Description

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The Josef Scholz company was founded in 1793 and was initially a wholesaler of paper and stationery. Gradually they started to focus on the publication of picture books and games. In 1829 the company moved to Mainz. From 1840, Scholz started to specialize more and more in publications for children, especially books and cents prints (Bilderbogen)

Bilderbogen is the German name for what we call penny prints in the Netherlands. They are surface prints made in the 18th and 19th centuries, which were usually colored by hand. They were used a lot as a popular image and later reading material. The sheets, printed on cheap paper, should learn as well as entertain. Predecessors were the Einblattholzschnitte of the 15th and 16th centuries and illustrated leaflets. More than 300 printers produced print plates throughout Europe; Striking were the companies in Épinal (France) and Germany (Neuruppin, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Munich and others), but also in Moscow. In their heyday, they were usually thrown away after viewing and reading, others were clipped to use individual motifs depicted on them. Still others decorated the salon in the absence of the opportunity to acquire art, or they were also used to teach. Although the magazines often reached a high circulation, only a few are available today. But you can find them in museums.