A true blew Priest, ca. 1689

[Copper plate digitally laterally reversed, note the Book of Common Prayer on the floor]

“A true blew Priest, a Lincey Woolsey Brother.
One Legg a Pulpitt holds, a Tubb the other,
An Orthodox, grave, moderate, Prestbyterian.
Half Surplice, Cloake, half Priest, half Puritan;
Made up of all these halfes, hee cannot pass,
For anything; intirely, but an Ass.”

–altered slightly from Hudibras, p. 1, c. iii. l. 1224.

Unidentified artist, A Trimmer, ca. 1689. Graphic Arts Collection Block collection.

The British Museum holds a mezzotint by “W.H.” called  A Trimmer, ca. 1689. They also hold a line engraving of the same figure dressed “half like a Puritan standing in a tub, and half like a clergyman standing in a pulpit, at the side of which is fixed an hourglass upon its stand, such as was used in the sixteenth century.” Falling out of a bag are a broken scepter, divided crown, miter, tiara, an archiepiscopal crosier and orb.

The Graphic Arts Collection has a copperplate engraved with the scene as in the BM’s line engraving. It might be a practice plate because it has been used a second time for another engraving on the verso.

According to Dorothy George, of the BM, this is supposed to be a satirical representation of Bishop Burnet, of whom it has been said that he was “in profession a prelate, a dissenter in sentiment.”  Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury (1643-1715) became Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of the Order of the Garter in 1689. He was also the author of The History of the Reformation in England.

On the verso of this copper plate is a very warn engraving, possibly of a wedding. No signature or chop can be seen on either side.

 

See also: Samuel Butler (1612-1680), Hudibras. The first part (London: Printed by J.G. for Richard Marriot …, 1663). Rare Books (Ex) 3660.5.34.115

The First Princeton Tiger

Woodblock for tiger used in The Princeton Tiger, ca. 1881. Graphic Arts Collection. Gift of W.R. Deemes, Class of 1891.

An alumnus in another column asks when the Princeton cheer came to be known as the “Princeton Tiger.” It was but natural that when first adopted by the College the cheer should lie known as the “rocket.” It is descriptive of the explosion of a rocket and was everywhere called by that name lief ore its adoption here; and it is even now occasionally spoken of in the College as the “rocket.” But while the “Princeton Tiger” has largely supplanted “rocket” as the name of Princeton’s cheer, the public are responsible for this rather than the students themselves. The now name has come into use only during the last few years. The inter-collegiate contests, in which Princeton has so largely figured, gradually engaged the interest and attention of the public until the rocket cheer had become so repeatedly associated with Princeton, that when the press called it Princeton’s Tiger. The “Princeton Tiger” it became. It is interesting to note in this connection that the fourth word of the cheer not only gave to the Princeton cheer its name, but suggested the Tiger as the emblem of the college. And when the undergraduates some four years ago started an illustrated magazine and christened it “The Tiger,” and that magazine represented Athletic Princeton as a Bengal Tiger, the “orange and black” lord of the jungle became Princeton’s emblem forever. And this has reacted not a little on Princeton’s devotion to her cheer.
Daily Princetonian, Volume 10, Number 61, December 11, 1885

Digitally inverted

Composite of Circus People

The Graphic Arts Collection holds two composite photographs of circus people. One is organized and indexed. The second, well, the second isn’t.

Both are heavily varnished, adding to glare in these reproductions. Here is the first:

Here is the second, with a few details:

The owner of his own Midwest circus, Charles (Uncle Charley) Andress (1852-1933) was also a circus historian, publishing several articles and photo-essays, including Route Book of Barnum & Bailey [Circus], 1905.

In 1907, Show World magazine announced “Will Make Large Picture. Charles Andress, of the Barnum & Bailey Show, is making rapid progress in collecting photographs of performers and circus people for the largest photograph ever made. When completed it will contain over 1,200 people. This photograph is being made irrespective of any particular show. The center will be made up of the representative circus men of the past and present, in this and foreign countries; and the rest of the photograph will be of performers and musicians, staff officers, etc., of the various shows throughout the country.”

The Poet of the Future

This sheet of drawings by John McLenan (1827-1865) turns up in a scrapbook at the New York Public Library, with no explanation. Over the years, the central portrait has been assumed to be Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

McLenan’s final published prints were discovered recently in our set of the Harper’s New Monthly Magazine CXXI, no. 20 (June 1860), p.141-42. The central drawing is titled “The Poet of the Future.” Below is our death mask of Whitman so that you can decide for yourself whether or not the sketch is meant to be Whitman.

The Future President; Organ of Veneration; Gushing Poetess; The Great Artist [self-portrait of John McLenan].
Well-balanced Head; Benevolence; The Great Captain; The Poet of the Future; [Embryo] Financier.

