Category Archives: Medium

mediums

Whitney Darrow Jr.

One of the many gifts to the Graphic Arts Collection in 2015 was the generous donation of 20 drawings by Whitney Darrow Jr., Class of 1931, given by his daughter Linda Darrow.

Confound it, Mockridge, let’s forget our off-season job & get our mind back on baseball.

“Mr. Darrow, one of the last of the early New Yorker cartoonists,” wrote Mel Gussow in the artist’s 1999 obituary, “published more than 1,500 cartoons in the magazine from 1933 to 1982. He was considered a master draftsman and, in contrast to some of his colleagues, he wrote his own captions. ‘He was a great creator of comic ideas, and he avoided most of the standard cartoon cliches,’ Lee Lorenz, the former art editor of The New Yorker, said yesterday. Even away from the drawing board, Mr. Darrow was known for his sense of humor and for being shrewdly observant of the contradictions of human behavior.”

“Mr. Darrow was born in Princeton, N.J., where his father was one of the founders of the Princeton University Press. Growing up in Greenwich, Conn., he wrote parodies for his school paper. In 1931 he graduated from Princeton, where he wrote a humorous column for The Daily Princetonian and was art editor of The Princeton Tiger. He thought about being a writer but seemed to move naturally into drawing.”

“He studied with Thomas Hart Benton and other artists at the Art Students League and in his early 20’s began selling cartoons to Judge, Life and College Humor. In 1933, at 24, he made his breakthrough to The New Yorker at a time when, in Mr. Lorenz’s words, the cartoon, at least as The New Yorker was to popularize it, “was still being born.” –Mel Gussow, “Whitney Darrow Jr., 89, Gentle Satirist of Modern Life, Dies,” New York Times, August 12, 1999.
Here are a few samples.

Well, why didn’t you earn what you estimated?

Signing of the Israeli/Egyptian Peace Accord at the White House, September 17, 1978

Franklin McMahon (1921-2012), Signing of Israeli/Egyptian Peace Accord, The White House, March 26, 1979. Acrylic paint on paper. 22 x 30″ Graphic Arts Collection GA 2015- in process.

“Franklin McMahon, an artist who defied journalism’s preference for photographs to make a renowned career of drawing historic scenes in elegant, emphatic lines, died on Saturday in Lincolnshire, Ill. He was 90.” So begins the artist’s obituary written by Douglas Martin for the New York Times, March 7, 2012.

Martin continues, “With sketch pads in hand, Mr. McMahon covered momentous events in the civil rights struggle, spacecraft launchings, national political conventions and the Vatican, turning out line drawings for major magazines and newspapers. Many were later colored by watercolor or acrylic paints, and most rendered scenes in a heightened, energetic style. His goal, he said, was to step beyond what he considered the limitations of photography to ‘see around corners.’”

The Graphic Arts Collection is pleased to have acquired several important paintings on paper by Franklin McMahon (1921-2012), documenting key moments in recent American history. We thank, in particular, his granddaughter Irene Burke, Class of 2016 and a member of the PUAM Student Advisory Board, for her help with these acquisitions. We also thank Jeremy Darrington, Politics Librarian, and David Magier, AUL for Collection Development, without whom these acquisitions would not have been possible.

Here the artist notes the important date that led to the formal ceremony in 1979.

The first of our McMahon paintings documents the historic signing of the Israeli/Egyptian Peace Accord at the White House.

“On March 26, 1979, in a ceremony hosted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country.” [Posted by The New York Times Learning Network, March 26, 2012]

“At the signing ceremony, all three leaders offered prayers that the treaty would bring true peace to the Middle East and end the enmity that has erupted into war four times since Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948.”

“Israel and Egypt had been in a state of war since the Arab-Israeli War, which occurred immediately after the founding of Israel. Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the two nations began indirect peace negotiations through U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who engaged in “shuttle diplomacy” by meeting with each nation’s representatives.

President Carter took a different approach when he took office in 1977, by inviting Israeli and Egyptian leaders to multi-lateral talks. In 1978, President Carter, President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin met secretly at Camp David in Maryland, where they agreed to the framework for the peace treaty and for the establishment of self-rule for Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Both Sadat and Begin were awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for the Camp David Accords.”

For an in depth discussion of the events leading up to the signing, see the Carter Center’s transcript from the Camp David 25th Anniversary Forum held in 2003.

To dry the tear from misery’s eye

Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848) after Charles Canda, General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York [membership certificate], no date [1820s]. Engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2008.00302

According to the Mechanics Society literature, “Mechanics Institutes were educational establishments formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men and, later, women. The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York was founded in 1785 by the skilled craftsmen of the City.”

In 1820, the General Society opened one of New York City’s first free schools as well as the Apprentices’ Library and in 1858, elected to convert its school into a Mechanics Institute that would “provide training to those citizens whose work obligations prevented their pursuit of a formal technical education.”

The New York Evening Post, November 8, 1832

The first certificate of the Society was issued to William Wright in July, 1790. The 9 x 11 1/2 inch sheets were designed, engraved, and printed by Abraham Goodwin (1763-1835) in 1786 and each one filled in by hand with a large, wax seal at the bottom (certificate no. 196, seen above, is held in the collection of the Winterthur Museum).

From that time forward, the Society budgeted funds for the printing of member certificates. “Be it further ordained, That there shall be a plate engraved for the purpose of striking off the certificates of admission; that each member shall be entitled to a certificate, which shall be presented to him by the Secretary, dated from the commencement of his membership, free from any cost or expense, at any time not exceeding two months from the time he was initiated.”–Annals of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York (1882).

Historians disagree as to the date that Charles Canda was engaged to redesign a nineteenth century certificate, engraved by the noted Philadelphia studio of Benjamin Tanner, but it was some time after 1820. This version prominently featured the Society’s motto: To dry the tear from misery’s eye. To succour the afflicted and to save the sinking is our aim.

The façade of the Mechanics Bank of New York, opened in 1810 at nos. 31 and 33 Nassau Street, featured a bronze casting of a mechanic’s brawny arm and hand wielding a hammer.
The Church & Dwight Company developed the Arm & Hammer logo for their baking soda in 1867. The American Socialist Party began using the same symbol a few years later.

The Glasgow Print Studio

Glasgow Print Studio was founded in 1972 as an artist led initiative providing facilities and workshop space to artists using fine art printmaking. Now, as an internationally acclaimed center of excellence in fine art printmaking, the Studio promotes contemporary and innovative printmaking through supporting artists, exhibitions, learning and conservation.

On the fourth floor, the workshop facilities include a Takach motorized etching press, a Rochat etching press, a Columbian Eagle press (seen above) and a Bewick and Wilson “Clydesdale” motorized press.

Over 200 artist members are allowed access to the workshop. A system of session fees, paid daily, quarterly or yearly contributes to the cost of consumables provided by the workshop such as inks, solvents and related print chemistry, rags and cleaning materials. Members can also exhibit in Studio’s gallery and sell in the retail gallery. http://www.glasgowprintstudio.co.uk/

Song Sparrow

John James Audubon (1785-1851), Song Sparrow, no date [1800s]. Oil on cardboard. Graphic Arts Collection GC154. Gift of John S. Williams, Class of 1924.

Inscribed on verso “Painted by J.J. Audubon, certified by his elder granddaughter Lucy Audubon Williams.” Notes: “A variant version in oils of Plate 25, Birds of America, with added landscape background showing distant mountains.” –Howard Rice, “Princeton University Library Chronicle” XXI, 1&2 (Autumn & Winter, 1959): 45.

After Photoshopping, this is closer to what the original painting may have been. The heavy varnish has darkened over years of over exposure to light and unstable humidity.

This is the 1859 chromolithograph by Julius Bien (1829-1909) after Audubon’s original Song Sparrow.

