Original Item: Only One Available. “That Liberty Shall Not Perish From The Earth'' was one of many posters issued by the U.S. government during World War I to encourage support of the war. This poster features a picture of the Statue of Liberty in ruin, the New York skyline in flames with a squadron of German bombers flying overhead and in the distance a collapsed Brooklyn Bridge. A German U-Boat can also be seen in the water heading towards the coastline. This is one of the most interesting & macabre posters ever designed during World War I, and is often referred to when discussing the origins of “total war” and “scorched earth”. During World War I, annihilation of the scale depicted in this poster could only have been theorized. In many ways, the poster depicts what a Nuclear detonation would do to New York City, almost three decades before their invention, making this poster a grim foreshadowing of what was to come.

The artist’s name, Joseph Pennell can be seen in the left hand corner. This historic poster was originally to have been titled "Buy Bonds or you will See This," but the publisher changed the title. The “new” title that was printed is:

THAT LIBERTY SHALL NOT
PERISH FROM THE EARTH
BUY LIBERTY BONDS
FOURTH LIBERTY LOAN

In the bottom right corner, the publisher information can be found: Heywood, Strasser & Voigt Litho Co. in New York.

The poster has some issues including the top ½” being folded over from how it was stored, but this should look fine in a frame. The poster also has tearing and rips along the edges along with some fold markings in spots. There is a small tear on the left side and a very small hole above the planes. Otherwise, this example has held up tremendously well. The color is very well retained, much better than in other examples of this poster we’ve offered.

Ready to be framed and displayed.