Category Archives: Medium

mediums

Many are ruined by buying bargains

According to OCLC, there are less than a dozen copies of this Benjamin Franklin broadside in the United States and three of them are at Princeton. Folded into a stamped binding (see below), the undated broadside was published after 1790 (Franklin’s death) at the shop of Carington Bowles (1724-1793). Its twenty-five engraved oval vignettes (including a central Franklin portrait) were designed by Robert Dighton (1752-1814) to illustrate Franklin’s maxims.

 

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Bowles’s Moral Pictures, or, Poor Richard illustrated: Being Lessons for the Young and the Old on Industry, Temperance, Frugality &c. By the Late Dr. Benj. Franklin (Manchester (Exchange St. and St. Anns Square): Bancks & Co., [between 1819 and 1839]). Graphic Arts Collection 2007-0083N

 

 

The biography for Robert Dighton (1752-1814) posted by the British Museum lists his shop at 12 Charing Cross; 6 Charing Cross; and 4 Spring Gardens Charing Cross, London. “A singer and draughtsman, especially known for designs for satirical prints, which he initially supplied to Carington Bowles and Haines. Later plates he etched, published and sold himself. Stole prints from the British Museum (see A. Griffiths, ‘Landmarks in Print Collecting’, BM 1996, pp. 10, 49-50, 60, 276-83). Son of the art dealer, John Dighton (q.v.). Father of three artists, Robert junior, Denis and Richard (q.v.), who seem to have worked together as a family business, with a common stock of plates.”–Britishmuseum.org

This broadside evolved through a long series of publications. Here at Princeton, we hold:
1747
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Poor Richard improved: being an almanack and ephemeris … for the bissextile year, 1748. : … Fitted to the latitude of forty degrees, and a meridian of near five hours from London; but may, without sensible error, serve all the northern colonies by Richard Saunders, philom (Philadelphia: printed and sold by B. Franklin, [1747]). “Richard Saunders” is a pseudonym. Probably calculated by Theophilus Grew. An advertisement for his school of mathematics appears on p. [30]. William H. Scheide Library 102.48

1748
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Poor Richard improved: being an almanack and ephemeris … for the year of our Lord 1749: … Fitted to the latitude of forty degrees, and a meridian of near five hours west from London : but may, without sensible error, serve all the northern colonies by Richard Saunders, philom. (Philadelphia: Printed and sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall, [1748]). “This is the first Poor Richard almanac to contain the woodcuts showing the occupations of the months,” Cf. Hamilton. Sinclair Hamilton Collection Hamilton 27

1757
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Poor Richard improved; being an almanack and ephemeris … for the year of our Lord 1758 … by Richard Saunders, philom. (Philadelphia: Franklin and Hall, 1757). This number contains collection of proverbs which were reprinted in England as the Way to wealth. “This is most rare and valuable of the series.” Sabin. According to Ford and Evans this is the last number edited by Franklin. Rare Books (RB) RHT American-81

1779
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), The Way to Wealth: as clearly shewn in the preface of an old Pensylvanian [sic] almanack, intitled, Poor Richard, improved. Written by Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Extracted from the Doctor’s political works ([London: printed for J. Johnson, 1779]). Broadside. 31 x 39.5 cm. Rare Books Oversize 3744.91.395f

1795
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), The Way to Wealth, or, Poor Richard improved, by Benj. Franklin (Paris: Printed for Ant. Aug. Renouard, 1795). The Way to Wealth was first published in Poor Richard’s almanac for 1758 and separately issued in 1760 under title: Father Abraham’s speech. The present edition includes the French translation of Quétant and L’Écuy, with special t.-p.: La science du Bonhomme Richard, ou Moyen facile de payer les impôts. Par Benj. Franklin. Paris, Ant. Aug. Renourd, 1795. ExKa copy has bookplate of Grenville Kane. Rare Books 3744.91.395.11

Ford, Franklin Bibliography, p. 69, no. 137.

