the printer, J. J. Little, was at 10 Astor Place. I hope
this is of some use.
All best,
Victor Fischer
Mark Twain Project
On Mon, 25 Aug 1997, PENNY wrote:
> I am looking for information on the Moss Company. They "processed" the
> illustrations for LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI for the Osgood Company in 1882.
> Any information would be most helpful. thanks you.
>
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