Welcome to The New Baxter Society

The New Baxter Society is a not-for-profit organisation concerned with the collection, preservation and study of the colour prints of George Baxter, his Licensees and other Nineteenth-Century Colour Printers.

George Baxter made his name as a colour picture printer in the mid 19th century as his patented process was instrumental in bringing affordable high quality decorative colour prints to the masses.  His first commercial colour printing appeared in the 1830s and took the form of book illustrations, effectively replacing some of the hand colouring that made coloured books so expensive to buy.

Around 1850 Baxter licenced his process to a number of competing printers including Abraham Le Blond, Joseph Kronheim, Bradshaw & Blacklock, Joseph Mansell, William Dickes and Myers & Co.

Colour prints produced by George Baxter and his Licensees can be found in many forms including book illustrations, decorative prints, on needle boxes and pin cushions, on valentines and on school reward cards.

Baxter's success was relatively short-lived as improvements in the cheaper chromolithography processes saw them take centre stage in the later part of the 19th century. Exponents of chromolithography included M & N Hanhart, Day & Son, Thomas Nelson, Leighton Brothers and some of Baxter's Licensees.

If you would like any further information about The New Baxter Society, George Baxter, his licensees or their work, please contact us. Your enquiry will be answered using our library of reference books or passed on to one of our "expert" members. We are fortunate to have amongst our membership, authors of Baxter reference books, descendants of Baxter's family and enthusiasts who have been collecting for many years. We are happy to try to identify prints and to give an estimate of valuation.

Baxter Prints - Baxter Process Prints - 19th Century Colour Printing

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