The Pencil of Nature

Princeton has just added our superb copy of William Henry Fox Talbot’s The Pencil of Nature, a gift of David H. McAlpin, class of 1920, to our other Talbot prints included in the William Henry Fox Talbot Catalogue Raisonné, begun by Larry Schaaf and now based at Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries. The entire volume, https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/3696558#view, can be viewed and downloaded for study around the world. This copy has the bookplate of William Twopeny, and the property stamp of the New York City Camera Club Library (catalogued & indexed 1930 by Hal. D. Bernstein, librarian), which was purchased and given to Princeton University by McAlpin.

William Twopeny (printmaker; painter/draughtsman; British; Male; 1797-1873). Twopeny, not Twopenny. Lawyer; amateur antiquarian draughtsman and printmaker, specialising in architectural subjects. A very large collection of his drawings was given to the BM in 1874 by Edward Twopeny, his son: see 1874,0214.104 to 1937 and Binyon IV pp.214-43. For Twopeny’s own catalogue see two volumes in the P&D library. See also a letter dated March 10th 1845 from Albert Way (q.v.) in which he refers to Mr Twopenny of [Lambs] building living at Inner Temple (archives of Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory)–British Museum

The Battle of Princeton and the [later] Death of Mercer

One of the rare items pulled for the Princeton University class “Battle Lab” (HUM 350/ART 302/AMS 352) was a series of preparatory sketches by John Trumbull (1756–1843) for his painting, The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777.

The students were asked where and when did Brigadier General Hugh Mercer (1726-1777) actually die? Answer: Mercer died in the Thomas Clarke House on the eastern end of the battlefield, nine days after the battle ended.

The students examined a cannon ball found in April 1896 near Princeton Battlefield and grapeshot found November 1941 by Dr. Henry E. Hale, one yard northerly from north west corner of the Thomas Clarke House in which Gen. Mercer died 12 Jan. 1777, found under the room in which he died (Gift of Cora A. Margenem).


This framed section of The Apotheosis of George Washington uses an image taken from a 1781 print by Valentine Green after a painting by John Trumbull, and printed on fabric by an English textile designer. Here Washington is driving a chariot drawn by leopards, accompanied by the figure of America in a plumed headdress. This is one part of a larger design that originally also included The Apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin and was used as wall paper, bed linen, and other decorative fabrics.

Students were also shown two swords, one which appears in the Washington textile and the other similar to one in Trumbull’s battle scene.

Among the seminal American documents shown was a first printing of the Declaration of Independence, printed by John Dunlap (1747-1812) and “signed by order and in behalf of the Congress, John Hancock, president. Attest. Charles Thomson, secretary.” Acquired December, 1940, William H. Scheide Library.

There are two states noted by Frederick Goff, differing in the placement of the imprint. In the earlier state, the P of Philadelphia is located directly beneath the comma following Thomson’s name. In the later state the P is located directly beneath the n of Thomson’s name. Goff notes also a proof copy (imperfect), held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, exhibiting differences in punctuation and in the insertion in line 13 of the word ‘a’ before the word ‘new.’ Cf. Goff, F.R. The John Dunlop broadside: the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, 1976. See also Walsh, M.J. “Contemporary Broadside editions of the Declaration of Independence.” Harvard Library Bulletin 3 (1949): 31-43, 1.

(left) Thomas Paine (1737-1809); (center) George Washington (1732-1799); (right) Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) from the Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks http://library.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/C0770/. Note the sunken faces of Paine and Franklin, whose false teeth had been removed before the mold was taken.

 

Thanks to the donation of Malcolm S. Forbes, Class of 1941, we have a collection of American Revolutionary War soldiers in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. The group consists of no.158 of a limited set of models of the officers and men of American, British, and Hessian regiments that fought in the battles of Trenton (December 26, 1776) and Princeton (January 2-3, 1777). These 39 models were made to order for the Princeton Battlefield Area Preservation Society by Blenheim Military Models, Glamorgan, Wales.

