Author Archives: Julie Mellby

The Charleys in Grief

Macbeth to Lady Macbeth:
the time has been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end; but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools:
William Heath, The Charleys in Grief or the Funeral of the City Watch Boxe’s, ca.1829. Etching with hand coloring. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2011.00923

Chapter 8 of Pierce Egan’s Life in London has a night scene on the east side of Temple Bar, in which Tom and Jerry catch a watchman sleeping and overturn his station or watchbox. George Cruikshank printed the original etching and one year later, William Heath was one of several artists who illustrated the sequel Real Life in London.

The night watchmen were first nicknamed Charleys during Charles II’s reign. See the history here: http://www.artinsociety.com/watchmen-goldfinders-and-the-plague-bearers-of-the-night.html. Charleys were ridiculed by caricaturists as elderly, often drunk, and incompetent.

Thanks to the Metropolitan Police Act in 1829, introduced by Sir Robert Peel, the old watchmen were replaced with a new metropolitan police force. Heath created another series of etchings for Thomas McLean to mark the last of the Charleys.

Attributed to William Heath, A Slap at the Charleys or a Tom & Jerry Lark, May 26, 1829. Etching with hand coloring. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2011.00870. This is probably a pirated etching after Heath, given the incorrect signature in the bottom left.

 

Anonymous artist, The Last of the Charley’s !!!!, September 1829. Etching with hand coloring. British Museum.

William Heath, Peeling a Charley, September 29, 1829. Etching with hand coloring. British Museum

William Heath, The Last Day or the Fall of the Charleys, October 3, 1929. Etching with hand coloring. British Museum

Pierce Egan (1772-1849), Life in London; or, The day and night scenes of Jerry Hawthorne, esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in their rambles and sprees through the metropolis. …designed and etched by I. R. & G. Cruikshank (London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1821). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Cruik 1821

Real Life in London, or, The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq.: and his cousin the Hon. Tom. Dashall, &c…. by an amateur, illustrated by William Heath , Richard Dighton , Henry Thomas Alken and Thomas Rowlandson (London: Printed for Jones & Co. … , 1821-1823). Graphic Arts Collection (GA) Rowlandson 1821.2

W. T. (William Thomas) Moncrieff (1794-1857), Tom and Jerry: or, Life in London: an operatic extravaganza, in three acts (London: Thomas Richardson, [1828]). “Performed upwards of three hundred nights at the Adelphi Theatre, and recently revived at Covent Garden Theatre, Surrey, &co.” — T.p. Rare Books: Theatre Collection (ThX) 3593.686 v. 116

 

Five Dials

http://dataspace.princeton.edu/jspui/handle/88435/dsp01zp38wg21x

Hamish Hamilton is one of London’s oldest publishing houses, founded by Jamie Hamilton in 1931. Home to authors such as J.D. Salinger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, W.G. Sebald and Truman Capote, their aim remains to publish the very best literary writers from around the world, from Alain de Botton to Zadie Smith.

They also publish the online literary magazine Five Dials, available directly to your email free of charge. To make the publication searchable and easily available to our students, the dspace (read digital) team and especially Kim Leaman, Special Collections Assistant V, is uploading the run into our catalogue. You can also use the permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp010z709004v

Literary magazine is named after the old red-light area Five Dials in London—-notably the area Hamish Hamilton’s offices on 80 Strand overlook. In his Letter from the Editor, Craig Taylor writes “we’re hoping Five Dials will be a repository for the new, a chance to focus on ideas that might not work elsewhere, a place to witness writers testing new muscles, producing essays, extracts and unexplainables.” –Five Dials, no. 1, http://fivedials.com/

Each issue has a separate title and theme, such as no. 30: A Stranger Again (The Camus Issue) or no. 10, Celebrating the life and work of David Foster Wallace 1962-2008. The upload should be complete next week.

Special housing for Mr. Ervin

We recently announced a gift from Newcombe C. Baker III, Class of 1974, and his family, who donated his great-grandfather Spencer Ervin’s death mask. The material just returned from our conservation lab and we thought it might be interesting to show how this generous gift has been processed, making it ready for future researchers.

Lindsey Hobbs, Collections Conservator for Rare Books & Special Collections, had an acid-free custom box built to house all the parts to this gift together in one place. The box was designed with a drop-down side for easy access to the material inside. Special packing was created to cushion and separate the plaster mask from the original wood carrying case. Finally, individual boxes were built to house each of the extra plaster parts that came with Mr. Ervin’s death mask.


