Category Archives: Acquisitions

new acquisitions

Greek Poetry

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a number of fine press editions of Greek poetry, thanks to matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund. Thank you to Dimitri H. Gondicas, Executive Director, Program in Hellenic Studies. Lecturer in Classics and Hellenic Studies. Stanley J. Seeger ’52 Director, Center for Hellenic Studies; and to David T. Jenkins, Librarian for Classics, Hellenic Studies and Linguistics.

Here are two:

Giannēs Ritsos (1909-1990), Persephone; English translation by Nikos Stangos; with two woodcuts by Joe Tilson = Persephonē / Giannēs Ritsos ; me dyo xylographies toy Tzo Tilson (Verona: Edizioni Ampersand, 1990). Printed on a 1854 Stanhope handpress by Alessandro Zanella (1955-2012). Graphic Arts in process


 

 

Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933), The Splendour of a Morning: Early Poems of C.P. Cavafy = Hē ena prōi tēs pheggero : proima poiēmata tou K.P. Kavaphē; translated from the Greek by David Smulders; Greek text edited by Anthony Hirst; with five wood engravings by Peter Lazarov (Mission, British Columbia: Barbarian Press, MMXVI [2016]). “Greek text reprinted … from The Collected Poems with parallel Greek text … edited by Anthony Hirst (Oxford University Press, 2007)”–Title page verso. Graphic Arts in process

 

There is limited information on the printmaker Peter Lazarov and so, I’m including this terrific article from the magazine of the Fine Press Book Association: Willem Keizer, “Peter Lazarov and his Pepel Press,” in Parenthesis no.12 (November 2006). Preservation Z119 .P373

Four color printing, separate and together


Book collectors remember the Parisian author Marquis Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803) not so much for his writing but for the colorful printing of his books. These typographic curiosities were printed separately in one colored ink and then, bound together with separate sections in separate colors. There are many editions and variations, including pirated editions. Some say they are new editions but are exactly the same. Princeton has five variations.

 

In 1760, they are brought together in the Book of Four Colors, to the Four Elements, of the Printing of the Four Seasons. If you count black, the title page actually has five colors. There are sections in orange-yellow, greenish-blue, brown, and scarlet red, although the orange is very close to the brown and yellow. Of the several copies I’ve seen, the colors look different, perhaps some inks holding up better than others.

One collector writes: “Moreover, the text is also very agreeable, and Caraccioli also laughs at himself and fashions from the beginning, when he stresses that probably the color of his works alone will suffice for their success, at a time when one is enamored of everything and nothing, under the pretense often the most futile. He also writes that he offers his readers books that resemble them, colored “… I offer you (…) the most beautiful vermilion, such that it shines on your faces beautifully and furiously illuminated.” http://bibliophilie.blogspot.com/2007/11/des-livres-lhonneur-les-livre-la-mode.html

“Of letterpress or typographic printing in colours, not very much seems to have been done during the eighteenth century; work in red and black, other than on title-pages, was almost entirely confined to the service books of the Roman Church, and a large proportion of even these were printed in black only, though such establishments as the Plantin Press still produced creditable examples on the old lines.

In the middle of the century, several editions were got out at Paris of a work entitled Le Livre a la Mode, a satirical description of the manners of the time. It was a 12mo volume, of which two editions were published in 1759, one printed wholly in red, the other in yellow. In 1760 there was another red edition, and then the work, which was in four sections, was re-issued with the title of Le Livre de Quatre Couleurs, the sections being respectively printed with green, yellow, red and brown ink. On the title-page lettering in all these colours appears, in addition to a vignette printed in black.” R.M. Burch and William Gamble, Colour Printing and Colour Printers (1910).

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre à la mode. Nouvelle édition, marquetée, polie & vernissé. En Europe [Paris]: Chez les libraires, [1759]. Rare Books Off-Site Storage 3238.95.359

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre à la mode. Nouvelle édition / marquetée, polie & vernissée. En Europe [i.e. Paris]: Chez les libraires [1759]. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) PQ1959.C3 L58 1759

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre à la mode. A Verte Feuille, de l’imprimerie du Printems au Perroquet. L’année nouvelle. [Paris, 1759]. Rare Books Off-Site Storage 3238.95.359.11

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre de quatre couleurs. Aux Quatre-Elements: De l’Imprimerie des Quatre-Saisons, 4444 ; [i.e. Paris]: [publisher not identified], [1760]. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) in process

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre de quatre couleurs. Aux Quatre-Éléments [i.e. Paris], De l’imprimerie des quatre-saisons, 4444 [i.e. 1760]. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) PQ1959.C3 L58 1759

Louis-Antoine Caraccioli (1719-1803), Le livre à la mode; suivi du, Livre des quatre couleurs, textes présentés et annotés par Anne Richardot. Saint-Etienne: Publications de l’université de Saint-Etienne, 2005. Firestone Library (F) PQ1959.C3 L68 2005

One soldier’s photography album from World War I

World War I photography album. France, 1918-1936. 137 silver gelatin prints with typed captions. Oblong folio. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a photography album with 137 views of World War I battlefields, action, and damages in France, compiled by a soldier in the United States Signal Corps. Described in extended, typed captions, this engaging compilation of contemporary wartime action photographs also includes images from a later tour of the area by a veteran who was there.

Although several prints are stamped with Signal Corp logos, the photographs do not appear to duplicate any in the digital collection of US Army Signal Corps WW1 Photographs created by the US Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Their collection contains some 700 images from photographs taken during the First World War in France, Germany and Luxembourg, which can be searched at the following link.

http://cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16635coll16!p16635coll22/order/title/page/1

 

The album holds one photograph that shows a group of soldiers working in a field, captioned, “The worst job of all. Cutting wire under fire before the advance on Very,” while another reads, “A view of the Cheppy Road looking north. We advanced up this September 26, 1918. Engineers are here repairing the mine craters.” [see last photograph below]


The first page of the album is entitled “No Mans Land,” and contains a trench photo of two men and a later picture of a man standing in the woods, with a caption that reads,

“The most confusing thing about old no-mans land is the fact that there is a national highway now running down the middle of it from Varennes thru Avocourt and on to Verdun. The picture above is the only one in action in 1918 by our outfit and shows some of Co. F, dodging shell fire in no-man land…. The picture to the left is myself standing where Cy Noble was killed on the dirt road from Cigalleri to No-mans land.”

The middle section of the album continues with photos of the French countryside containing remnants of the war and the cemeteries full of war casualties alongside images of the areas taken during the war. The final section contains images of World War I artillery and aviation, as well as several aerial shots of French cities, much of which relates to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, fought in the final days of the war before the armistice.

How do you find the bad seeds in “La caricature”?

How do you find the bad seeds in the middle of the 10 volume run of La caricature? Answer: using the new index to the magazine, recently published by Alan Wofsy Fine Arts.

 

Auguste Bouquet. La Poire et ses Pépins. Paris: Chez Aubert, Galerie Véro-Dodat, 1833; in La Caricature: journal fondé et dirigé / par C. Philipon (Paris: Aubert, 1830-1835). 10 v. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize 2009-0240Q

 

La Caricature, 1830-1835: lithographies complètes: an illustrated catalogue raisonné of the lithographs / general editor and designer: Corine Labridy-Stofle (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 2017). Graphic Arts: Reference Collection (GARF) Oversize NC1498 .C3 2017q

Summary note:

La Caricature” was the 19th century equivalent and the precursor of Charlie Hebdo. The editor Charles Philipon employed the major satirical artists of the mid-19th century notably Daumier, Grandville, E. Forest, Charlet, Bellangé, Traviès, Raffet and Gavarni. It appeared for five years, between 1830-1835. The main subjects of the caricatures were Louis-Philippe and his entourage of July Monarchy politicians. Louis-Philippe, son of the Duke of Orléans, came to power after the 1830 Revolution as the Citizen King. However, he was not amused by the caricatures and once put Daumier in prison for 6 months, before suppressing the whole publication in 1835. He became more and more authoritarian and was finally forced to abdicate during the 1848 Revolution.

The plates are numbered 1-524, but approximately 62 are double sheets so there are actually 462 separate prints. Georges Vicaire catalogued the 251 issues and 524 plates in 1895. However they have never been reproduced in a catalogue, nor has there been an English language discussion or catalogue of the corpus of prints.

All of the works are described in French and English and are arranged in the order they appeared in the original publication. There is an index by artist and the catalogue by Georges Vicaire from 1895 is also included. Many of the artists contributed anonymously and were not identified by Vicaire but are now identified. Where there were not descriptions of the plates in the original publication (about 60 of the 462), this new edition now provides descriptions in French.



 

The Battle Cry of Freedom

Six Military and Patriotic Illustrated Songs. Series no. 1 (New York: C. Magnus [186-?]). Stencil colored. Original green printed wrappers. Contents: The Union Marseillaise.–A Yankee man-of-war.–The army of liberty.–The flag of our Union.–Volunteer’s song.–Rally around the flag boys. Graphic Arts Collection (GA) 2017- in process

The patriotic song Rally ‘Round the Flag, originally titled The Battle Cry of Freedom, was written by George F. Root (1820-1895) in 1862. The composer published over 500 pieces of music from 1848 until 1896 but when the New York Times ran his obituary, it was The Battle Cry of Freedom mentioned in the banner.

The Times continues: “In a catalogue of 114 National War Songs, recently published, no less than 36 are from the pen of Mr. Root. None of them fail of success, or at least a degree of popularity but Tramp, [Tramp,] Tramp! and The Battle Cry achieved a phenomenal record. At one time the publishers had fourteen presses at work on the latter, and were even then unable to fill the orders, which crowded in from every direction. It was not unusual for a single house to order 20,000 copies at once and the aggregate sale of each song is estimated at from 500,000 to 750,000.”

The song has been recorded many times, in many versions. Over 100 years later, Billy Bragg composed, There Is Power in a Union, set to the tune of Root’s Battle Cry of Freedom.

Il favore degli dei

Aurelio Aureli (1652-1708), Il favore degli dei: drama fantastico musicale, fatto rappresentare dal serenissimo sig. duca di Parma nel suo Gran Teatro per le felicissime nozze del serenissimo sig. principe Odoardo suo primo genito con la serenissima signora principessa Dorotea Sofia di Neoburgo (Parma: Nella Stampa ducale, 1690). 14 folded engravings. Music by Bernardo Sabadini; Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

 

The Graphic Arts Collection is proud to have acquired Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow’s copy of Il favore degli Dei, which includes the libretto, scenario, and cast (without the music) along with fourteen folded leaves of plates engraved by D. Bonaveri, G.A. Lorenzini and L. Mattioli, and others after Domenico Mauro.

Ferdinando Galli da Bibiena and Domenico Mauro designed the scenography, Federico Crivelli invented the choreography, and Gasparo Torelli created the costumes. Princeton’s copy is imperfect, lacking the large folding plate by Carlo Virginio Draghi.

 

 

Il favore degli dei (1690): Meta-Opera and Metamorphoses at the Farnese Court by Wendy Heller, Professor of Music. Director, Program in Italian Studies, Chair of the Music Department, Princeton University

In 1690, Giovanni Maria Crescimbeni (1663–1728) and Gian Vincenzo Gravina (1664–1718), along with several of their literary colleagues, established the Arcadian Academy in Rome. Railing against the excesses of the day, their aim was to restore good taste and classical restraint to poetry, art, and opera. That same year, a mere 460 kilometres away, the Farnese court in Parma offered an entertainment that seemed designed to flout the precepts of these well-intentioned reformers. For the marriage of his son Prince Odoardo Farnese (1666–1693) to Dorothea Sofia of Neuberg (1670–1748), Duke Ranuccio II Farnese (1639–1694) spared no expense, capping off the elaborate festivities with what might well be one of the longest operas ever performed: Il favore degli dei, a ‘drama fantastico musicale’ with music by Bernardo Sabadini (d. 1718) and poetry by the prolific Venetian librettist Aurelio Aureli (d. 1718).

Although Sabadini’s music does not survive, we are left with a host of para-textual materials to tempt the historical imagination. Aureli’s printed libretto, which includes thirteen engravings, provides a vivid sense of a production whose opulence was excessive, even by Baroque standards. The unusually large cast included twenty-four principal singers, some of whom were borrowed from neighbouring courts such as Mantua and Modena. In addition, the libretto lists seventeen choruses and seven ballets featuring goddesses, breezes, warriors, nymphs, virgin huntresses, cupids, demons, stars, tritons, graces, fauns, and nereids who populated the stage for this remarkable performance. The set designers, painters, and engineers were also kept busy producing seventeen different sets and no fewer than forty-three machines that bore characters to and fro ‘in the air and the earth’ (‘in aria, e in terra’).

To continue reading, see hotlink above.

The book was also owned by Parmenia Migel Ekstrom (1908-1989), ballet historian; purchased from Ximenes, 1991.

For more references, see: Sonneck, O.G.T. Librettos, p. 483-484; Sartori, C. Libretti italiani, 9837; Bowles, E.A. Musical ensembles, p. 379-380.


Unpacking “The Valise”


The Valise, a collective artists’ project, unites seven South American artists—Johanna Calle, Mateo López and Nicolás Paris, Maria Laet, Rosângela Rennó, Matías Duville, and Christian Vinck Henriquez—with the Argentine writer César Aira. The project, published by the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art, arrived this morning and we are still unpacking.

 

The works were made in response to the idea of travel and to Aira’s novel Un episodio en la vida del pintor viajero (An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter), with both the original Spanish edition (2000) and the English translation (2006) included. The novel concerns the surreal story of an 1837 journey through South America by the German painter Johann Moritz Rugendas, an associate of the explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt.

Stored in a special valise or carrying case, the works include original prints, maps, artists’ books, airmail envelopes, origami toys, posters, a sound recording, and a hand-blown glass sculpture, all reflecting the artists’ shared affinity for geography, travel literature, and bookmaking.

 

The Valise was conceived, edited, and organized by May Castleberry, Editor, Contemporary Editions, Library Council Publications.

Latin American Studies and the Graphic Arts Collection are collaborating on the purchase of this very limited edition.


The Valise is published in a signed edition of 100 copies for the members of the Library Council of The Museum of Modern Art. A deluxe edition of 25 copies is available for purchase. (The deluxe edition includes hand-cut paper architecture by López; a second original woodcut print by Duville; a Paris design, hand-painted in metal leaf, on the carrying case; and signatures on many of the individual pieces.) An additional 10 artist copies of each of the two editions go to the artists and other collaborators.

*This is only a small selection of items included.*

A Walk from London to John O’Groats


Elihu Burritt (1810-1879), A Walk from London to John O’Groats, with Notes by the Way. Illustrated with Photographic Portraits (London: Sampson, Low, Son & Marston, 1864). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Elihu Burritt the United State Consul to Birmingham, England, and through Burritt’s writings he brought the term “the Black Country” into common usage. He traveled widely, usually on foot, taking notes along the way, and A Walk from London to John O’Groats was addressed to his American friends. As Corresponding Secretary to the New Britain Agricultural Club he was particular interested in the state of farming and chose farmers as the sitters in the photographs.

Burritt was born and died in New Britain, Connecticut. Although trained as a blacksmith, Burritt made his name as a social activist, diplomat and author. In 1846 he founded the peace organization The League of Universal Brotherhood, and advocated temperance and opposed slavery. Thank you to Edward Bayntun-Coward for these details.

The book includes five mounted photographic portraits each with facsimile signature. The portraits are of the following individuals:

1. Elihu Burritt (frontispiece), photographed by Elliott & Fry, 55 Baker Street, London.

2. Mr. Alderman Mechi, photographed by Cundall, Downes & Co, 108 New Bond Street, London.

3. The late Jonas Webb, photographed by William Mayland, Cambridge.

4. Samuel Jonas, photographed by William Mayland, Cambridge.

5. Anthony Cruikshank, photographed by A. Adams, 26 Broad Street, Aberdeen.

The original binding by Burn (with label inside rear cover) is done in green cloth over beveled boards, the front covers blocked in gilt with a triple fillet border and the title in a cartouche at the center, the rear cover with a blind border, smooth spine lettered in gilt, and brown endleaves.

This is the first of two editions published in 1864.

 
See also: Burritt, Elihu, 1810-1879. Peace papers for the people … (London [184-?]). (F) BL262 .H583 1852

Clarke, Julius L.Circular [prospectus]: Dear Sir, A number of individuals residing in different parts of New England have recently formed themselves into a society called the New England Anti-Slavery Tract Association … (Worcester, Mass.: N.E.A.S.T.A., [1843]). First blank page is filled with autograph letter to G. & C. Merriam signed by Elihu Burritt. Rare Books (Ex) Oversize 2011-0237Q

Burritt, Elihu, 1810-1879. Sparks from the anvil (Worchester: Henry J. Howland, 1846). (F) BL262 .H583 1852

The Anti-Masonic Movement


The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired this early almanac focused on the anti-masonic movement in the United States. So much was written and published, this poem appeared in 1829:

O books! books! books! it makes me sick
To think how ye are multiplied,
Like Egypt’s frogs, ye poke up thick
Your ugly heads on every side.

If a new thought but shake its ear
Or way its tail, tho’ starved it look,
The world the precious news must hear,
The presses groan, and lo! a book.

The American anti-masonic movement was officially formed in 1828 following the disappearance and presumed murder of William Morgan (1774–1826?). Morgan was about to publish a book exposing Freemasonry’s secrets and so, the fraternal society was thought to have killed him to keep their information secret.

A congressional convention took place in Philadelphia in 1930. Eli Bruce, Loton Lawon, Nicholas Chesebro and Edward Sawyer were each convicted of taking part in the kidnapping and served time in prison.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have dozens of other publications in our collections. Of particular interest are those in the Sinclair Hamilton collection with early American wood engravings and gritholaphic plates. Here are a few others.

Edward Giddins, Anti-Masonic Almanac for the year 1832, no. 4. (Utica, [N.Y.]: William Williams [et al], (1831]). Illustrated by D. C. Johnston. 1st ed. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

Timothy Tickle, The doleful tragedy of the raising of Jo. Burnham; or the “cat let out of the bag”: in five acts, illustrated with engravings  (Woodstock, Vt.: Printed by W.W. Prescott, 1832). Illustartions attributed to Benjamin Tuel by Hamilton and others. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Hamilton 1958

Morganiana, or, The wonderful life and terrible death of Morgan / written by himself. Illustrated with gritholaphic [i.e. lithographic] plates, by Hassan Straightshanks, Turkey. First American ed., tr. from the original Arabic manuscript. By Baron Munchausen, jr. … (Boston: Printed and published by the proprietors, 1828). “Johnston was fond of using pseudonyms and, as the name Straightshanks is an obvious play on Cruikshank, and as the plates are in the style of Johnston, it seems plausible to attribute them to him.”–Cf. Hamilton. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Hamilton 937

Henry Brown (1789-1849). A narrative of the anti-masonick excitement, in the western part of the state of New York, during the years 1826, ’7, ’8, and a part of 1829 (Batavia, N.Y.,: Printed by Adams & M’Cleary, 1829). Rare Books (Ex) HS525 .B7

 

John Brown, 1800-1859

Attributed to John Adams Whipple (1822–1891), John Brown, 1800-1859, ca. December 1856. Oval salt paper print portrait. 3 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a rare salt print portrait of the abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859). There are two other known prints from the paper negative: one at the Library of Virginia and the other at the Kansas Historical Foundation. There are four known daguerreotype portraits of John Brown (with a very similar pose): one at the National Portrait Gallery, one at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and two at the Boston Athenæum.

Brown had his portrait made at a Boston studio, either that of Josiah J. Hawes (1808-1901) or John Adams Whipple (1822-1891), in December 1856 or January 1857. Most sources attribute this pose to Whipple. Here is an attempt at a chronology of life portraits: http://www.alliesforfreedom.org/files/exhibit_legends_for_SUPPL.pdf

This clipping is attached to the portrait photograph:

Sally Pierce, formerly of the Boston Athenaeum, quotes a letter from donor James Redpath, “The daguerreotype of John Brown which I gave you some time since was taken in January 1857 or in December of the year before. I think that this was his first visit to Boston after he had become a man of note in connection with Kansas affairs. At least, he was personally known to very few of the friends of Kansas in Boston; and as I happened at the time to be brought into daily intercourse with numbers of them, I availed myself of the opportunity to testify my admiration of the old man by introducing him, whenever I could, to this class of people. …In January he [Brown] had three daguerreotypes of himself taken – one, he gave to Dr. Webb, one to Amos A. Lawrence, one to me. I had asked him for one; he expressed a reluctance to sit; but on leaving, he handed it to me, saying that he gave it because I had ‘been very kind’ to him.” https://www.bostonathenaeum.org/about/publications/selections-acquired-tastes/john-brown-two-daguerreotypes

Brown spent the years 1856-1857 in Boston to promote his cause and raise funds for what would become his famous raid on Harper’s Ferry. Early in 1859, he rented a farm near Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) and on October 16, 1859, together with 21 followers attacked and occupied the federal arsenal in Harper’s Ferry. Brown was captured and executed on December 2, 1859.

See also: Boston Courier report of the union meeting in Faneuil hall, Thursday, Dec. 8th, 1859. Speeches … Resolutions adopted by the meeting. Letters … Names of signers to the call. [Phonographic report] (Boston: Clark, Fellows & company [1859]). Firestone E451 .B74 1859

New York. Citizens. Official report of the great Union meeting, held at the Academy of Music, New York, December 19th, 1859 (New York; Davies & Kent, printers, 1859). Rare Books: John Shaw Pierson Civil War Collection (W) Oversize W26.673q in rehoused pamphlets, box 22