Print to Motion

Students in the class “Print to Motion” from Columbia University’s LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies visited recently along with instructor Ben Hagari and the Center’s artistic director Tomas Vu-Daniel. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/neiman/about.html They are printing their own thaumatropes, zoetropes, and other optical devices and so, came down to be inspired by our historical collection. http://rbsc.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/Optical%20Devices.pdf


Their timing was good, arriving just in time to see our newly acquired biunial magic lantern, a recent donation from David S. Brooke, director emeritus of the Clark Art Institute.

This very special lantern has a mahogany body with aluminum slide holders and has been wired for electricity making it possible to project slides for our students. As the name indicates, a biunial has two separate projection systems placed one over the other, which allows the lanternist to superimpose two images for dissolving views or other special effects. Ours was made by the Optimus company and is a nice companion to our single lens Perken Optimus Magic Lantern, ca. 1875.

The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies was founded by a generous endowment from LeRoy and Janet Neiman in 1996 to promote printmaking through education, production and exhibition of prints. The center provides students, as well as established artists, a rich environment to investigate and produce images through a myriad of printmaking techniques which include intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, relief, photography, and digital imaging.

To see other items in our collection, choose the category ‘pre-cinema optical devices’ in the right margin.

Shinzoho Saigoku kidan = Mysterious Stories of the Western Country

Kunisada Utagawa II, artist and Shunsui Tamenaga (pseudonym for Sadataka Sasaki, 1790-1844), author. 新増補西圀奇談 新増補西國奇談 = Shinzoho Saigoku kidan = Mysterious Stories of the Western Country. Complete in twenty parts bound in forty volumes. Edo: Tsutsumi Kichibei, 1856-1875. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.


The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired the first edition and a rare complete set of this beautifully illustrated example of gokan, a type of fiction of the kusa zoshi genre. According to The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature, “gōkan are popular illustrated stories and romances, prose narratives succeeding Kibyōshi, and flourishing sometime after 1807. By combining three or four sōshi into one gōkan unit, much longer stories were possible.”


We are told that “these serial novels are usually characterized by their vividly colored pictorial wrappers upon which the artists’ names were given equal prominence with the name of the author on the covers, title-pages, and colophons. Each volume of a gokan contains ten sheets/twenty pages. The images are more sophisticated than those encountered in most earlier kusa zoshi and the texts far denser.”

Shunsui Tamenaga was the pen name of Sadataka Sasaki (1790-1844), one of the major writers of the Edo period. He is perhaps best remembered for Colors of Spring, the Plum Calendar, written in 1832-33. But he is also known for his humorous story Longevity, which was translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki for The Japanese Fairy Book (Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co., 1903). Cotsen Children’s Library (CTSN) Eng 20 28988.

Kunisada II (1823-1880), successor to Kunisada Utagawa, worked in the style of his master and illustrated nearly 200 books. Each of the stories is in two parts, each with its own color woodblock cover that matches and completes the image on the cover of the other volume.

Our new collection is in remarkably good condition, given the popularity of these volumes and the simple paper cover. Even for those who do not read Japanese, the matching print covers are spectacular.


 

Sermones prestantissimi sacrarum literarum

Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445-1510), Sermo[n]es prestantissimi sacrarum literarum doctoris Joa[n]nis Geilerii Keiserspergii, contionatoris Argetine[m] fructuosissimi de te[m]pore [et] de s[e]ctis accomodandi ([Strasbourg]: [Joannes Grüniger], [1515]). Bound in contemporary blind-stamped half pigskin over wooden boards with brass clasps, the book has been rebacked, preserving old spine. Provenance: early marginalia; Joh. Wigand (signature on title); collection of Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow; purchased from John Fleming, 1971. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired one of several issues of the second edition of Geiler’s sermons, illustrated with the same unusual set of woodcuts representing danse macabre subjects that appeared in the first edition of 1514. Geiler, sometimes called the German Savonarola, was a “preacher at the Strassburg cathedral, who attracted huge audiences while advocating reform. Inspired by the ideals of humanism, Geiler composed and delivered sermons that were at once learned and passionate, and above all, accessible to a broad audience.” Carlos M.N. Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 (2016).

The title page is printed in the dotted manner or manière criblée or Schrotblatt, a technique found in Germany and France in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, in which the design is created from punches or stamps on a metal plate. Seven woodcuts and numerous woodcut initials also decorate the book.

For more about the dotted manner technique, see also: Prints in the dotted manner and other metal-cuts of the XV century in the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum, edited by Campbell Dodgson …(London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1937). Marquand Library (SA) Oversize NE55.L8 B709f

Sylvester Rosa Koehler (1837-1900), White-line engraving for relief-printing in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. [Dotted prints, gravures en manière criblée, Schrotblätter] (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892). Marquand Library NE1000 .K7

The Business of Prints

Abraham Bosse (ca. 1604–1676), The Workshop of a Printer (detail). Etching, 1642.

