Marvelous early birdseye view of the University of Michigan, first issued in 1907.
At the turn of the century, Littig & Company commissioned a number of artists, including the accomplished artist Richard Rummell (1848-1924), to create watercolors of some of the nations most prestigious colleges. From these water colors, engravings in photogravure were made on copper plates and distriubuted, in limited number, to the various schools and to a few art dealers throughout the country. Many may still be seen in the Administration building and in the offices of the Deans in many of the region's finest schools.
These prints differs widely from other college prints in their panoramic quality: indeed, in many cases, they offer the only panoramic views available today. Each artist visited a campus and conferred with the Administration about future buildings authorized for the school. He would then draw these projected buildings into the campus scene, which was projected from an apparent altitude of about 300 feet. In some cases, this gives the viewer the impression that the scene was painted perhaps ten years later. On a few occasions, building plans were subsequently altered which resulted in an inaccurate depiction of the college.
The present example has been hand colored at an early date.