In the 1959 exhibition catalogue of the Princeton University Library’s Audubon collection, Howard C. Rice went on to note, “From numerous references in [Audubon’s] journals it is known that Audubon did many oil paintings, especially during his sojourns in England, where they provided an additional source of income to him when he was hard pressed for funds. The oil paintings nevertheless pose certain problems of attribution, not entirely resolved.”

“For example, in his journal, Edinburgh, 20 March 1831 . . . Audubon notes that he made an agreement with a young painter named J.B. Kidd “to copy some of my drawings in oil, and to put backgrounds to them, so as to make them appear like pictures. It was our intention to send them to the exhibition of sale and to divide the amount between us. He painted eight, and then I proposed, if he would paint the one hundred engravings which comprise my first volume of the ‘Birds of America,’ I would pay him one hundred pounds.”

Also available in the bound sets:

John James Audubon (1785-1851), The birds of America : from original drawings by John James Audubon … (London: Pub. by the author, 1827-38). Rare Books: South East (RB) Oversize EX 8880.134.11e

John James Audubon (1785-1851), The birds of America: from original drawings; reissued by J.W. Audubon; chromolithography by J. Bien (New York: Roe Lockwood & Son, 1860). Rare Books (Ex) Oversize 8880.134.1860e

Rare Kobayashi Toshimitsu triptych

This underwater battle scene appears to be quite rare among the Sino-Japanese war prints designed by the artist Kobayashi Toshimitsu (active 1877-1904). Information about the artist himself is also limited.

The Graphic Arts Collection holds two copies of Toshimitsu’s more popular print Our Army’s Great Victory at the Night Battle of Pyongyang (Heijô yasen wagahei daishôri) seen further below. They both have the artist’s seal: Suidô shujin, and each include graphic depictions of war.

Kobayashi Toshimitsu (act. 1877-1904), Oryokko okino daikaisen (Great naval battle off the bank of the Yalu River), no date. Color woodblock triptych. Graphic Arts Collection. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

Kobayashi Toshimitsu (active 1877-1904), Our Army’s Great Victory at the Night Battle of Pyongyang (Heijô yasen wagahei daishôri), Meiji era (September 1894). Color woodblock print. Graphic Arts Collection. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

Sino-Japanese War Triptychs

Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), The Fall of Fenghuangcheng: The Enemy Giving Up (Hoojo kanraku tekihei kaiso no zu), Meiji era (November 1894). Color woodblock triptych. Akiyama Buemon, publisher (active ca. 1882–1910s). Graphic Arts Collection GC153. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

An uncatalogued box of Japanese prints was requested recently and we found two dozen sensō-e or war pictures. The majority are triptychs or diptychs from the Sino-Japanese War (August 1894 to April 1895) between the Qing Empire of China and the Empire of Japan, primarily over control of Korea.

A number were designed by Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908, born Mizuno Kumejiro). In the late 1890s, the war stimulated a short-lived revival of ukiyo printmaking and hundreds of designs were made and quickly sold. Toshikata was among the best of the artists who sold their designs during this short time period.

Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), Japanese Warships Fire on the Enemy near Haiyang Island (Kaiyôtô fukin teikoku gunkan happô no zu) Meiji era (September 1894). Color woodblock triptych. Akiyama Buemon, publisher (active ca. 1882-1910s). Graphic Arts Collection GC153. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

“Artists and publishers also benefited from the repeal of Japan’s strict censorship laws in 1872. With these laws no longer in place, prints could be more lavish than ever before, and artists were free to depict current events—a practice that had been forbidden under censorship legislation.” Pain’s Pyrotechnic Spectacle, Mead Art Museum.

The prints are from the collection of Marius Berthus Jansen (Class of 1944, 1922-2000), a world-renown scholar and Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University. “At Princeton, where he received the Howard Behrman Award for excellence in teaching in the humanities, Jansen was a devoted member of the history department, as well as the director of the Program in East Asian Studies (1962-68), and the first chairman of the newly formed Department of East Asian Studies (1969-72). He was a stimulating undergraduate teacher and a demanding, incisive advisor for generations of graduate students in East Asian history. Upon his retirement from Princeton University in 1992, Jansen was named Emeritus Professor of Japanese History.”

