Karst, John, 1836-1922

Born in Germany, John Karst came to the United States as a youth. He was apprenticed to a wood engraver and eventually directed production for Leslie's Magazine. After the Civil War he set up as an independent engraver and established a shop on Canal Street in New York City. Karst engraved the work of such artists as Edwin Abbey and Frederick Edwin Church for Harper's and Leslie's magazines. He was best known for his illustrations for the six volumes of the Eclectic Primers of William Holmes McGuffey. The McGuffey's readers were published in a collected edition, 1879-1880. When the popularity of wood engraving declined in the wake of photoengraving and new photographic techniques, Karst retired to an 1100 acre homestead in DeBruce (Sullivan County) New York. The 1803 house and the wild land, known as the "Karst Preserve," were maintained as an historic site in New York State .

From the description of Collection of wood engravings. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122444875