A variety of other reliquaries, maps, and engravings were also included in the exciting class.

Stories in stereo



Unidentified photographer, The Ghost in the Stereoscope, ca. 1865. Published by the London Stereoscope and Photographic Company after a suggestion by Sir David Brewster. Two albumen prints in stereo-format, hand-tinted. Title: “Kindly suggested by Sir David Brewster, K. H. [entered at Stationers’ Hall” on verso. A dramatic view of the late Mr Stubbs haunting the new occupant of his house. The graffiti on the walls reads: “Mr Stubbs his cottage his picter” and “Mr Stubbs erd.” Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

 

The Graphic Arts Collection has acquired several British stereoviews, each providing a narrative through a single 3D image. Some relate to major literary sources and others minor stories. Here are some examples:

 

[below] Unidentified photographer, Gambler’s Ghost, ca. 1865. Published by the London Stereoscope and Photographic Company. Two albumen prints in stereo-format, hand-tinted. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

[Above] Alfred Silvester, Little Nell. Vide – ‘Old Curiosity Shop’ by Charles Dickens, 1870s-1880s. Two albumen prints in stereo-format. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

 

[Below] Unidentified photographer, Haidee and Juan, Canto 2nd, 1870s-1880s. Two albumen prints in stereo-format, hand-tinted. Titled on small printed label pasted to verso with copyright note:  A passionate moment between Juan and the pirate’s daughter Haidée, before she dies of a broken heart and Don Juan is sold into slavery. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

Daniel Defoe (1661?-1731), The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years Alone in an Uninhated [Sic] Island On the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River Oroonoque: Having Been Cast on Shore by Shipwreck, Wherein All the Men Perished But Himself: With an Account How He Was At Last Strangely Delivered By Pyrates Written By Himself ([London: s.n.], 1719-[1720]). RHT Oversize 18th-955

Lake Price, Robinson Crusoe and Friday, 1870s-1880s Two albumen prints, hand-tinted, in stereo-format. Title and credit on printed label pasted to verso, with Dublin art shop ‘Lesage’ label on verso. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

 

 

Sir John Everett Millais Bt PRA (1829-96), My Second Sermon, 1864. Oil on canvas. Guildhall Art Gallery, London.

 

[below] After Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896), Unidentified photographer. First time at Church. The Litany, no date [after 1864]. Two albumen prints in stereo-format, hand-tinted. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process


[Above] Unidentified photographer, Cinderella and her Godmother, 1870s-1880s Two albumen prints in stereo-format, hand-tinted. Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

 

 

Odalisques


The Graphic Arts Collection holds a folder with 23 watercolor and gouache costume studies with ink lettering on tan paper. The only identification is a pencil note on the back in French, indicating they are from an album. No artist signature or stamp can be found although it is possible they have some connection with Octavien Dalvimart’s six volumes of The Costume of Turkey drawn from life in 1798. Here are the French titles in English:
Muslim Arab woman in the vicinity of Nablus [North of Jerusalem]
Vulgar odalisques
Christian woman from Jerusalem going out into the street
First walk of a new wife after marriage in Ramleh
Muslim Arabic woman in [?Beitjibrim]
Abyssinian selling parakeets in Cairo
Poor Christian in Nazareth
Rich Muslim in Aleppo
Rich Muslim in Damascus
Abyssinian odalisque
Muslim peasant from northern Egypt
Oriental odalisque dancer seen in Beirut
Christian woman from Mount Lebanon
Slave of rich house in Damascus
Young bride from Morocco
Rich Abyssinian living in Cairo, Egypt
Bedouin woman from Kerak
Armenian woman going out on the street
Rich Christian from Egypt
Muslim peasant from South Hebron
Peasant woman from Southern Egypt
Rich Muslim in the interior of a harem
Muslim Arab women crying at the shrine in Yuzur

