Charge of the Zouaves, Vignette Die Proof on india on card, NBNCo 1860s, F.O.C. Darley

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Felix Octavius Carr Darley began drawing in his youth. He moved to New York City, New York in 1848 and in 1850 he was invited to illustrate Washington Irving’s works ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’. He continued to illustrate works by Washington Irving but added James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Longfellow, James Whitcomb Riley, and Charles Dickens, to his client list. He also designed bank notes and bonds for the U.S. government. His work helped popularize icons such as the Pilgrim, the Pioneer, the Minuteman and the Yankee Peddler. He became one of the best-known illustrators of his time, so great was the demand for Darley’s work that new books were promoted as illustrated by Darley. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Darley “dominated American illustration for nearly a half-century.”

Some people saw the formation of the American Bank Note Company (ABNC) in 1858 as a threat, because a firm formed by the merger of seven companies suggested monopoly. The National Bank Note Company (NBNC) was created (1859) in opposition to the growing ABNC monopoly of the engraving and printing industry. Four principal member employees of Danforth, Perkins and Company resigned when DPC and the six other firms comprising ABNC disagreed about the terms of the merger. The four employees from Danforth, Perkins and Company, two employees from its earlier firm (Danforth, Wright and Company), and three bankers organized NBNC. NBNC solicited business from banks wanting engraved bank notes, receiving its first order in 1860. It also printed depression scrip notes. In mid-1861, it won a contract to print all U.S. postage stamps, which it held until 1872. The company faced fierce competition from ABNC during this time, and finally capitulated to a consolidation with Continental Bank Note Company and ABNC in 1879.

Note: this is an ORIGINAL india proof; not a reproduction or contemporary print. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.