Morristown in Photo-Gravure

This viewbook, Morristown in Photo-Gravure, was published in 1895 by William K. Muchmore, a Morristown stationer and bicycle dealer, and printed by the Albertype Company in Brooklyn, NY. Viewbooks were a popular and inexpensive memento and gift item for tourists. The Albertype Company in Brooklyn was formed in 1890, and was well known for printing postcards and viewbooks of locations throughout the United States. This scenic viewbook is an interesting pictorial record of 19th century Morristown, and includes images of businesses, churches, schools, homes, and tourist attractions. Many views in this book are of special interest today as they show 19th century Morristown buildings and landscapes that no longer exist.

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Morristown was a popular tourist destination in the late 19th century. Hotels, inns and other services throughout Morristown catered to out of town visitors who flocked here in great numbers. As it still is today, Morristown's association with George Washington and the Revolutionary War was a powerful draw for 19th century tourists. Its surrounding countryside and towns were popular for day trips. Morristown's economic and social power were exemplified by its impressive public buildings, magnificent gilded age mansions and estates and elaborate social events. Morristown was also easily accessible by train, especially for New Yorkers.

The preface of the viewbook promotes Morristown's qualities:

Morristown in its beauty and healthfulness nestles quietly among the hills of northern New Jersey. With a population of over 8000, it is thirty miles from New York and high above the sea air which envelops the metropolis. To this advantage of moderate mountain air, it adds that of the purest of pure water brought by the Aqueduct [Company] from the springs which issue from the heart of the hills around. Its sandy porous soil completes the strongest of health attractions for which, both summer and winter, it has long been renowned. Add to this fact that Morristown is not a manufacturing city but a city of elegant residences and simple homes, with a large understratum of old inhabitants and we account in some measure for its unusual attractiveness.Owing to the central position of the town as originally planned, roads radiate in every direction.It is said there is a drive, different in character, for every day of the month.

Henry Dodge

The poem at the book's beginning was penned by Henry Nehemiah Dodge, (1843-1937). Dodge was a poet, author, dentist, philanthropist, and citizen of Morristown. He graduated in 1868 from Philadelphia Dental College, and he founded the Morristown Free Dental Clinic and also donated parkland to Morristown. He published four volumes of work and wrote lyrical and historical poetry.

Photo Gravures

A photogravure is not technically a photograph, but is created by a photomechanical process. Invented in 1879, the photogravure process involves photographically transferring an image to a metal plate and then printing from it. This procedure produced superior quality prints in large quantities. 19th century photogravures offered much more delicate tonal range and precision compared to other photomechanical processes of the time, such as the half-tone reproduction technique used in newspapers.