SCHANILEC, Gaylord. MIDNIGHT PAPER SALES. ~ High Bridge. Ten Wood Engravings of Demolition with Nine Stories of Construction.
10 colour wood engravings by Schanilec. No. 104 of 174 copies, there were also 26 special copies. Printed in Plantin Monotype. Large 8vo., [19.5 x 27 cms], bound at the Campbell-Logan Bindery in original grey cloth, printed paper title labels to upper cover and spine. A fine copy.
The stories are derived from articles in the ‘St. Paul Daily Globe’ and the ‘St. Paul Pioneer Press’ during the bridge’s construction from 1887 to 1889, edited by Clayton Schanilec. The outstanding colour wood engravings are of the bridge and its demolition in 1985.
On February 24, 1985, 24,000 people gathered on the banks of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota to witness the demolition of a 97 year old bridge that connected their communities for generations. When it came down in a well-orchestrated collapse of steel, there was scattered applause and then silence. No one present had ever see this valley without the bridge.
‘High Bridge’ documents the passing of the bridge, contrasting images of demolition with accounts of its construction. The images are a sequence of ten wood engravings printed in 5 to 7 colours. These compositions blend together in a cinemagraphic-like style, affording views of the bridge as if on a walk.