Last year, Princeton University Libraries acquired Antony Griffiths, The Print Before Photography: an Introduction to European Printmaking, 1550-1820. Marquand Library (SA) Oversize NE625.G77 2016q. Described accurately as “a landmark publication . . . destined to be a leading reference in print scholarship.”

This week the companion exhibition, The Business of Prints, opened at the British Museum and was packed by noon. Rather than only show master prints, the Museum’s former keeper of prints and drawings has filled the cases with extra illustrated volumes, unique impressions, and sequential proofs never seen before. It is an exhibition no other institution could possibly mount.

One example is the prospectus Rudolph Ackermann printed for his publication Westminster Abbey.  [left] There are two copies of the published volume at Princeton but not this print describing the project and requesting subscribers.

William Combe (1742-1823), The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter’s Westminster: Its Antiquities and Monuments (London: Printed for R. Ackermann … by L. Harrison and J.C. Leigh, 1812). Plates signed by Augustus Pugin (1762-1832). “With … coloured plates after Pugin, Huett and Mackenzie.”–Dict. nat. biog. Marquand Library (SA) Oversize 14653.262q and Rare Books (Ex) Oversize 14653.262q

 

 

 

 

 

The making of a mezzotint. Where else can you see a proof of the fully rocked sheet?

Blocks, cut but never printed

One hundred and fifty curators, conservators, and historians met on Thursday 21 September 2017 at the Courtauld Institute, London, to view and discuss “Blocks Plates Stones.”

Twelve papers were delivered, including Huigen Leeflang of the Rijksmuseum seen here introducing the “curtain viewer” developed by Robert G. Erdmann, senior scientist at the Rijks, which allows you to compare differing impressions or a plate together with a print in the same image. The Metropolitan Museum of Art posted examples of Erdmann’s viewer that you can use online: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/hercules-segers/segers-closer-look

In addition, there were nine object sessions with physical blocks and plates. Seen here are a selection of “printing blocks from the collections of Senate House Library” by Tansy Barton, Senate House Library. Nineteen posters introducing new and continuing projects were available with their creators. After today, the posters have been accepted into the newly established Poster House in Chelsea, New York City.

One thread throughout the sessions involved blocks prepared but never printed. Conference organizer Elizabeth Savage reminded us that William Morris never allowed anyone to print from his woodblocks but only from the electrotypes after them. The boxwood blocks for his Kelmscott Chaucer were wrapped up and packed away for 100 years to assure they would not be inked or printed. **Those 100 years are now over and the blocks, in the British Museum, might be available for printing (or at least photographing).

See the article written by Peter Lawrence in the August 15, 2015 issue of Multiples, the Journal of the Society of Wood Engravers, edited by Chris Daunt, for more information about Morris’s blocks. Princeton students note: This can be ordered through interlibrary loan and should not be confused with the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN). The Graphic Arts Collection at Princeton has the archive for the Wood Engravers Network here:

Wood Engravers’ Network collection (1995- ). Consists of issues of Bundle, Newsletter, and Block & Burin, along with membership directories, supplier directories, announcements, and other related printed material. Grouped by date into folders labeled by Bundle issue number. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2015-0046F.

Charles Darwin replaced by Jane Austen


Although you can take your chances at any cash machine, a visit to the Bank of England will get you the new £10 banknote celebrating Jane Austen (1775-1817), which entered circulation a few days ago. Like the £5 note already in use featuring Sir Winston Churchill, the new £10 banknote featuring the author of Pride and Prejudice is made from polymer.

The portrait is taken from a pencil and watercolor drawing by her sister, Cassandra Austen (1773-1845), made around 1810, now owned by the National Portrait Gallery of London. Their wall label describes this portrait as a “frank sketch by her sister and closest confidante Cassandra . . . the only reasonably certain portrait from life”. It is the basis for a late nineteenth-century engraving, commissioned by Austen’s nephew, which is featured on the new ten pound notes.

Cassandra Austen (1773-1845), Jane Austen, 1775-1817, ca. 1810. Pencil and watercolor. National Portrait Gallery PG 3630

Just over one billion polymer £10 notes have been printed ready for issue and an exhibition has been mounted at the Bank of England Museum to celebrate. One feature in the gallery is this geometric lathe by Herbert W. Chapman of Newark, New Jersey, produced in 1905. The machine was used to create the ornamental patterns that were used as security features on early banknotes. Today, the new bills have holograms and many other security features. The video below takes you through all the details.