The mask will join the collection of life and death masks formed by Laurence Hutton (1843-1904). To see the other faces in this collection, take a look at the website built by John Delaney: http://library.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/C0770/

 

The Kalevala

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a small volume that probably should have been on our shelves many years earlier. First published in 1835, the Kalevala is complete in 22,795 verses, divided into fifty songs of Finnish folklore, compiled thanks to Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884).

This contemporary presentation of one section was printed in 1992 by the Maine artist David C. Wolfe, “arranged for oral presentation” by Anne Witten. The book has only 15 pages but they are beautifully printed letterpress with original woodcuts by Wolfe, bound in handmade cream and brown Lokta paper over boards.

This project was published at Wolfe Editions in the Bakery Studios on Pleasant Street in Portland, Maine. The building is also home to White Dog Arts, Peregrine Press, Art House Picture Frames, and 16 studio spaces making it a center for artistic activity in the city.

Many fine press books in our collection were printed by Wolfe, through his association with Anthoensen Press, Shagbark Press, Stinehour Press, and finally Wolfe Editions. Wolfe teaches letterpress printing from his own studio and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, an international craft school located in Deer Isle, Maine.

The Kalevala: a Creation Myth ([Portland, Maine]: David Wolfe, 1992). Copy 12 of 25. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

http://wolfeeditions.com/

William Earl Dodge

“Sold for Old Copper,” New York Times, March 1, 1871

John James Audubon (1785-1851) had the copper printing plates for The Birds of America shipped to the United States in 1839. The plates survived a warehouse fire in 1845 and after his death, Lucy Audubon tried unsuccessfully to find a home for the collection. They were eventually sold in an 1870 “trade book” sale to Phelps, Dodge, & Co., where they were stored for an unknown time. In 1871 articles appeared in NY, Boston, and Chicago papers, voicing sadness that there was no one to save these important artifacts.

update**

It has been suggested that around 1873, William E. Dodge Jr. arranged various donations to museums around the country but in fact, earliest documented donation was a large group to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1876 and then another seven went to the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution in 1884-85. The Dodge family gave others to the Peabody Museum and four to Princeton University but we do not know when. The Smithsonian corresponded with William Dodge Jr. but credits his son, Cleveland Dodge. It is a difficult family to chronicle.

 

William Earle Dodge I (1805-1883) married Melissa Phelps (1809-1903), the daughter of Anson Green Phelps, a metal merchant. In 1833, Dodge and his father-in-law founded the mining firm Phelps, Dodge and Company. The company imported metals, mainly tin, from Great Britain and distributed them throughout the United States. Dodge also helped start the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and staunchly supported the Prohibition Movement, serving as President of the National Temperance Society from 1865 to 1883. A statue honoring his good work was commissioned by John Quincy Adams Ward (1830–1910), which stands today at the northeast corner of Bryant Park.

William Earl Dodge II (1832-1903) took over Phelps, Dodge, & Co. together with his cousin, Daniel Willis James, and transformed the company into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest mining corporations. Dodge II was a member of the Linnean Society, American Historical Association, New York Academy of Sciences, American Fine Arts Society, New York Geographical Society, New-York Historical Society, the New England Society of New York, the Century Association, and the National Academy of Design, among other clubs.

William Earl Dodge III (1858-1884) entered Princeton with the class of 1879, together with his younger brother Cleveland (1860-1926) and Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924). “Earl Dodge” was a born athlete and played every possible sport Princeton had to offer. His abilities are credited with influencing the success of the 1876 conference at which Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton formed a football association and a new era in college sports began. When W.E. Dodge III graduated, he went to work at his father’s company Phelps, Dodge & Co., while Cleveland went into the lumber industry under his uncle, Arthur Murray Dodge. With the unexpected death of his brother in 1885, Cleveland became president of Phelps, Dodge & Company.

 

Cleveland commissioned a bronze sculpture of his brother by the artist Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), unveiled in 1913. The seven foot, six-inch figure of a young man in a football uniform was modeled from a photograph of Dodge III. The object of many student pranks, it was taken off-view in 1931 and later, loaned to the Daniel Chester French Foundation. Today, it can be seen in the lobby of Jadwin Gymnasium.

William Dodge Jr. preserved the plates and made some donations to various institutions but records vary. Brothers William Dodge III and Cleveland are also mentioned in donor records.

See in particular: Waldemar Fries, “Where are Audubon’s Copper Plates,” Audubon Magazine, July-August 1966.

 

Princeton’s Murray-Dodge Hall consists of two buildings, joined by a cloister, each a memorial to a Princetonian who died young. Murray Hall was built in 1879 with a bequest left by Hamilton Murray 1872, who went down with the S.S. Ville de Havre when it sank in mid-ocean on November 22, 1873; he had written his will the night before he sailed. Dodge Hall was built in 1900 in memory of Earl Dodge (William Earl Dodge III, class of 1879), who died five years after graduation. The funds were given by his father William Earl Dodge II and his brother Cleveland. Dodge Hall continues to be a center for religious activities, housing the offices of the dean and assistant dean of the chapel, the denominational chaplains, and various student religious and social service organizations. Murray Hall has since the 1920s been the home of Theatre Intime.

