Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Martin J. Weber Graphic Arts Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1209
Creators:
Weber, Carl
Weber, Martin J., 1905-2007
Dates:
1931-1980
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.75 Cubic feet
2 boxes
Repository:
This collection features business documents, legal papers, and examples of prints from Martin J. Weber, who pioneered the "Weber Process."

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
This collection documents the Weber Process for printing that made images on paper appear more three dimensional, as well as the photomechanical apparatus Weber developed to implement it . The collection contains patent documents, contracts and business papers, correspondence, design drawings, advertisements for the Weber Process and for his studio, and a paper he delivered to the American Photo Engravers Association. It also contains numerous samples of Weber's work, including magazines covers and advertisements, annual reports from companies featuring images enhanced by Weber, brochures, and other printed material.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into nine series.
Series 1: Articles, 1931-1971
Series 2: Awards, 1931-1971
Series 3: Business Documents, 1931-1971
Series 4: Correspondence, 1931-1971
Series 5: Legal Documents, 1931-1971
Series 6: Prints, 1931-1980
Series 7: Weber Process Documents, 1931-1971
Series 8: Photographs, 1931-1971
Series 9: Large Prints, 1931-1971

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Martin J. Weber was born in 1905 and worked as a graphic artist, inventor and typographer in the commercial art industry into his eighties. He died in 2007 at the age of 102.
Weber invented and patented the Weber Process in 1942, which utilized a photomechanical apparatus that altered images and text photographically to give pattern, texture, and shadow. Also known as Posterization, the process gave two-dimensional surfaces the "illusion of being reproduced in three dimensions" by printing multiple layers offset from one another. Weber helped to define the look of mid-twentieth century American advertising art, offering a "low-cost way of simulating multiple color reproduction." The process revolutionized lithography, screen printing, and standard printing, and later influenced computer typography.
Sources
Heller, Steven. "Martin Weber in the Third Dimension." Design Observer. June 19, 2007. Accessed August 03, 2016. http://designobserver.com/article.php?id=5657.

Administration

Author
Holly Nelson
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated to the Archives Center by Martin J. Weber's son, Carl Weber, 2011.
Processing Information
Collection was processed by Holly Nelson, intern, 2016.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Martin J. Weber Graphic Arts Collection, 1931-1971, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Advertisements -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Annual reports -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printing Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Printing machinery and supplies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Design drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Contracts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Magazines (periodicals) -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Inventors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graphic arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Graphic artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu