Category Archives: Medium

mediums

The Sun of Anti-Jacobinism

gillray phaeton4

James Gillray (1756-1815), Phaeton alarm’d! Hand colored etching. March 22d 1808. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown (1873-1939), Class of 1895. Graphic Arts Collection 2013- in process

After the title:

Now all the horrors of the heav’ns he spies, / And monstrous shadows of prodigious size, / That, deck’d with stars, lie scatter’d o’er the skies. – / Th’ astonish’d youth, where-e’er his eyes could turn, / Beheld the universe around him bum: / The world was in a blaze! – See, Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

The British politician George Canning (1770-1827) was appointed Foreign Secretary in the new government of the Duke of Portland in 1807 and served until 1809. Here, Gillray portrays him as the Greek god Phaethon, driving a celestial chariot across the political constellations of the sky. Below Pitt is seen as his father, Apollo, and Fox as Pluto. The countries of the world are in flames while Napoleon rides a Russian bear.

We are fortunate to have this print back in our collection. For many years, it was crushed behind a built-in wood cabinet and only reemerged last week when the cabinet, and the room it was in, were demolished.

Voyages au Soudan oriental et dans l’Afrique septentrionale

Pierre Trémaux, Voyages au Soudan oriental et dans l’Afrique septentrionale, exécutés de 1847 à 1854: comprenant une exploration dans l’Algérie, les régences de Tunis et de Tripoli, l’Égypte, la Nubie, les déserts, l’île de Méroé, le Sennar, le Fa-Zoglo, et dans les contrées inconnues de la Nigritie (Paris: Borrani, [1852-1858]). Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of the Princeton University Library, Rare Book Collection, and Graphic Arts Collection. GAX 2013- in process

Pierre Trémaux is not well known but holds a place in the history of illustrated books for publishing one of the first photographically illustrated travelogues. North Africa, Egypt in particular, was one of the earliest destinations for European photographers and one of most frequently represented subjects. By autumn 1839 the daguerreotypist Frédéric Goupil-Fesquet was in Egypt, together with the painter Horace Vernet, gathering material for their travelogue Voyage d’Horace Vernet en Orient (1843). The first extensive survey was completed by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey in 1842-43 covering Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and Greece. None of the early publications of these trips included actual photographs.

As an architect interested in urban planning, Pierre Trémaux traveled to Algeria, Tunisia, Upper Egypt, Eastern Sudan and Ethiopia beginning in 1847 (preceding Maxime Du Camp by two years and Félix Teynard by four years). At first, he made drawings and daguerreotypes as the basis for lithographic illustrations but wished to publish a more authentic record of the African culture. On the second expedition, he brought a camera and chemistry to create calotypes of the people, buildings, and landscape of in Libya, Egypt, Asia Minor, Tunisia, Syria, and Greece. A third and final expedition included both photographs and sketches. Trémaux published an account of his travels in parts from 1852 to 1858.

It is with the publication of Voyage au Soudan oriental et dans l’Afrique septentrionale exécutés en 1847 à 1854 that the photographically illustrated travel book begins. In this folio, Trémaux made paper photographs and then, for each one also had lithographs created. The two are bound together so the reader has the authenticity of the photograph–thought to be a truthful document–along with the more robust image of the drawn lithograph. This took a tremendous amount to time and money but demonstrations the importance given to the publication at that time.

The book is included in the catalogue for the Grolier exhibition The Truthful Lens, where it is noted that the artist signed his plates, “Trémaux lithophot. Precédé Poitevin,” referring to Alphonse-Louis Poitevin, a French engineer who is credited with developing photomechanical processes such as photolithography in the 1850s. The entry goes on to mention that copies vary greatly, such as the one at The Avery Library, Columbia University, which has 58 photolithographs, but no calotypes.

Special thanks to the Friend of the Princeton University Library and Steve Ferguson, Rare Book Division, for making this acquisition possible.

Goethe mixes poetry with visual art

Graphic Arts recently acquired this fragile booklet with six poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) along with six etching after drawings he had made a number of years earlier and chose specifically for this publication. The plates were etched by the theatrical painter Carl Wilhelm Holdermann (active 1820-1840) and by Carl Lieber (active 1820s), a protégé of Goethe and instructor at the Weimar drawing school. The text was printed by Caesar Mazzucchi in Magdeburg, and the portfolio published by Goethe’s friend, Carl August Schwerdgeburth (1784-1878).

