The Postcard Age : selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection /

In 1868, The New York Times described a new invention (related to diamond production) as "characteristic of an age whose special tendency it is to multiply the rare, to popularize the beautiful; when printing and photography and chromo-lithography and similar arts make it possible for the million to enjoy things once attainable only by the wealthy and aristocratic few." By the 1890s, further improvements in printing, transportation, communications, and regulated international mail delivery led to an explosion of another visual medium--the picture postcard. Millions of these cards were produced annually, an activity peaking before WW II. Most are vernacular, depicting mundane sites or topical subjects generated by anonymous individuals. But many artists also ventured to express themselves in this medium. This volume's focus falls on that phenomenon. Few scholarly histories of the postcard are available in print, and even fewer surveys of the aesthetic possibilities of the postcard. Thus, this informed, gracefully written survey by Klich (Hunter College, CUNY) and Weiss (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), which features almost 400 full-color reproductions of postcards drawn from 100,000 postcards collected by Leonard A. Lauder, probably will become a standard work in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. W. S. Johnson George Fox University

This lavishly illustrated volume is a treat for the senses, exploring the golden age of postcards, the period around 1903 to 1918 when modernity was born and postcards became the new form of mass communication. The new artistic medium serves as a thorough visual record of the era. Drawing from the immense personal collection of Leonard A. Lauder, in conjunction with an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, this book serves as both reference and history, with short chapter introductions by Klich, an art historian, and Weiss, a Museum of Fine Arts curator, offering social and historical context. Everything from advertising to beautiful women, travel, WWI, fashion, and social commentary is represented, in full-color reproductions that showcase the dazzling variety and creativity of the period. It's easy to see how, for a time, postcards captured the world's attention, riding the wave of change and early globalization, As the authors state, postcards "provide unusually vivid access to the past," its concerns and obsessions. Gorgeously and meticulously presented, this is more than a bit of nostalgia-it's a beautiful, complex record of a time gone by. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.