DESIGNER UNKNOWN THE GOLDEN NORTHWEST / THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 1883.
34x13 inches, 86 1/2x33 cm. American Bank Note Co., New York.
Condition B: small stains in left margin; tape-repaired tear at bottom edge, slightly into image; creases in margins and image; top and bottom margins trimmed. Paper.
A rare, early poster encouraging immigrants to settle in the vast expanse of Canada's western provinces. "Canadian Pacific's first immigration office opened . . . in London in 1881, and the company started to advertise to attract the attention of potential immigrant settlers, mainly to Manitoba in the 1880s" (Canadian Pacific p. 94). Many of their earliest broadside were letterpress, but "concurrently, very sophisticated fine-line steel and copper engraving, used for currency and other financial paper, was adapted and produced for the C.P.R.'s advertising campaigns. Canadian Pacific relied on the services of the American Bank Note Company of New York City, to provide the type of finely-engraved plates on which that company had built its reputation" (Canadian Pacific / Choko p. 25). Canadian Pacific p. 101, Canadian Pacific / Choko 9.