?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
R.. MELINA L'AFFONDAMENTO DEL LUSITANIA, "THE GREATEST CRIME OF THE AGE!" 1915. 20 1/2x27 inches. (52 x 69 cm.) Italian Book Co., New York. Condition B+: repaired tear through left margin; creases & minor tears in corners and at edges; tape on verso. Paper. One in a series of powerful images released after the sinking of the Cunard Line's famed ship, intended to rouse public animosity towards the Germans, this one is aimed at Italian Americans. Clearly created in haste after the event this image shows several historical innacuracies, including a submarine flying a French flag firing a second torpedo (the German submarine responsible for the attack is said to have only fired one), also, the Lusitinaia was a British ship, and would have been recognized as an R.M.S., not an S.S. Also, only a few life boats were actually launched, as many cracked when they hit the water and others smashed into the side of the badly-listing ship. Of the 1959 passengers on board 1195 perished. With help from propaganda like this, the sinking of the Lusitiania is one of the most obvious events which propelled America into entering the First World War.
