Nicolas Toussaint Charlet

Single-sheet lithographic prints, like the ones being sold in these two scenes, were some of the earliest forms of visual media produced in large numbers for public consumption. For the first time, European and American middle-class viewers could afford to buy images that reflected their own lives and interests. The widespread availability of lithographic prints in the early 1800s increased demand for visual images and primed the public for the introduction of photography in the decades to come.