ANCHOR LINE. TRANSATLANTIC & MEDITERRANEAN STEAMSHIPS...
Anchor Line. Transatlantic & Mediterranean Steamships...
Multi-stone lithograph. c.1872.
Image size 18 5/8 x 24 1/8" (47.4 x61.3 cm)
Good condition and color. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 100065
Price: $5,500.00 Publisher : A beautiful marine broadside for the Anchor Line.
The Anchor Line was founded in 1855 by the Glasgow firm of Handysides & Henderson. The next year it inaugurated transatlantic service between Glasgow and New York, and within a decade the firm had added services to the Mediterranean and India, the latter taking advantage of the newly-opened Suez Canal. By the time this broadside was issued, it had expanded further, adding service to numerous destinations in Northern Europe. In 1873 ownership transferred fully to the brothers Thomas (co-founder of Handysides & Henderson), John, David and William Henderson. The firm remained in the family until acquired by the Cunard Line in 1911, but the Anchor Line name survived multiple sales and corporate retructurings until 1980. During its heyday in the 1880s-1940s the Anchor Line was “famous for its sleek ships and the comfort it offered its passengers at a very affordable cost.” (Wikipedia)
The broadside features several lines of display text in a variety of elaborate fonts, surrounding a large central vignette of the steamship Victoria, which was launched at Port Glasgow and made its maiden voyage in 1872. Arrayed around this are four smaller vignettes of New York City, Gibraltar, the Giant’s Causeway on the north coast of Ireland, and an unnamed Mediterranean port. That the Victoria is featured so prominently suggests that the broadside was issued some time around its 1872 maiden voyage.
Printed by the New York firm of Geo. F. Nesbitt & Co. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Marine