Attributed to Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), [Sino-Japanese war], Meiji era (1894). Color woodblock triptych. Graphic Arts Collection GC153. Gift of Professor Marius Jansen, Class of 1944.

Fatigue

Giovanni David (1743-1790), Le Perruquier fatigué, 1785. Etching and aquatint. Graphic Arts collection GC094 Italian Prints Collection

In 1775, the Italian painter and engraver Giovanni David (1743-1790) created a series of 12 prints he called Divers Portraits (Various Portraits). The Graphic Arts Collection holds two prints from the series. Pictured here is no. 12 Le Perruquier fatigué (The Tired Wigmaker), in the second state with aquatint added. Below the title is a line from the satires of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636-1711), “Il change tous les jours d’esprit, comme de mode.”

See the wigmaker’s tools. Below is our second print from “Various Portraits,” The Woman of Palestrina.

Giovanni David (1743-1790), Femme de Palestrina, (Woman of Palestrina) from the series Divers Portraits [1785]. Etching and aquatint. Graphic Arts collection GC094 Italian Prints

See also: Mary Newcome-Schleier. Giovanni David: pittore e incisore della famiglia Durazzo. Torino: Artema, c2003. Marquand Library (SA) ND623.D3683 N48 2003

Frontispieces by Thomas Cross, the Elder, active 1632-1685

John White (died 1671), A Rich Cabinet, with Variety of Inventions: Unlock’d and Open’d, for the Recreation of Ingenious Spirits at their Vacant Hours. Being Receits and Conceits of Severall Natures, and Fit for Those Who Are Lovers of Natural and Artificial Conclusions . . . [Frontispiece by Thomas Cross, active 1632-1685]. Fourth edition, with many additions (London: printed for William Whitwood at the sign of the Golden Lion in Duck-Lane near Smith-field, 1668). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2015- in process

First published in 1651, A Rich Cabinet is made up of numerous directions and instructions for the purpose of conducting experiments, satisfying curiosities, solving problems, and much more. Instructions are given in Legerdemain (slight of hand); painting; “how to help deafness and to expel wind from the head;” arithmetic; and manufacturing fireworks. The book went through at least eight editions into the 18th century. The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired the fourth edition. Here’s a selection:

“Receipt IV. How to make dainty sport with a Cat.
If you will have some sport with a Cat, then get a little Bell, such as the tame Hawkes have at their legs, and tye the Bell something hard at the end of the Cats taile, and let her go, she feeling of her tayl smart, and hearing of the Bell gingle, she will run up and down as if she were mad, flying against the walls and windows: then if she can, she will get into some hole to hide her self, but when she wags her tayl never so little, then out she comes, and is as mad as before, and never will rest in quiet till it be taken off or she can get it off her self.

Another
Some have shod a Cat round, with putting melted Pitch into four Walnut-shels, and placing her feet therein, and she will make pretty sport.

Another
I was told of a merry Fellow that came into an Ale-house in cold weather, and finding but a reasonable Fire, said, He would make the Cat piss it out, and watching his opportunity, he getteth his Hostesses Cat, putting her head betwixt his thighs, and holding her four feet fast in one hand, and with the other hand he’d up her tayl near the fire, and did piss such abundance that she quite quenched the same.”

The unusual frontispiece for A Rich Cabinet was designed by the engraver Thomas Cross or Crosse, Sr., who is credited with over 200 portraits (the National Portrait Gallery, London, lists 165 http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp10604/thomas-cross?role=art) and more than two dozen striking title pages with a similar “cabinet of curiosities” format. Johnson’s A Catalogue of Engraved and etched English title-Pages lists 26. If you know of others, please let me know.