Clavé’s Gargantua

François Rabelais (approximately 1490-1553), Gargantua. Illustrated by Antoni Clavé ([Marseille]: Les Bibliophiles de Provence, 1955). No. 33 of 220 copies printed by Priester freres in Paris. 61 original color lithographs (including 4 double-page and 15 single-page, all hors-texte) + 61 original color woodcuts for lettrines and cul-de-lampe. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2018-in process

”… Gargantua (Rabelais), a work to which Clavé brought all his inventiveness of design. Apart from the brilliant color combinations (some involving five to eight separate stones)… Clavé devised a large number of initial letters… Certainly this book lives up to Rabelais’s exhortation ”Vivez joyeux”; it is also Gargantuan in scale with its format”.  [Strachan goes on declaring this work as sequel to Derain’s Pantagruel]. Strachan The Artist & The Book in France, pp. 146 & 329.


The artist is not well known and so, here is an extended biography, https://www.antoni-clave.org/en/biography/

Antoni Clavé was born in Barcelona in 1913. At 13 years of age, and seeking employment, he is hired as an assistant in a textile shop for girdles and corsets. At the same time, he signs up for evening classes at the annex to the Escuela de Artes y Oficios Artísticos y Bellas Artes. As an apprentice house painter with Tolosa, he is attracted by the manual aspect of the work (distemper, primer, glues, and later the mixing of colors). …In April 1940, there is an exhibition at the « Au Sans Pareil » bookstore which is not very successful. In June, the Germans are at Paris’ gates. Clavé intends to leave Paris to make his way to Venezuela but the German tanks have already cut off the roadways and he is obliged to turn back. In 1941, Clavé moves into his first atelier at number 45, rue Boissonnade. His son Jacques is born in 1942 and his own mother moves to Paris. This is an intimate and introspective period for his work where he is influenced by Bonnard and Vuillard. The following year he produces the lithographs as illustrations for Lettres d’Espagne by Prosper Mérimée. In 1944 Clavé meets Picasso, and this encounter will have profound repercussions that will be decisive for the future of his art. His work is exhibited at the Galerie Henri Joly.

In 1946, he travels to Czechoslovakia for an exhibition of Spanish painters in Paris, among whom are Picasso, Borès, Dominquez, Florès, Lobo and Fenosa. He begins work on major set decoration and costumes for the ballet: Los Caprichos for the Ballets des Champs-Elysées (Paris, 1946), Carmen for the Ballets de Paris Roland Petit (Paris, 1949) and Ballabile for Sadler’s Welles Ballet (Covent Garden, London, 1950). His work is also to be found in many illustrated books: La Dame de Pique by Pouchkine and Carmen by Prosper Mérimée in 1946; Voltaire’s Candide in 1948; Gargantua by Rabelais in 1950. This work inspires new subjects and series: The King of Cards, Figures of the Middle Ages and Warriors. Many exhibitions follow: at the Galerie Delpierre in Paris in 1946, at the Anglo-French Art Centre of London in 1947, in 1948 at the Galerie Robert Martin in Oran, Algeria, at Malmö in 1949 and Göteborg, Sweden in 1950.

In 1951, he exhibits at the Galerie Witcomb in Buenos Aires, and in Rome at the Galleria dell’Obelisco, followed by the Galerie Drouant-David in Paris in 1953, at the Galleria del Sole in Milan in 1954 and in London at the Tooth Gallery in 1955. His creations for the theatre are an essential part of his work at this time: La maison de Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca, Festival de Biarritz and the Théâtre de l’Œuvre, Paris, 1951; Revanche, Ballet by Ruth Page, Chicago Opera Ballet, 1951; Don Perlimplin, by Federico García Lorca, Festival du XXe siècle, Paris, 1952 ; Les Noces de Figaro, by Mozart, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, 1952 ; Deuil en 24 heures, Ballets de Roland Petit, Paris, 1953. In 1954, Clavé decides to abandon theatre design in order to devote himself to his painting. His final decorative work will be for the set and costumes for La Peur, a ballet by Roland Petit.