The project was described by Goethe himself (translated and printed by Antony Griffiths in German Printmaking in the Age of Goethe 1994):

The undertaking of several worthy artists to edit etched plates after my drawings must be welcome to me in more than one sense. As music is welcome to the poet, whereby the musician brings alive his poem for himself and others, so it is a pleasure to see here old long-faded sheets rescued from the stream of Lethe. On the other hand, I have long thought that in the information and account that I have given of my life, drawing is often mentioned, whereby one might not unreasonably ask why, after repeated effort and continuous enthusiasm, nothing that gives any artistic satisfaction has emerged . . . The finest benefit that an art-lover can get from his unachieved strivings is that the society of the artist remains dear and valuable, supportive and useful to him. And he who is not in a position to create himself, will, if he only knows and judges himself wisely, profit from intercourse with creative men, and, if not on this side, at least from another side form and educate himself.

Radirte Blätter nach Handzeichnungen von Goethe herausgegeben von C.A.Schwerdgeburth (Weimar: Schwerdgeburth, 1821). 6 etchings after drawings by Goethe . Graphic Arts Collection 2013- in process

With the feeling that these sketches that are now laid before the public cannot entirely overcome their inadequacies themselves, I have added a small poem to each, so that their inner meaning can be perceived, and the viewer might be laudibly deceived, as if he saw with his eyes what he feels and thinks, that is a closeness to the state in which the draughtsman found himself when he committed his few lines to paper (Über Kunst und Alterthum, III, part 3, 1822, pp.142-50).

Although Goethe liked to sketch, he noted, “… I was intelligent enough to recognise that I had no talent for the visual arts and that my efforts in this direction were misplaced. In my drawing I lacked sufficient feeling for substantiality. I had a certain fear of letting the objects make their full impact on me; on the contrary, it was the insubstantial and unemphatic elements that appealed to me . . . Nor without constant practice did I ever make any progress; and I always had to start again from the beginning if I had ever dropped my drawing for a while.”

Pochoir Progressive

In the 1920s, Thomas Maitland Cleland (1880-1964) was a premier graphic designer, whose career culminated with the cover design for the new Fortune Magazine in 1930. He also created this image of an advertising man and gave Elmer Adler one of a series of progressive pochoir or stencil colored plates to show how the print was made. The cutouts used in making this stencil print are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. There is at least one other copy recorded at the Library of Congress.

Here are the pochoir plates for The Advertising Man, 1929? Stencil progressive. GC032 T.M. Cleland Collection. “Presented to the Princeton Print Club by E.A. July, 1942”.

“The Princeton Print Club announces an exhibition of the paintings, prints, books, and other work of Mr. Thomas M. Cleland. This is the first exhibit of Mr. Cleland’s work in more than forty years. 36 University Place, Gallery B. 2:00 to 4:30 p.m.”– Princeton University Weekly Bulletin, 37, no. 9 (8 November 1947).

See also T. M. (Thomas Maitland) Cleland (1880-1964), The Decorative Work of T.M. Cleland: a Record and Review, with a biographical and critical introduction by Alfred E. Hamill and a portrait lithograph by Rockwell Kent (New York: The Pynson printers, 1929). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Oversize NE539.C57 A3 1929q

“How the White Man Trades in the Congo”

Frederic de Haenen (1853-1928), How the White Man Trades in the Congo, Bringing in Rubber and Hostages, 1906. Gouache and ink wash. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2013-

Frederic de Haenen (1853-1928), The Chicotte (The Whipping), January 1906. Gouache and ink wash. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2013-

In the January 1906 supplement to The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, a special series of illustrations was published documenting the treatment of Africans by European traders. The article was entitled “Dark Deeds in Darkest Africa: Scenes and Tales of Cruelty in the Congo Free State” by the Rev. J.H. Harris, of the “Regions Beyond” Missionary Union.

“As our readers are well aware,” writes the editor, “The Graphic is not given in the publication of sensational illustrations. In view, however, of the great and historic importance of the terrible events which have taken place in the Congo Free State, the conductors of this journal have thought it only right to depart from their usual rule, and publish the sketches and photographs contained in this supplement—the accuracy of which are absolutely vouched for by Mr. Harris, who was present at the committee of inquiry.”

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired two original drawing for The Graphic. One of them depicts a brutal flogging of a slave with a chicotte, a heavy whip made of animal hide used in this region. The image was made after a photograph and drawn in high contrast to aid in reproduction. The artist, Frederic de Haenen, was one of many illustrators who worked for The Graphic and The Illustrated London News.

A second drawing, titled “How a White man trades in the Congo,” is believed to also be from a 1906 issue of The Graphic. It comes with a caption glued to the bottom, which reads in part, “The natives are required to bring in their toll of rubber every fortnight or twenty days, according to the wish of the individual agent. The sentries are sent out to bring in the rubber workers. In the event of the rubber being either short or not good enough in quality, these sentries also bring in a number of “hostages” which the white man holds and forces to work on his “factorie” [sic] until the relatives bring in extra quantity to redeem them.”