David Papillon, A Practicall Abstract Of the Arts of Fortification and Assailing (London, 1645). Lettered with title, imprint, and, at bottom centre, ‘Tho: Cross fecit’

Francis Quarles, Boanerges and Barnabas, or, Judgment and Mercy for afflicted souls (London, R. Lowndes, 1646). Lettered centre left: ‘T. C. fec.’ Rare books 3902.1.318 1667

John Raymond, Gent. An itinerary contayning a voyage, made through Italy, in the yeare 1646, and 1647. Illustrated with divers figures of antiquities. Never before published. By Jo: Raymond, Gent. Il Mercurio Italico communicating a voyage made through Italy ( London: printed for Humphrey Moseley, 1648). Rare books 1541.751

Temporis Augustiae: stollen houres recreations (1649). Lettered within image “Aetatis Suae 21”, and in lower margin four lines of verse “The pencill can noe more: it does present… The high-flowne vertues that adorne his mind”, and production detail “T. Cross Sculpsit”.

Lilly’s, Merlini Anglici Ephemeris: or, general and monthly predictions upon several eminent conjunctions of the planets, for the year 1650 (London, J. Partridge and H. Blunden, 1650).

Moore’s Arithmetick. “Effigies Jonae Moore.” Lettered with title, date “Ao: Aetat 35. 1649”, and production detail, “H. Stone Pinxit / T. Cross Sculpsit”.

James Primrose, Popular Errours or the Errours of the people in matter of Physick (London, W. Wisson for Nicholas Bourne, 1651). Lettered with title, imprint, and at bottom right ‘T. Cross sculpsit’

Brugis Vade mecum: or, a companion for a chyrurgion (London, 1651). Lettered ‘T. Cross sculpsit’

Walter Blith, fl. 1649. The English improuer improued or the survey of husbandry surueyed discovering the improueableness of all lands… (London” printed for John Wright, at the Kings-head in the Old-Bayley, 1652. An expanded edition of “The English improver”. The engraved title page is signed with a crossed T, i.e. Thomas Cross. Rare books Item 6349912

John Gauden, Hieraspistes: A Defence of the Ministry and Ministers of the Church of England (London, 1653). Lettered with title, imprint, various inscriptions, and at bottom right ‘Tho. Cross Sculpsit’

Petrus Cunaeus, Of the Commonwealth of the Hebrews (London, Will. Lee, [1653]). Bottom left, lettered with a ‘T’ on which a Maltese cross has been superimposed, the mark of Thomas Cross. Rare Books: South East (RB) EX Lapidus 1.03

Procopius of Caesarea, The History of the Warres of the Emperour Justinian, translated by Henry Holcroft (1653). Lettered with title, and at bottom centre ‘T. Cross Sculpsit’. Rare Books: Oversize (Exov) 2749.335.653

Lazarus Riverius’s The Practice of Physick. Lettered with title and “Cross fecit”. Rare books 89541.776

Francis Rous, Treatises and Meditations (London, 1657). Lettered at bottom left: ‘T. Cross sculp’

Renodaeus, His dispensatory containing the whole body of pharmacy, translated by Richard Tomlinson (1657). Lettered with title, captions, and at bottom left: ‘Cross sculpsit’. Hind 1952-64 III.322.131

Natura Prodigiorum: or discourse (1660). Johannes Gadburius. Portrait of the astrologer John Gadbury (1660). Lettered with title and “T. Cross Sculpsit”. This was also used as a frontispiece to Gadbury’s ‘Ephemeris’ (1671).

The Whole Book of Psalms in Meeter (1660). Lower margin “T. Cross Sculpsit”.

The compleat clark, containing the best forms of all sorts of presidents, for conveyances and assurances (London, 1664).