 

Read the full story of the Audubon printing plates in Print Quarterly: http://www.printquarterly.com/8-contents/69-contents-2020.html

Saint Savvas

Kyrillos (Cyril), Translation from the Greek: Saint Savvas, the Sanctified [Depictions from his life with, in foreground, monastery of Saint Savvas in Jerusalem]. Engraved at Mount Athos by Kyrillos, with expenses defrayed by Paisios, 1847, November 14. Engraving printed on cloth. 51.5 x 82.5 cm. (image: ~50 x 70 cm.). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

We recently acquired another printed icon of the monastery of Saint Savvas near Jerusalem, this one depicting the building compound and its early church patron saint (439-532) with scenes from his life. The engraving was made at Mount Athos by the monk-engraver Kyrillos or Cyril, with expenses defrayed by another monk, Paisios. The plate is now preserved in the Saint Savvas monastery in the Holy Land, presumably indicating that this work was commissioned as a religious souvenir for that monastery.

The inscription below the frame reads: This icon of our Holy and Sanctified Father Savvas was engraved with the assistance of the most holy Athonite Kyrios Hatzihilarion and defrayed by Kyrios Paisios monk and bursar of the same monastery 1847 November 14 hand of Kyrillos Monk of Athos.


This is the description that comes along with the engraving:

The triangular fortress-like arrangement of buildings comprising the monastery of Saint Savvas in Palestine lying beside a torrent bed fills the entire width of the lower part of the engraving. A tall tower stands at the apex of the triangle; the katholikon and domed sepulchre of Saint Savvas occupy the inner courtyard. Fifteen male figures stand on the ramparts of the monastery walls, lower right. In front of the monastery are two kneeling Arabs, two pilgrims on horseback, and a couple of monks. A cameleer stands with three camels in the stream bed; above them are two monks strolling, another on horseback holding an umbrella, and a youth. In the distance is a tower.

The imposing full-length figure of Saint Savvas stands at the rear of the monastery; with his right hand he gives a blessing, and in his left holds an inscribed scroll: “Whosoever conquers the flesh has conquered nature. He who has conquered nature has set himself over nature.”

On either side of Savvas is the inscription “Saint Savvas” and in the upper right-hand corner a small bust of the Virgin carrying a scroll with an inscription (not translated). Either side of the saint are eight miniature scenes from his life; they are accompanied by the following captions:

Left: The Fiery Column, Which the Saint Saw One Night in Church Saint Savvas in the Lions’ Den Miracle Worked By Saint Savvas Concerning the Camel the Dormition of Saint Savvas

Right: He Administers the Eucharist to the Tired Fathers through His Prayers, The Saint Enables the Martyrs in the Fortress to Escape the Saint Addresses the Emperor the Murder of the Fathers

Below the miniatures, on the right: Monastery of Saint Savvas; and on the left: Saint Savvas’ Brook

This is one of 23 known engravings by Kyrillos, the most prolific of the engravers of Mount Athos, who was working on the Greek holy mountain between 1834 and 1862. An engraving tradition began on Mount Athos in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, and continued until a ten-year hiatus over the Greek War of Independence. In the period following, to which our print belongs, a “distinctive Athonite style” – noted to be entirely separated from western engraving traditions – was achieved, which “was to persist unaltered, without any radical changes, until the end of the century” (Papastratou).

See: Dore Papastratou, Paper icons: Greek orthodox religious engravings 1665-1899 (2 vols., Athens 1990) 524-5 (#558), see also 27-31. Marquand Library Oversize NE655.2 .P3713 1990q

Professor Huhtamo’s Cabinet of Media Archaeology


“Professor Huhtamo’s Cabinet of Media Archaeology” is a series about little known but influential media machines. It was recently posted for media education at any level and for anyone interested in media archaeology and the early history of the moving image.

Erkki Huhtamo is a Professor at the departments of Design & Media Arts, and Film, Television, and Digital Media at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). All devices are from his personal collection. New episodes will be added twice a year. They are produced as educational collaborations with undergraduate students at the Department of Design & Media Arts, School of Arts and Architecture, UCLA.