Rowlandson’s School for Scandal

In 1788, when this panoramic print was made, Thomas Rowlandson was thirty-one years old. He had stopped exhibiting at the Royal Academy but hadn’t yet joined Rudolph Ackermann’s stable of artists. Thirty-seven year old Richard Brinsley Sheridan had given up management of the Drury Lane Theatre for politics, following the spectacular success of his play School for Scandal, which premiered in 1777.

The text of School for Scandal was first printed in 1780 in Dublin. A note inside this volume describes how Sheridan refused to give his manuscript to a publisher, wishing to continue to work on it. Finally, “he presented a manuscript copy of it to his married sister, Mrs. Lefanu, in Dublin, to be disposed of, for her own advantage, to the managers of the Dublin Theatre. This brought her a hundred guineas and free admissions to the theatre.”

About this panoramic print Joseph Grego writes, “One of the long strips containing subjects arranged in series, which were popular at this period, belonging to the same order as The Bath Minuet and The Progress of a Lie, by H. Bunbury; A Country Dance and A Cotillon, by W. H. Kingsbury; The Installation Supper, as given at the Pantheon, by the Knights of the Bath (on May 26, 1788), by James Gillray; The Prince’s Bow, by F. G. Byron; English Slavery, or a Picture of the Times, 1788; Chesterfield Travestied, by Collings, &c, &c.”

The print has seventeen female figures, “of ages varying from a tender maid to an antiquated grandmother; the respective characteristics of the different individuals are hit off with Rowlandson’s usual spirit and success; the pretty maidens being extremely flattered, and the traits of less favored dowagers coming in for grotesque exaggerations. The fair members of this coterie are supposed to be making their several comments, as exclamations, upon a recent elopement, a proceeding not unusual at the time The School for Scandal was given to the public.”

Read more in: Joseph Grego (1843-1908), Rowlandson the Caricaturist: a selection from his works, with anecdotal descriptions of his famous caricatures and a sketch of his life, times, and contemporaries (London: Chatto and Windus, 1880). Graphic Arts: Reference Collection (GARF) Oversize NE642.R7 G8q

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), The School for Scandal ([London]: V. M. Picot, No. 6 Greek Street Soho, Aug.t 1, 1788.). Stipple engraving. 25 X 155 cm. Graphic Arts Collection (GA) Rowlandson 1788.3

Eighteenth-Century Heraldic Designs

We recently acquired W. Townley’s archive of heraldic designs and other related pieces. Drawn by Mr. Townley in pen and pen & ink, these designs date from the second half of the 18th century. Included is a sketchbook (measuring 320 x 205 mm), in marbled wrappers, which holds 43 drawings of heraldic supporters such as birds, beasts and humans. The majority are fully formed figures in ink and wash, with watercolor used for the uniform of a soldier and the robe of a female figure.

What is most interesting is that many are “pricked” with pin holes marking the outline of the design so that it can be transferred to another surface. If you click on one of the thumbnails posted here, it is easier to see the holes in the enlargement. Several are folded and the design copied from one side to the other, ensuring the exact proportions are maintained. In this manner, only one side needs to be “pricked” since they are the same (in reverse).

There are an additional nine heraldic designs, four impressive drawings of classical vases (the largest measuring 395 x 278 mm, with pricking), and 17 drawings of human figures, wild and domestic animals, and farmyard and camp scenes, some with watercolour and a number with pricking.

Also included are two manuscript fragments. The first contains a herald’s expenses and income in 1755, including fees for drawing up various pedigrees. The second records court announcements, including the appointment of Charles
Townley to the office of Lancaster Herald in 1781 (having been Bluemantle Pursuivant since 1774).

Amongst five small printed pieces are two bookplates of Sir Charles Townley, as Clarenceux King of Arms (a post he held from 1755 until 1773) and as Garter Principal King of Arms (1773-4). It appears that our W. Townley was a relation of Sir Charles Townley (1713-1774) and his son Charles (1749-1800). He never held high office himself, but these drawings show him to have been an heraldic draughtsman of some accomplishment.

W. Townley’s Archive of Heraldic Designs, 18th century. Sketchbook and loose pages with drawings in pen and ink with watercolor. Graphic Arts Collection 2013- in process.

Raumbild Verlag (Stereoview publishing)

Raumbild Verlag (Stereoview publishing) was established by Otto Wilhelm Schönstein (1891-1958) in the 1930s (the earliest book I found is 1935). Their offices moved several times, eventually settling in Munich by the end of the decade.

Each of his books was designed with extra thick boards, die-cut so that small stereographs could be inserted at the front and back, along with a stereo viewer (Raumbildbetrachter). Many of the titles included the photography of Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957), Adolf Hitler’s official photographer.