 

This is the paper mould designed by William Brewer in the late 1840s to watermark 19th century banknotes. Brewer’s first waved line was the most important change (according to the Bank) to British notes at that period. Brewer continued to develop the watermark throughout the century with several additional copyrighted features.

Over the years, many banknote designs were proposed but never used. One such note was designed by Frederick Leighton for an Alfred Lord Tennyson bill, seen below. Like Tennyson, Charles Darwin is now moving out of circulation and by 2018, the bill will no longer be valid. You can spend it now or exchange it. A new £20 note featuring artist J.M.W. Turner will appear in 2020.


See also: Jane Austen (1775-1817), Pride and Prejudice (London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1817).  Rare Books (Ex) 3612.1.373.1817

 

Darwin does not look happy.

Havell’s Copper

The copper plates used by Robert Havell, Jr. (1793-1878) for the 435 hand-colored aquatints in John James Audubon’s four-volume The Birds of America, came from at least three London companies. Plate marks have been found for the Hiam Steel and Copper Plate Makers off City Road, where both William Lizars, of Edinburgh, and Havell began buying their enormous plates. There are also marks for Richard Hughes, a copper plate manufacturer off Fleet Street, while still others were from Pontifex and Stiles in Soho.

The National Portrait Gallery’s British artists’ suppliers, 1650-1950 lists the complex ownership and locations of the three companies: http://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/directory-of-suppliers/

William Hiam 1819? 1823-1856, Hiam & Sons 1857-1858, William Hiam & Co 1859-1873, William James Hiam 1874, William James Hiam & Son 1875-1916, William James Hiam 1917. At 9 Ratcliffe Row, Bath St, City Road, London 1823-1861, 195 Lever St, Bath St 1862-1891, 162 Lever St 1892-1911, 1 Ironmongers Row, St Lukes, EC 1912-1917. Also 13½ Exmouth St, Euston Square 1849. Steel and copper plate makers.

Richard Hughes 1820-1845, Mrs (Mary) Hughes 1846-1847, Miss Mary Hughes 1848-1850, Hughes & Kimber 1850-1874, Hughes & Kimber Ltd 1875-1909, Hughes & Kimber 1910-1940. At14 Lombard St, Fleet St, London by 1822-1825, 8 Peterborough Court, Fleet St 1826-1838, 107 Shoe Lane, Fleet St 1839-1856, 106 Shoe Lane 1850-1856, 5 Red Lion Passage, Fleet St 1856-1862, West Harding St, Fetter Lane 1863-1909, 3 West Harding St 1910, 9 Gough Square, Fleet St 1911-1940. Works, New Church Road, Mitcham, Surrey from 1880, Britannia Iron Works, Bury, Hunts 1881-1899. Copper and steel plate makers.
Russell Pontifex 1802, William Pontifex, Russell Pontifex & E. Goldwin 1805-1811, William & Russell Pontifex (& Co) 1808-1813, Russell Pontifex 1814-1828, Russell Pontifex & Co 1825-1829, Russell Pontifex & Son 1826-1833, Russell Pontifex 1834 [subsequently Russell Pontifex and/or one of his sons seems to have traded with Stiles at 23 Lisle St and in changing arrangements (see below) at Upper St Martin’s Lane], Pontifex & Stiles 1835-1848, William Stiles 1840-1857. At 126 Bunhill Row 1802, 46-48 Shoe Lane 1805-1813, 5 Lisle St, Soho, London 1814-1816, 23 Lisle St 1813-1857, 22 Lisle St 1818-1819. Initially a watchcase maker, from 1806 copper plate makers and coppersmiths. Russell Pontifex & Co 1827-1829, Russell Pontifex & Son 1830-1834, Russell Pontifex 1834, Russell Pontifex & Co (apparently Pontifex, Farr and Yeowell) 1835-1836, Pontifex & Farr 1837, Russell Pontifex 1839-1841, Pontifex & Mallory 1842-1853, Russell Pontifex 1854-1859, Russell Pontifex & Son 1860-1868, Russell and Alfred Pontifex 1869-1872, Russell Pontifex & Co 1873-1885, Russell Pontifex & Son 1886-1892, Russell Pontifex & Co 1893-1915. At 15-16 Upper St Martin’s Lane 1827-1849, 14 Upper St Martin’s Lane 1851-1915. Copper and engineering works.

