Abstract
Front cover illustration: A. J. White label die proofs. From the M. Stephen and Miriam R. Miller Collection. Steve Miller writes:
In 1993, a dealer in postage stamps from California sent me fifty-nine items “out of the blue” with a cover letter that opened: “Enclosed is the collection of Mother Seigel’s [Syrup] die proofs as found in the Waterlow archive. Possibly this is every known example.” This product, also known in this country as “The Shaker Extract of Roots,” was a joint venture of the Shakers at Mount Lebanon, N.Y., with a physician/entrepreneur named Andrew Judson White. With a bit of searching on my own, I learned that Waterlow & Sons was an extremely fine engraving and printing firm in London, responsible not only for exquisite labels but also for most of the stamps used in the British Empire. When they went out of business in the 1990s, this man purchased their complete archives. This group of labels, dating from 1872 to 1943, is unique. A die proof is a first-proof pressing and is always archived before a production run.
Date
10-2012
Volume
6
Number
4
Journal Title
American Communal Societies Quarterly
ISSN
1939-473X