Thanks to the generous donation of professor Anson Rabinbach, Department of History, we now hold our third photobook from Schönstein’s firm, this one documenting Deutsche Plastik Unserer zeit (German Sculpture of Our Time).

The art exhibition was organized by Arno Breker (1900-1991) and hosted by the Nazi Party, highlighting the work of German sculptors. For an interesting article about Breker’s work, see http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/24/world/europe/24germany.html?_r=0

Kurt Lothar Tank (1910-) and Wilfrid Bade (1906-1945), Deutsche Plastik unserer Zeit (München: O. Schönstein, 1942). “Mit 150 Raumbildaufnahmen und acht Tafeln.” Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2013- in process. Gift of Anson G. Rabinbach.

Other volumes published by Raumbild Verlag include:

Vendig; ein raumerlebnis by Kurt Lothar Tank (1935)

Reichsparteitag der ehre by Heinrich Hoffmann (1936)

Die Olympischen spiele 1936 by Ludwig Haymann (1936)

München, die Hauptstadt der Bewegung by Heinrich Hoffmann (1937)

Die Weltausstellung: Paris 1937 by E.P. Frank (1937)

Deutsche Gaue by Alfons Czibulka (1938)

Parteitag Grossdeutschland by Henrich Hansen (1939)

Aus der lebensgemeinschaft des waldes by Kurt Dieterich (1939)

Der erste Großdeutsche Reichskriegertag by Heinrich Hoffmann (1939)

Die Soldaten des Führers im Felde by Hasso von Wedel (1940)

Der Kampf im Westen by Hasso von Wedel (1940)

Die Kriegsmarine by Fritz-Otto Busch (1942)

Der Stadt Nürnberg Ursprung und Werdegang by Fritz Schulz (1949)

Hausärztliches Taschenbuch by Wilhelm Ermer (1950)

Deutschland erwacht (Germany Wakes)

Standartenweihe im Luitpoldhain 1933. Half-tone panorama in six plates, approximately 137 cm.

Deutschland erwacht. Werden, kampf und sieg der N S D A P … ( [Altona-Bahrenfeld? Cigaretten-bilderdienst Altona-Bahrenfeld, 1933]) Notes: “Die auswahl und künstlerische durcharbeitung der lichtbilder übernahm Heinrich Hoffmann … Der verfasser des textes ist Wilfrid Bade.” Graphic Arts GAX 2013- in process. Gift of Anson Rabinbach.

Princeton professor Anson Rabinbach, Department of History, is a specialist in modern European history with an emphasis on intellectual and cultural history. He has published extensively on Nazi Germany, Austria, and European thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His newest volume, due out any day, entitled The Third Reich Sourcebook (with Sander L. Gilman), is a collection of more than 400 documents with critical introductions. Thanks to Professor Rabinbach, we have acquired a number of rare books, the first pictured here.

Deutschland erwacht (Germany Wakes) is a collaboration between the author Wilfrid Bath and the photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, chronicling the “struggle and victory of the NSDAP” (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or Nazi Party).

The book documents the founding of the party; the Reichstag election of 20 May 1928; selections from Mein Kampf; and both public and private moments in the life of Adolf Hitler along with much more. One highlight is the panorama at the back depicting a massive rally in 1933 at Luitpoldhain.

Our sincere thanks to Prof. Rabinbach and to Elizabeth Bennett, Librarian for History and History of Science, who coordinated the gift.

The Sea of Matrimony

On June 10, 1931, Elmer Adler (1884-1962) wrote to the artist Tom Cleland (1880-1964) to say Harvey T. White, of R. Tyson White’s Sons, manufacturers of paper boxes, had contacted him. White was confirming a previous conversation in which Adler, acting as Cleland agent, “authorized us to reproduce the The Sea of Matrimony by Wm [sic] Cleland for use on trays, waste baskets, lamp shades, cigarette boxes, etc., on the conditions. . . Print royalty is 3-7 cents each up to a total of $300. Depending on size.”

The Colophon (New York: Pynson Printers: The Colophon, 1930-1940). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Z1007 .C71

The image was published on the colophon page of vol. 2, part six (1931) of The Colophon and proved much more popular than the cover image, also by Cleland.

This was the middle of the Great Depression in the United States but Cleland had a good job as art director for Fortune Magazine. He went on to design for Cadillac; Newsweek; and the newspaper PM.

The artist would not agree to Adler’s arrangement with White, but not because Cleland objected to seeing his art on waste baskets and lamp shades. He felt that so many people would want to license the image that $300 was not an appropriate price ceiling. Cleland would only agree if the company either bought the design for $300 or continue to pay royalties forever.

It is unfortunate that the response from White is not in the Cleland papers at the Library of Congress or Adler papers at Princeton University. If anyone has a lampshade with The Sea of Matrimony, please contact us. Thanks.

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