John White. A Rich Cabinet, with Variety of Inventions… (London: Printed for William Whitwood at the sign of the Golden Lion in Duck-Lane near Smith-field, 1668). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2015- in process

William Leybourn, 1626-1716. The art of measuring, or, The carpenters new rule described and explained… London: Printed for Richard Jones …, 1669. Lettered at bottom: ‘Printed for Rich: Jones. 1669’ and ‘T: Cross sculpsit’

Samuel Sturmy, 1633-1669. The Mariner’s Magazine, or Sturmy’s Mathematicall and Practicall Arts (1669). Rare books EXKA Oversize Americana 1679q Sturmy

Samuel Clarke, A Mirrour or Looking-Glass both for Saints, & Sinners, second volume (London, 1671). Lettered with title, imprint, and at bottom left, ‘Cross sculpsit’

Samuel Sturmy, 1633-1669. The mariner’s magazine: stor’d with these mathematical arts ... engraved by Thomas Cross Rare Books: South East (RB) EXKA Oversize Americana 1679q Sturmy

Hugo Grotius. Of the Rights of Peace and War, translated by William Evats (London, Ralph Smith, 1682). ‘Printed for Ralph Smith under the Piazza of the Royall Exch: in Cornhill.’. Lettered below: ‘T. Cross Senior Sculpsit.’ Rare books Oversize PITN 014.41.1682q

Descrizione del Sacro Monte della Vernia

Unnumbered folio 1: Saint Francis of Assisi three quarter length set within a cartouche surrounded by trophies of arms and heraldic devices by Domenico Falcini after Jacopo Ligozzi

Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Princeton University Library, the Graphic Arts Collection has acquired one of the most beautiful Baroque books ever printed. We are sincerely grateful for the continuing support of the Friends and hope all readers consider joining this wonderful organization.

In 1608, Lino Moroni, a member of the Observant Franciscans, was invited to produce a book on Mount Alvernia, the sacred retreat of St. Francis of Assisi and the site where, in 1224, he was believed to have received the stigmata. Together with the Veronese painter Jacopo Ligozzi, Moroni traveled to the Tuscan Appenines and the result is a remarkable travelogue entitled Descrizione del Sacro Monte della Vernia (1612).

Bound in vellum with “Monte di Vernia” inked on the spine, the book contains twenty-six prints with letterpress descriptions accompanying the individual plates. Seven of Ligozzi’s drawings were engraved by another local artist, Raphael Sciaminossi (signed with his monogram); a portrait frontispiece was engraved by Domenico Falcini of Siena; and the other plates were engraved by a yet unidentified artist, possibly Ligozzi himself.

Moroni wrote a dedication, an address to the reader, and keys for the plates, set within elaborate borders of typographical elements.

Flaps closed above, flaps open below

Descrizione is memorable not only for the extravagance of the dizzying vistas it records but also for the movable engraved overlays attached to four of the plates, permitting the reader to “see inside” several of the views. Given the tendency for these little slips to become dislodged, it is rare to obtain a volume, like ours, with them all in place.

Flaps closed above, flaps open below

Marquand Art Librarian Sandra Brooke points out that this is one of the Cicognara books. The Digital Cicognara Library is a collaborative effort to recreate in digital form the famous art historical library of Count Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834). Princeton University Library has joined this international effort and is currently scheduled to capture over 1800 books cited in the famous 1821 Cicognara Library catalog, pulling from both Marquand library and Rare Books and Special Collections in Firestone library. The acquisition of Moroni’s Descrizione adds to the success of that project and will assist historians around the world.

Plate A: Description with a title, legend, and fold-out print of three sheets depicting Monte della Vernia from the Road of Casentino, by Schiaminossi. Detail below.

Fra Lino Moroni (active early 17th century), Descrizione del Sacro Monte della Vernia (Description of the Sacred Mount Alvernia). Plates after drawings by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547–1627) and Raffaello Schiaminossi (1572–1622), engraved by Domenico Falcini (1575?–1628) and others. Florence: 1612. First edition. Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of the Princeton University Library. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2015- in process

This copy has the small embossed stamp of the Italian publisher and bibliophile Giannalisa Feltrinelli (1926-1972) on the front endpaper, indicating that it was, at one time, part of the famous Feltrinelli Library.

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