Edward Mendel—Lithographer, Engraver & Printer
Life Span: 1850-1871
Location: Corner Lake and La Salle Streets
Architect: Unknown
History of Chicago; Its Commercial and Manufacturing Interests and Industry, By I.D. Guyer, 1862
LITHOGRAPHY IN CHICAGO.
The discoverer or rather inventor of this beautiful art was Senefedler, an actor at the Theatre Royal, Munich. This ornamental art, of so much service to the useful arts, is so nearly allied to engraving, that it might be treated as a branch there of being, in fact, engraving on stone, or surface engraving. The stone used, possesses in a high degree, calcareous qualities similar to limestone, and absorbs to a certain extent the only substances that are used to give the drawings sufficient adhesiveness to resist the friction of printing. These are Lithographic chalk, and Lithographic ink. They are composed of tallow, virgin wax, soap, shellac, and colored with lamp-black. The principal styles in Lithography, are Linear and Crayon drawings, transfers on Stone from Steel or Copper-Plate engravings, Wood cuts, or from Lithographic drawings themselves.
The art of Lithography has in no portion of the world been brought to greater perfection than in the United States, or perhaps we might, with perfect propriety, say in Chicago. This we owe in a great extent to Mr. Edward Mendel, whose establishment occupies the two upper floors of Burch’s Bank building, corner of LaSalle and Lake Street, who has executed some of the most impressive, beautiful, bold, and artistic works that have ever been produced by this process.
This establishment has been in operation in this city for the last twelve years; and is perhaps one of the most complete in all its departments on this continent. Mr. Mendel employs a capital exceeding $50,000, including presses, material, etc., furnishing employment to some forty or fifty hands in the several departments. They produce every description of printing, in colors and plain, Show Cards, Music, Title Pages, Landscape views, Lakes, Portraits, etc.; also, all kinds of Commercial Blanks, such as Notes, Drafts, Certificates of Stocks, and Deposits; Railroad, County and State Bonds, Diplomas for Agricultural Societies and Colleges, in fact everything pertaining to the art, may be found in process of production in this representative establishment of Mr. Mendel’s. Having always employed the best art-talent in this department, he has produced work that has given to his name a popularity with Bankers, Insurance and Railroad organizations throughout the North-West, that is everywhere acknowledged and duly appreciated.
The great variety of specimens of Vignettes, and other embellishments, for every kind of bank and commercial purposes, renders it an easy matter for any person to select designs suitable for their purpose. As the cost of procuring new designs is expensive, it is a matter of consideration to have a choice selection to choose from, in point of expediency and economy.
There is, perhaps, no art which embraces within its range so great a variety of styles as Lithography. The productions of the pencil, the crayon and the graver, are all represented in the various methods of this useful and beautiful art. The word Lithograph, signifying writing upon stone, is a general term, including processes so entirely dissimilar as to require the employment of artists especially educated for the different branches or departments of the business; thus in the production of Commercial Blanks, the lettering, vignettes and other embellishments, are cut or engraved upon the stone by much the same process that is employed on copper and steel plate. The lettering for Maps is usually done by the same process. Other varieties of work are wrought upon the stone with a peculiar kind of pen, designed for the purpose; while large Pictures, such as Portraits, Landscapes, Views, and other varieties, are drawn with crayons upon the stone, and subsequently so affixed by a chemical process, that impressions of the designs are obtained with the same facility as from an engraved surface. The designs for subjects requiring a variety of colors, are sometimes produced in this way; although in the finer class of color work, the design is wrought with the pen. Impressions are produced by a peculiar kind of press, designed especially for this purpose. Our limited space will not allow us to enter into full detail of all the various processes employed in the art, which rivals in one department the best efforts of the pencil and the crayon; and in another, bids fair to contend for supremacy with the proudest creations of Steel Plate Engraving, at a great reduction of cost.
A visit to the rooms of Mr. Mendel, by those who may be interested in these matters, will make them acquainted with all the facts pertaining to this art of so much utility and beauty.
Chicago Tribune, October 8, 1855
NEW MAP OF THE CITY.—We have been shown a copy of the map of the city which is to accompany the new directory published by E.H. Hall & Co. It is neatly lithographed by Ed.Mendel, No. 170 Lake street, and appears to be unusually accurate in regards to names of owners of large lots. It is given on the scale of 1,200 feet to an inch, and will be a valuable addition to the directory.
New Map of Chicago (Excerpt)
Published By Hall & Co.