This research is part of the upcoming conference: Blocks Plates Stones: Matrices/Printing Surfaces in Research and Collections, Thursday, 21 September 2017, Courtauld Institute of Art. Final program:
https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/events/conferences/BARSEA/BlocksPlatesStones-Programme-Final.pdf

Convened by Dr Elizabeth Savage (Institute of English Studies), “This deeply interdisciplinary conference will survey the state of research into cut woodblocks, intaglio plates, lithographic stones, and other matrices/printing surfaces. It will bring together researchers, curators, librarians, printers, printmakers, cataloguers, conservators, digital humanities practitioners, and others who care for or seek to understand these objects. The discussion will encompass all media and techniques, from the fifteenth century through the present.”

First class of the new year.

Romano Hanni, Werner Pfeiffer, Enrique Chagoya

 

We are beginning the new 2017/2018 academic year with a visit from VIS 214, Graphic Design with Francesca Grassi. The students were shown wonderful book arts, old and new, high and low, rare and well-known.

“This studio course will introduce students to the essential aspects and skills of graphic design, and will analyze and discuss the increasingly vital role that non-verbal, graphic information plays in all areas of professional life, from fine art and book design to social networking and the Internet.

Students in the course will explore visual organization through a series of focused, interrelated assignments dealing with composition, page layout, type design, and image. Hands on production will include an array of do-it-yourself printing and distribution technologies, from letterpress and mimeograph to photocopying and websites.”

Sign painter’s sample album, Alfred Jarry

 

Olafur Eliasson, Bruno Munari, Henry Wessells, Kenneth Josephson, Sol Lewitt

 

Warja Honegger-Lavater, Yoji Kuri, German baptismal certificate

 

Francesca Grassi, Lecturer in Visual Arts, is a New York-based independent graphic designer and creative director. After graduating in 2007 with an MFA in graphic design and typography from the Werkplaats Typografie, in The Netherlands, she worked as a freelance book designer collaborating on books with contemporary artists and fine art publishers.

From 2009–2012 Grassi worked as a designer at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she was responsible for the overall institutional identity as well as art directing, developing and executing all Museum graphic design needs for print, online and environmental applications.

Enrique Chagoya, Bruce Nauman, Richard Misrach, Ed Ruscha

Americana in Italian

Elio Vittorini (1908-1966), Americana: raccolta di narrator, a cura di Elio Vittorini; con una introduzione di Emilio Cecchi (Milano: Bompiani, 1947). (F) PS519 .V588 1947

 

This fall, 2017, Jhumpa Lahiri, Professor of Creative Writing, and Sara Teardo, Lecturer in French and Italian, will be teaching: “Translation Workshop: To and From Italian,” based on Elio Vittorini’s 1941 anthology Americana.

The book showcases “thirty-three American writers translated for the first time into Italian – transformed the literary consciousness of a nation under fascism.” An instance where “literary translation broke through barriers of parochialism and became a defining cultural phenomenon.” Also included are 100 plates of iconic American photographs.

Their announcement promoted a look at the book that inspired this class.


 

Papier du guimauve

Marshmallow [plant] paper

Charles-Michel, Marquis de Villette (1736-1793), Œuvres du marquis de Villette (Londres. [i.e. Langlée, France: P. A. Léorier Delisle], M. DCC. LXXXVI. [1786]). Together with 20 samples of leaves. From the printing collection of Elmer Adler. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) 2004-0061S.

In 18th century Paris, there was a shortage of linen and cotton rags for making paper and so, Pierre Alexandre Léorier Delisle (1744-1826), director of the paper mill at Langlée, near Montargis, began experimenting with various vegetable materials. His tried marshmallow (plant) paper, nettle paper, as well as hops, moss, reeds, sponge, couch root, linden and willow bark, thistle leaves and more.

Charles-Michel Villette had his writings published by Léorier Delisle using his vegetable paper. A note on the verso of the half title page notes, “Ce volume est imprimé sur le papier d’écorce de tilleul” [This volume is printed on linden bark paper]. It was Leorier Delisle’s second attempt at using non-rag paper. Two years earlier, he published Les loisirs des bords du Loing, ou Recueil de pièces fugitives, poems by Marie-Joseph-Hippolyte Pelée de Varennes (1741-1794), not held by Princeton.

At the back of each book, various paper samples are bound in. At the back of the Graphic Arts Collection copy are bound in twenty sample leaves, each one identified:

papier de guimauve
papier d’ortie
papier de houblon
papier de mousse
papier de roseaux
papier de conferva (première / seconde / troisième espèce)
papier de racines
papier de chiendent
papier de bois de coudrier
papier de bois de fusain
papier d’écorce de fusain avec son épiderme ou croûte
papier d’écorce de chéne
papier d’écorce de peuplier
papier d’écorce d’osier
papier d’écorce d’orme
papier d’écorce de saule
papier de bardanne
papier de bardanne et de pas-d’ane
papier de chardons.

Reed paper [above] and Nettle paper [below]

Marshmallow plant