Life, 1908-05-07 · page 41 of 48
Life — May 7, 1908 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, not political satire. The left column lists new books from 1908. The dominant content is a **commercial advertisement** for Kranich & Bach pianos featuring a composite photograph. The composite image blends portraits of twelve celebrated pianists (Paderewski, Rosenthal, Gabrilowitsch, and others) into a single "idealistic face." This marketing technique, credited to photographer Joseph Gray Kitchell, aimed to create an aspirational image representing piano excellence. The ad claims the resulting piano combines "all qualifications of piano excellence" in "one unity." The accompanying text argues the composite portrait fascinates physiognomy students and piano enthusiasts alike—inviting readers to imagine how a performer possessing all these pianists' traits might sound. This reflects early 1900s advertising innovation using composite photography to sell luxury goods.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Latest Books ajessio Medici. (The Macmillan Company. Women and Other Women, by Hildegarde Haw- thorac. (Duffield and Company. $1.20.) The Essays of Francis Bacon, edited by Mary A. Scott. (Charles Scribner A History of the United ry Spears. (Charles Scribner’s Sons. $1.50.) The Black Bag, by L. J. Vance. (The Bobbs- Merrill Company, Indianapolis. $1.50.) The Ancient Law, by Ellen Glasgow. (Double- and Company. $1.50.) y ther. (A.C. McClurg & Company, Chicago.) The Scarlet Shadow, by Walter Hurt. (Appeal ¢ Company, Girard, Kansas. $1.50.) ie, by Ernest Oldmeadow. (The McClure Company.) The Flying Death, by Samuel H. Adams. (The McClure Company.) The Magistrate's Own Case, by Baron Palle Rosenkrantz, (The McClure Company.) ssions and Autobiography of Harry he McClure Compan: A Bundle of Myrrh, by J. G. Neihardt. (The Outing Publishing Company. $1.) ite, a Sorority Girl, by Grace E. Cody. d Company. $1.25.) Good, by William DeMorgan. (Henry and Company. $1.75.) ugh Italy with the Poets, an anthology by R. H. Schauffler. (Moffat, Yard and Company. $2) The Wife of Narcissus, by Annulet Andrews. (Moffat, Yard and Company. $1.25.) The Stem of the Crimson Dahtia, by James Locke. (Moffat, Yard and Company. $1.5 The Cry of the Children, by ‘an Vorst (Moffat, Yard and Company The Malice of the Stars, '. DeGuerin. (The Bodley Head, Joha Lane.) The Sanity 0) Art, by Bernard Shaw. (B. R. Tucker, New York.) The Gospet of Ramakrishna. (Vedanta Society, No. 135 West Eightieth Street, New York.) The Cat and the Canary, by Margaret Cameron. (Harper and Brothers. $1.00.) The Greater Mischie}, by Margaret Westrup. (Harper and Brothers. $1.50.) To the Front, by General Charles King. (Harper and Brothers. $1.25.) Bahama Bill, by T. J. Hains. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. $1.50.) British Highways and Byways from a Motor Car, by T. D. Murphy. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. $3.00.) The Lady of the Mount, by F. S. Isham. (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis.) Altars to Mammon, by Elizabeth Neff. (F. A. tokes Company. § 1 Grouping in English, Scotch and Irish Gardews, by Margaret Waterfield. (E. P. Dutton and Company. $6.00.) The fron Heel, by Jack London. (The Macmillan Company. $1.50.) ‘lower o' The Orange, by Agnes and Edgerton (The Macmillan Company. $1.50.) insaww Cousins, by J. B. Ellis. (Henry Holt mpany. $1.50.) Lost Goddess, by Edward Barron, (Henry nd Company. $1.50.) From Libau to Tsushima, by E. S. Politovsky. (E. P. Dutton and Company. $1.50.) A Walking Gentleman, by James Prior. (E. P. Dutton and Company. $1.50.) The History of Aythan Waring, by Violet Jacob. (E. P. Dutton and Company. $1.25.) The Discovery of the Soul, by F. B. Wilson. (R. F. Fenno and Company. $1.00.) COM PO SITE Celebrated Pianists PHOTOGRAPHED FOR KRANICH @ BACH By JOSEPH GRAY KITCHELL Who evolved the famous * Composite Madonna.” portr: of twelve of the greatest living pianists, as follows: T this photograph there are blended the Paderewski, Rosenthal, Gabrilowitsch, D’Albert, DePachman, Hofmann, Lhevinne, Slivinski, Joseffy, Hamburg, Baver, and Sauer Copyrighted 1908 by Kranich & Bach HE study of this idealistic face is not only interesting to students of physiognomy in I exhibiting the predominance of the purely artistic and temperamental features and the subordination of the grosser ones, but it cfiers to lovers of piano music a field for speculation in an effort to imagine a repertoire performance by a Composite Unity possessing all the varied and distinctive characteristics associated with each of the artists merged in this composite portrait. No magazine illustration could convey the refined subtleties of expression and the mystic qualities of the composite negative, so a limited number of proof impressions were struck from a copper photogravure and printed on Imperial Japanese Parchment, size 8 x 10 (suitable for framing), and a copy will Le sent to early applicants on receipt of seven two-cent stamps to pay packing and forwarding charges. The edition is limited, each copy numbered and |-ears no advertising. A COMPOSITE PIANO HE Kranich & Bach is truly a composite of the highest artistic units. It possesses the I essentials that contribute to tone quality, artistic appearance, durability, and economy, and not only combines in its own unity the individual elements of all qualifications of piano excellence, but in addition it possesses important exclusive features not found in any other piano of the world. This piano has earned the title ‘Supreme in the Class of Highest Grade.” Sold on the most convenient installment terms and old pianos taken in part payment are allowed most liberal credit possible. Send for 1908 catalogueand KRANICH @ BACH 255.247 east 254Street name of dealer nearest you. PIANOS New York City The 1908 Catalogue of Life’s Prints Reproducing in carefully printed miniatures 163 of LIFE’S latest and best pictures by Hutt, Clay, Read, Balfour Ker, Blashfield, Gibson, Gilbert, Budd, Flagg, Bayard Jones, Squires, Broughton, Jacobs, Stewart, Hanna, Grant, Phillips, and others. LIFE’S PRINTS provide - an inexpensive but not cheap form of mural decoration. They are embellishments for any home, the most costly or the simplest. The new catalogue will be sent to any address on receipt of ten cents, by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 17 West Thitty-first Street, NEW YORK CITY comicbooks.com