See also: https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2011/08/pantagruel.html

Photography albums and scrapbooks of Mexico

https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/5731327
https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/RCPXG-5830371.2
Twenty-five boxes of Mexican ephemera were acquired several years ago with a wide variety of materials included. A recent request for the photography albums and scrapbooks has led to the individual cataloguing of these unique, unpublished items (in process). The images include such diversity of commercial and personal photography, along with stamps, labels, souvenirs, brochures, and other ephemeral material, many with handwritten captions, that a few quick images were captured here.

Eunice Burton Berger’s printing plates and illustrated music

When an author finishes a book or a poem, she sends the text off to a publisher. When a painter finishes an oil painting, it is hung in a gallery so buyers can see and hopefully, buy it. What happens to a composer who writes music for a marching band? How do you print the 35 parts and have them distributed to be copyrighted and played? The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a suitcase filled with the printing plates, proof sheets, and published music by Eunice Burton Berger (ca.1888-1966), a Dorchester, Massachusetts musician who did just that. Together with her husband, Louis H. Berger (1879-1965), an engineering and surveying instrument manufacturer, Berger wrote, printed, promoted, and sold her music to radio programs, military bands, and national music companies.

Note the initials, E.B.B. by the handle.


One of many examples of her self-promotion is a reply she received from Harvey S. Firestone Jr., Princeton University class of 1920 (1898-1973) and son of Harvey S. Firestone (1868-1938), in whose memory Princeton University’s Firestone Library is named. In addition to managing the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, both father and son sponsored The Voice of Firestone (originally called The Firestone Hour), a radio broadcast on NBC Radio beginning on December 3, 1928, featuring classical musicians and popular Broadway stars. The show later became the first series to be simulcast on both radio and television, and Harvey Jr. actively managed both the radio and television programs. [Broadcasts archived https://necmusic.edu/archives/voice-of-firestone]It is unknown whether Berger’s music was ever included in one of the Firestone broadcasts.

 



Berger’s compositions include: “On the Brink,” “The Song of the Sea,” “The Spirit of Our Forefathers,” all copyrighted by her between 1939 and 1943, plus “Men of the Sea,” copyrighted in 1960. A few additional poems and partially completed musical scores are also found in her suitcase, along with correspondence between Berger and various members of the branches of the service thanking her for sending her scores. Copyright notices and certificates from the Library of Congress are present for each of her compositions along with paste-ups and proof at each stage of the printing process. There are contracts for royalties and research on the art to be included on the sheet music.

Engraved metal plates for “The Spirit of our Forefathers” come with instructions to the engraver as to what Berger wanted changed or improved. Although she shared credit with Charles E. George, bandmaster of the Irving Post of the American Legion in Roslindale, Massachusetts, on this and several other songs, it was Mr. and Mrs. Berger who produced sheet music and endlessly promoted the work.

 

The Spirit of Our Forefathers music by Charles E. George and lyrics by Eunice Burton Berger
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp-copyright/4511/





The 35 marching band parts for “On the Brink,” copyright applied for October 31, 1939, include Berger’s notation additions and printed title laid down at the head of the page. There is a contract dated August 31, 1944, between Eunice Burton Berger and Broadcast Music wherein she gives them exclusive rights to perform “The Song of the Sea” for five years, and they agree to pay her royalties. Along with this are four small brass plaques commemorating relatives lost at sea, possibly the inspiration for several of her song.

The remainder of the material includes a family genealogy by Berger, a number of photographs, and love letters between the dedicated couple. Canadian-born Eunice Burton Berger was married twice, first to Charles Redmond in Canada, and then to Louis H. Berger, a partner in his father C.L. Berger’s firm in Boston, manufacturers of Engineering and Surveying Instruments. The couple lived in the Dorchester section of Boston.

