Monday, September 28, 2020

Illustrations from Capital and Labor by Paul Krafft, 1907

Capital and Labor by Rev. W.S. Harris, with illustrations by Paul Krafft. This 300-page manifesto from 1907 is written from the point-of-view of a Christian socialist, so it's not exactly a revolutionary tract. It is questionable for instance on the matters of homelessness, sex work, suffrage, colonialism, race, and a host of other issues. It is, however, a colossally wonderful artifact, and the illustrations, including many steel-plate engravings by the artist Paul Krafft, are Biblically epic in scale and execution. The American author, Reverend William Schuler Harris (1865-1956), is also the noted author of two science fiction-tinged books that predate the Christian fantasies of C.S. Lewis: Sermons by the Devil (1904) and Life in a Thousand Worlds (1905). The artist Paul Krafft (1877-1953) was a German emigre who did work for many New York and Philadelphia publishers. Published in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.