About the artist:

MMajor & Knapp, originally formed in 1846 in New York City as Sarony & Major, a partnership between lithographer and photographer Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896) and Henry B. Major. With the promotion to partner of Joseph F. Knapp (ca. 1830-1889) and the succession of Richard C. Major over Henry B. Major in 1857, the business was reestablished as Sarony, Major & Knapp. In 1863, Sarony withdrew from the firm, which was renamed Major & Knapp. Major & Knapp operated a Philadelphia branch in 1878-1879 at 150 South Third Street. Instrumental in New York for producing color lithography in the 1840s, especially colored sheet music covers, the firm shifted its specialty to advertising trade cards and tobacco box labels while the Philadelphia branch was active in the late 1870s. They published under this imprint from various locations over the years: 449 Broadway (1864 - 1866), 71 Broadway (1867 - 1872), and 56 Park Place (1889 - 1892). Richard Major retired in 1888, and the firm was renamed Knapp and Company. The firm grew to become one of the largest lithographic presses in the United States and a major force in American printing. Knapp invested some of his considerable wealth into insurance concerns. In 1868, he was the largest shareholder and director, and chairman of the Metropolitan Insurance Company. He became president of the Metropolitan Insurance Company in 1871, pioneering the idea of the low-cost life insurance policy, propelling MIC to become one of the largest insurers in the United States. All the time, he also continued to operate and manage his printing business, which he passed on to this son Joseph Palmer Knapp (1864 - 1951). Palmer Knapp closed 'Knapp and Company' in 1982, a year after his father's death, to establish the American Lithographic Company, which consolidated various smaller printers under a new imprint.