No. 189 Lake Street
Lithography by Ed. Mendel
No. 170 Lake Street
1855
Chicago As It Is. A Strangers and Tourists Guide to the City of Chicago, 1866.
Map of Chicago
Published By Ed. Mendel
1866
1857 Chicago
Rufus Blanchard
Lithograph by Edward Mendel
Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1860
The Great Building Raising.
When Chicago shall have been for a decade or more of years up to grade it will come to be a marvel and a doubt in many minds that the wonder was ever accomplished of raising to grade the entire front of three hundred and twenty feet, at one and the same time, and that of first class buildings filled with tenants, stores and offices.
But Messrs. Brown & Holligsworth, Pullman & Moore, and Ely and Smith, the contracting firms, between whom this work was accomplished, have wisely chosen to perpetuate the memory of their feat in a beautiful lithograph, from the lithograph establishment of Edward Mendel, No. 162 Lake street. It was well and homorably done for Chicago, both the work itself and this is perpetuation.
View of an Entire Block of Brick & Stone Buildings in Chicago, on Lake St. Between Clark & La Salle Srs. While Being Raised to the New Grade a(s) High as 4 Feet.
Edward Mendel Lithograph
1860
Edward Mendel was located at the First National Bank of Chicago on State and Washington streets from about 1868 till the Great Fire.
Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1860
We have received from Jos. J. Kearney & Co., 29 Market street, a fine lithograph of the portraits and autographs of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, copied from the original in the rotunda of the capital at Washington, by the celebrated lithographer, Edward Mendel of Chicago. It is truly a fine work of art, and, as the publishers say, “one copy, at least, should be in every house in the country.”
Chicago Tribune, November 17, 1863
THE PRESIDENT’S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION PURCHASED.—We are gratified to be able to state that Thomas B. Bryan, Esq., has purchased the original manuscript of the President’s Emancipation Proclamation, having paid the managers of the Northwestern Fair the handsome sum of three thousand dollars for it, and having given the obligations that it shall not go out of the city.
Chicago Tribune, January 23, 1864
THE PRESIDENT’S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.—This remarkable document has already been published in three different forms in this city, and we understand liberal sales are made by each publisher. A fac-simile of the original draft, an exact copy of Mr. Lincoln’s manuscript, published under the auspices and for the benefit of the Soldier’s Home, by Thos. B. Bryan; another by Mr. A.P. Kidder, a fac-simile of his own manuscript copy of it; and a lithograph copy by Rufus Blanchard.
Close-up of Mr. Mendel’s Facsimile of the Emancipation Proclamation lithograph.
Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1871
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S BUILDING.
The loss of the Historical Building is irreparable. The library embraced 17,500 bound volumes, 175,000 pamphlets, and complete sets of dies of the Chicago newspapers. This collection embraced a complete record of the history of Chicago from its earliest days to the present. In addition to the library, the society owned the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln, a complete set of the Chicago battle flags, the Healy Gallery of three hundred paintings, Diehl’s Hamlet, Conture’s Prodigal Son. and Volk’s bust of Mr. Lincoln—the only one for which Mr. Lincoln had a life-sitting. The loss of these treasures of art and literature will be felt more keenly in the future than st present. They are treasures which cannot be replaced, and in their loss the history of the city is lost also.
Chicago Tribune, November 7, 1871
The New Orleans Picayne tells of a lady in that city who was reading to her servants an account of the Chicago fire. The incident of the burning of the Emancipation Proclamation arrested the attention of the old colored woman, a slave all her life, who viewed the proclamation much as the Israelites did the Ark of the Covenant. “what day,” she said, “burned up!” “Yes; aunty, burned up.” “Den what gwine come of us again!” “I don’t know; may be you’ll be slaves as before.” “Den chile gwine to die right now.”
President Lincoln signed the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863. Lincoln then donated the original final draft to the Northwestern Sanitary Fair in Chicago in 1863, to be sold to raise money for medical support of the soldiers. Thomas B. Bryan purchased the document for $3,000 and in turn donated it to the Soldiers’ Home in Chicago. Bryan commissioned lithographer Edward Mendel to create facsimile broadside printings of the original document. The sale of these broadsides funded the United States Sanitary Commission and the Soldiers’ Home in Chicago.
The original Emancipation Proclamation draft signed by Lincoln was later destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1871, thus leaving Mr. Mendel’s broadside printings as the only real, original records of the document. This final draft of the Emancipation, shown above, portrays the edits that were made on the original document. It also includes an engraved portrait of Lincoln with a facsimile signature at the bottom. It is detailed and intricate, but not overly elaborate that it strays too far from the original.
