Today on #LHSrescue, I'm searching for the Illman Brothers, a Philadelphia engraving company behind a fair number of the #LHSrescueFashionPrints I'm trying to sort out, but it sure is being a sifting process to find data on the company. The frame here is c. 1930, print c. 1860.

They provided engravings for "Les Modes Parisesnnes", so I searched that, which leads to.......a whole lot of images of their engravings. Circular hunting! At least this one has a date: November 1860. So that's a start. The frame here is mid-1940s.

Hey, I found the magazine! Peterson's Magazine, 1842-1898, 2/3 the cost of Godey's Ladies Book, and check out the bio on one of the early editors, novelist Ann Stevens! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_S._Stephens

(Side note: women could totally have successful careers as writers in the 1800s, even under their own names! They could use pen names if they wanted to! Gender is a construct & not always seen as we see it post-2000! Don't assume you know why a writer used whatever name! GRrrr!)

The other framed print is c. 1850 Godey’s Unrivaled Colored Fashions. Godey's Ladies Book is 1830–1878, with Sarah Josepha Hale as editor 1837-1877. Under her leadership, circulation went from 10K to 40K in her first 2 years, and 150k by 1860.

"In 1846 [Sarah J Hale] stated, “The time of action is now. We have to sow the fields—the harvest is sure. The greatest triumph of this progression is redeeming woman from her inferior position and placing her side by side with man, a help-mate for him in all his pursuits.”

"Her steadfast devotion of purpose and her unwavering editorial principles regarding social inequalities and the education of American women, made her one of the most important editors of her time." ( http://accessible-archives.com )

The flashy fashion prints are much of what survives of Godey's, & was famous for excellent literature, but like @TeenVogue of 2020, it was an avenue for top-level journalism of it's day, with an on-going series on women in the workforce & entire issues dedicated to women authors.

Owner Louis Godey tried to keep politics out of the magazine, eventually clashing with contributing author & abolitionist Sara Jane Lippincott over taking a stance on slavery; he later acknowledge he had been wrong to do so. She was a badass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Jane_Lippincott

The editoress (her preferred term) Sarah J Hale may have been the single most influential person of her day, shaping American literature, music, fashion, & architecture for 40 years directly & decades more indirectly. Did you know about her before now? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Josepha_Hale