If you are on the west coast, Erkki Huhtamo will give a lecture at the Free Radicals: Evolving Perspectives on the Convergence of Art & Science symposium, July 8-9, 2017, at the ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena. The symposium will be held at the LA Times Auditorium, 1700 Lida Street. The event is organized by the Pasadena Arts Council with the Williamson Gallery at ArtCenter College of Design. Admission is free for Prof. Huhtamo’s lecture July 8 at 11:00 a.m.

For more information, read The Magic Lantern (newsletter of the Magic Lantern Society of Great Britain) (Ripon, North Yorkshire, England: Magic Lantern Society of Great Britain), Firestone Library (F) Oversize TR505 .M338q. Back issues: Graphic Arts Collection Q-000070

Post, then Publish

Last February, Cuban American artist Edel Rodriguez drew the image of Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty (left) and then, posted it on his various websites and feeds. It was downloaded and reproduced by protesters worldwide. After it was already public, Der Spiegel‘s art editor saw it and asked Rodriguez if they could use it for their upcoming cover. The rest is history and the most talked about design of 2017.

These issues are going out to be bound, covers included.
Time ([New York, etc., Time Inc.]) Firestone Library (F) DeLong Room (RACK-PR)
Der Spiegel (Hamburg: R. Augstein, 1947- Oversize AP30 .S654q. DeLong Room (RACK-PR)

Note, the artist has just posted a number of new designs online, which may turn up soon on paper and ink publications.

Time won the American Society of Magazine Editors Cover of the Year award for its Oct. 24, 2016, cover with art by Edel Rodriguez.

The word magazine shares a root with the medieval French word for a warehouse, a treasury, or a place to store ammunition. It suggests a container for that which is useful, valuable, sometimes dangerous. This is where we all live now, and why magazines matter more than ever. Last summer when candidate Trump was in a battle with everyone from a gold star family to leaders within his own party, I asked Time Creative Director D.W. Pine to help us find the image to capture this moment which he produced with artist Edel Rodriguez, which we returned to again in the fall after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tapes. In the end, that which melted returned to form, and won the day, and it is the story of a lifetime. It is unfolding hour by hour, week by week, tweet by tweet; he has come after us, he has come after us all, he has come after the very principles of truth and accountability, and we intend to cover, and uncover, and capture all of this, to speak to everyone, to listen to everyone, because what we do is useful, and valuable, and sometimes dangerous. —Time Editor-in-Chief Nancy Gibbs delivered the following remarks at the American Magazine Media Conference in New York in February 2017.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/edel-rodriguez-n752381
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/edel-rodriguez-trump-illustration_us_590cbdede4b0104c734eb8d9
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/03/trump-beheads-the-statue-of-liberty-in-striking-magazine-cover-illustration/?utm_term=.5293fa704dba

 

Making History at AEPM

For those of us who didn’t make it last May to the Museum of Typography in Chania (Crete, Greece) for this year’s annual Association of European Printing Museums conference, we will soon have the chance to catch up by reading the papers online.

This year’s theme was “Making History: Collections, Collectors, and the Cultural Role of Printing Museums.” Here is the program:  http://www.typography-museum.gr/full-programm-of-aepm-annual-conference-2017-11-14-may-2017/

The first two papers are already available, but more will be posted:

Yannis A. Phillis: Printing museums–records of civilization

Alan Marshall: How print became heritage: 150 years of printing museums

Ashadh Sud Poonam

 

July 4 is also Ashadh Sud Ekadashi (Devpodhi Ekadashi), the first day of Chaturmas (the four holy months). During these months, extra devotional observances are undertaken by Hindus worldwide.

Next Sunday, July 9, 2017, Guru Purnima (Vyas Purnima) is celebrated on Ashadh Sud Poonam, the day of the full moon in the month of Ashadh. According to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir [above], our local Hindu temple just down the road from Princeton, “On this day, Hindus remember Ved Vyas, the eternal guru of Hindu Sanatan Dharma, as he classified the 4 Vedas (Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva) and wrote the Mahabharata and 18 Puranas.”

 

 

Guru, a Sanskrit word, comes from the root words ‘gu’ meaning darkness or ignorance, and ‘ru’ meaning remover of that darkness. A guru is one who removes our darkness in the form of ignorance.


See also: Hindu Gods ([India?: s.n., ca. 1850]. [78] leaves with hand colored drawings of Hindu gods. Copy formerly in the library of Caspar William Whitney. Gift of Hibben (Class of 1924) and Mrs. Ziesing. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) ND2047 .H562 1850

 

The construction for the site of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, New Jersey began in early 2010, around the same time as Firestone Library’s renovation. Chiseled entirely of Italian Carrara marble, the Mandir or temple was build in the Nagaradi style, standing 42 feet tall, 133 feet long, and 87 feet wide (68,000 cubic feet); only the third Mandir of its kind.