Beneath the Proclamation text is a statement detailing the intent for the sale of the facsimiles. The statement was signed by Thomas B. Bryan, President of The Soldiers’ Home, Chicago, Illinois and reads:
- This publication is undertaken in behalf of the General Treasury of the United States Sanitary Commission, and also to create a fund for the erection and maintenance of a permanent home for our sick and disabled soldiers. Purchasers of this fac-simile of the Proclamation of Freedom will thus invest that immortal instrument with a new interest, as contributing to noble institutions which shall prove a just tribute of a Nation’s gratitude to her patriot sons.
We have written proof to explain why these documents were produced and where and why they were sold.
Beneath the Proclamation is the statement of the purpose for the sale of the facsimiles signed by Thomas B. Bryan, President of The Soldier’s Home, Chicago, Illinois:
- This publication is undertaken in behalf of the General Treasury of the United States Sanitary Commission, and also to create a fund for the erection and maintenance of a permanent home for our sick and disabled soldiers. Purchasers of this fac-simile of the Proclamation of Freedom will thus invest that immortal instrument with a new interest, as contributing to noble institutions which shall prove a just tribute of a Nation’s gratitude to her patriot sons.
To the left of the statement is the official seal of authenticity with the statement above it reading:
- Every genuine copy has the Proclamation Seal attached immediately hereunder.
Chicago Tribune, December 28, 1863
MENDEL’S MAP OF ILLINOIS.—Edward Mendel, the well known engraver of this city, has just filled a long needed desideratum in the issue of an accurate and handsome map of Illinois which is just the size for business offices, and very well fitted for reference. It is extended, throughout, in the highest style of the lithographic art, and every county is finished carefully from official surveys. In addition to the map proper, admirable plates of the principal cities are given, as well as smaller maps illustrating the geological character of the State, and important statistics of population, etc. In all respects it is a finished piece of work, and reflects great credit upon Mr. Mendel. We have never before had a complete and reliable map of the State upon a large scale. This one furnishes the information desired at a glance, and has been so carefullu prepared that thorough reliance may be placed in it. Business men especially shoulkd procure a copy of it for reference, and every school in the city should be possessed of one or more copies.
Cook County, Illinois
Engraved, printed, colored, & mounted by Edw. Mendel.
1861
Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1871
Inter Ocean, April 5, 1884
OBITUARY.
Edward Mendel.
Edward Mendel, for many years a lithographer in this city, and known as a man who has been closely identified with Chicago’s business interests for over a quarter of a century, died at his residence, No. 2321 Wabash avenue, yesterday evening at 7:30 o’clock. For many months the insidious but deadly Bright’s disease had been assailing his system, and at last the foe became the victor. Mr. Mendel was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1828, receiving his education in that country and learning the trade of a mapcarver. When 22 years of agehe came to America. Engaged for a short time at his trade in Cincinnati, he soon came further West and ere long was at work in Chicago, and was also employed for a while on a surveying corps.
About the year 1853 be began the work of lithographing. He started in this business on Lake street; near La Salle, occupying the old John Link Building. His business began to enlarge, and about three years before the great fire he moved into the First National Bank Building, located at the southwest corner of State and Washington streets. There the fire found him and there the fire left him, well-nigh penniless at best, so far as his business interest was concerned. Not daunted by adversity, he again began business at the corner of State and Twenty-second streets, afterward moving down to the Hoffman Building on Fifth avenue, between Madison and Monroe street. He rapidly regained his former position and again moved, this tie to the fourth floor of the Times Building on Fifth avenue, which latter place he occupied up to the time of his death.
As a man of close attention to business, of industry, of loyal devotion to the work which claimed much of his time and talent, Mr. Mendel was known by a large circle of business friends. A man of native reticence and averse to courting society he yet left a strong impression of his own individuality upon those who knew him. Mr. Mendel had become the possessor of a good deal of valuable city property, owning the Mendel Block, on the northeast corner of Pacific avenue and Van Buren street, a number of houses on Wabash avenue aside from his residence, and other property which would perhaps bring his wealth close up to a half a million dollars. In 1863 Mr. Mendel was married in this city to Miss Sarah Joy, by whom he has had three children, Edward and Albert, two of them now living, the eldest on now nearing manhood. Thirty years of active business life in Chicago, conducted upon the careful and conservative principles which governed his life, could not but have won Mr. Mendel many friends, who will join their sympathy to the sorrow of the bereaved family.
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