Washington Fought Here

D. McLellan, after a painting by Brückner, Washington at Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777, 1853. Lithograph with hand coloring. “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1853 by Blanckmeister and Hohlfeld in the Clerk’s office of the District court.” Graphic Arts Collection

This fall a group of Princeton students will study the 1777 Battle of Princeton in a class entitled “Battle Lab”. The class description reads,

“Revolution! Espionage! Alexander Hamilton! George Washington! Cannon fire on Nassau Hall! This fall, think outside of the classroom and explore the past in your own backyard: Revolutionary-era Princeton and the physical remains of the legendary battle between American and British forces on January 3, 1777. What happened on that day? Who died? Where are their bones? Why are lawyers fighting over the land? In this new, interdisciplinary course, you will undertake to answer these questions and help solve the longstanding puzzle of the Battle of Princeton. In the process, you will explore how events of the past persistently shape the present day.”

They will also draw on our George Washington collection of lithographs and engravings, as well as the John Trumbull (1756-1843) sketches and watercolors. https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2011/06/the_death_of_mercer_at_the_bat.html

Henry Hoff, Surrender of the Hessian Troops to General Washington, after The Battle of Trenton, 1850. Lithograph with hand coloring. “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1850 by Henry Hoff in the Clerk’s office of the District court of the Southern District of New York.” Graphic Arts Collection

Jean Nicolas Laugier (1785-1875) after a painting by Léon Cogniet (1794-1880), Washington, ca. 1839. Engraving. Graphic Arts Collection.

Nathaniel Orr, George Washington vignettes, no date. Wood engraving. Graphic Arts Collection.

 

Henry Hoff, Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1850. Lithograph with hand coloring. “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1850 by Henry Hoff in the Clerk’s office of the District court of the Southern District of New York.” Graphic Arts Collection

 

 

Satirical Pudding

Asked yesterday to find the satirical print with the pudding led to a search. Here are some of the prints that were found.

Thomas Rowlandson (1756 or 1757-1827), The Spanish Pye, A Ditty for Young Patriots, September 3, 1808. Hand colored etching. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Rowlandson 1807.51f. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.

 

James Gillray (1757-1815), The Plumb-Pudding in Danger-or State Epicures Taking un petit souper, February 26, 1805. Hand colored etching. Graphic Arts collection GA 2006.01303. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.

 

Sharpshooter [John Phillips (active 1840-1852)], Emancipation Pudding; or, Who are the Carvers, March 1829. Etching. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2011.00981. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown, Class of 1895.

 

J. Josephs, A Cut, ca. 1818. Hand colored etching. British Museum.

 

The Commercial Treaty; or John Bull Changing Beef and Pudding for Frogs and Soup Maigre!, November 25, 1786. Hand colored etching. British Museum.

George III, dressed as a cook but wearing a ribbon and star, advances from the left with a large dish of ribs of beef. He is followed by (presumably) Queen Charlotte as a cook-maid carrying a pudding. They meet a grotesquely caricatured Frenchman and Frenchwoman, probably intended for Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The man strides forward holding out a dish of frogs; he is foppishly dressed with a long queue and sword; the woman wears a cap but is dressed in the fashion with very projecting bust and ‘derrière’; on the latter at her back is seated a monkey. She holds a small dish or cup. Beside George III is a stolid English dog; a lean French greyhound stands on his hind legs begging for English beef. In the centre, above and between the two men, is a knife inscribed ‘Margaret Nicholson’s Knife’–British Museum

Charles Williams, John Bull taking a lunch- or Johnny’s purveyors pampering his appetite with dainties from all parts of the world, November 1, 1798. Hand colored etching. British Museum.

 

Isaac Cruikshank, Sancho alias Ioe Butt’s entertainment on taking possession of his new government!, August 30, 1808. Hand colored etching. British Museum.