Poster "THE OVERSHADOWING CURSE" [William Claggett Gage]
Wm. C. Gage & Son, Printers, Battle Creek, Mich. 1884. Paperback. Good. Item #21-6243
27 x 34". Wrinkling, edge tear, tears, creasing, the lower 7" is almost detached all the way across, lower right corner is badly torn. There was a small notice of "The Overshadowing Curse" in the June 1884 edition of the "Review and Herald" which reads in part "In the No. 5 Sabbath Sentinel, there appeared a vigorous article...'The Overshadowing Curse'. This article contained a very striking diagram showing...an arrangement of twelve dark parallel lines...the relative amounts actually spent for Liquor, Bread, Tobacco...Christian Missions. In the diagram the amount spent for liquor is nine hundred million, while the sum spent for Home and Foreign Missions is 5 and a half million!...The substance of this article, with the diagram has been struck...suitable for lecturers on health and temperance..." The notice indicates a slightly smaller size and that red ink (in addition to black) was used else the poster contains the information listed in the diagram. The printer, William Claggett Gage, a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church was also a publisher, a writer at the "Review And Herald" press, preacher and Battle Creek's first Adventist mayor, 1882-1883. There are other temperance posters with the title "The Overshadowing Curse" but none of them bear any resemblance to the one printed by Gage. "Copyright By C.C. Lewis". The notice in the "Review and Herald" was the only information found on the poster. SWAF. SCARCE.
Price: $350.00