“Gifted by nature this subject–with a head that’s swollen with Literary talent–is allow to go to grass…”

Death mask of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), 1892. Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death Masks.

A Practical Guide to the Varieties & Relative Values of Paper

The study of paper is not virtual. You hold it in your hand and feel the weigh of the sheet. You bend it to see which direction the paper fibers are running. You place it over a light and search for a watermark, then shine the light at an angle to see the texture of the surface. Are there chain lines? How big was the sheet originally and how many times was it cut to make the present page?

It is an intimate investigation best learned with paper samples that have already been identified and documented and yet, finding such rare samples is, of course, difficult.

 


Among the earliest encyclopedic gatherings of different types of paper is Richard Herring’s A Practical Guide to the Varieties & Relative Values of Paper, first published in London in 1860. The Graphic Arts Collection now owns a copy of this very rare volume.

Herring’s Guide was and is the most comprehensive published paper specimen book issued in the nineteenth century up to 1860. Herring calls for 246 samples but the copy recently acquired by Princeton has 244. Copies in the British Library and St. Bride’s Library each have only 242 samples. Undoubtedly, these volumes were each unique, hand bound treasures.

“The object of this work,” writes Herring, “is to furnish similar assistance to the stationer to that which afforded to the bookseller by the London catalogue. It is so arranged that by a very simple mode of reference to two hundred and forty-six samples of paper, which are appended to the work, no fewer than six hundred and eighty-one distinct kinds, with the relative prices of each affixed, are represented . . . Nearly every variety of paper, with its characteristic technicalities, dimensions, and weight, has been accurately given . . . .” –preface.

Antiquarian Charles Wood III writes, “The range and variety of papers is astonishing and endlessly fascinating; there are writing papers, printing papers, cartridge papers, wove papers, filtering paper, drawing papers, glazed boards, milled boards, etc. etc. The author was a in a unique position to produce this work; he was stock-taker to Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.”

 

Here is one of the original advertisements in Bookseller: The Organ of the Book Trade and Many Other Trade Publications, in which Herring wrote:

A Practical Guide to the Varieties and Relative Values of Paper by Richard Herring, in a convenient quarto Guinea volume. Prefixed is a very able history of the Art of Paper Making, full of interesting facts this had previously been contributed by the author to the new edition of Lire’s Dictionary. Next, we have a list of the Varieties and Relative Values of Paper with the sizes of every description and the prices per ream, all the references being to actual specimens of paper contained in the latter portion of the volume. The samples embrace nearly every kind of paper made, together with some of glazed and milled and bag-cap boards. The work, altogether, is so useful that we have little doubt a large number of Stationers will be glad to avail themselves of it.—Bookseller. [The Maker’s price for each sort, including the duty of three halfpence per pound, was exactly two-thirds of the price quoted in this list when the Paper Duty was repealed.—R.H.]



Richard Herring (born 1829), A Practical Guide to the Varieties and Relative Values of Paper: Illustrated with Samples of Nearly Every Description and Specially Adapted to the Use of Merchants, Shippers, and the Trade: To Which Is Added, a History of the Art of Paper Making (London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2017- in process.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this acquisition possible.


Bookplates inside front cover:


See also Herring’s earlier catalogue with only 25 samples, from the collection of Elmer Adler:
Richard Herring (1829-18 ), Paper & Paper Making, Ancient and Modern; with an Introduction by the Rev. George Croly (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855). xvi, 125, 24 p., [5], 25 leaves of plates (2 folded) : ill., 25 samples (some col.); 23 cm. “Founded upon lectures recently delivered at the London Institution”–Preface. Samples comprise 8 sheets with watermarks (3 line, 3 light and shade, 2 impressed), 5 of writing paper (2 laid, 3 wove), 4 of wrapping paper, 2 of paper made from 80% straw and 20% rope, 1 made almost entirely from wheat straw, 1 of printing paper and 1 sample each of water leaf, unsized, sized and glazed paper. Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) TS1090 .H477 1855

American Freemason Magazine

From November 1855 to April 1857, Robert Morris published a semi-monthly newspaper called the American Freemason out of Louisville, Kentucky. When he ran into financial difficulties his printer, Joseph Fletcher Brennan, took over the publication, switching to a monthly format with an emphasis on literature and poetry.

Working from Kentucky, Brennan commissioned his Masonic Brother Nathaniel Orr in New York City to redesign the periodical with a strong header and large wood engraving at the front of each issue. Various small cuts went inside as the stories required. Orr’s next door neighbor A.S. Barnes & Co., Wholesale Booksellers and Publishers, at 51 John Street was asked to help distribute.

Unfortunately, Brennan also had trouble funding the magazine. Writing to Orr from Louisville, October 15, 1857, Brennan explained that he still couldn’t pay the artist for his wood engravings. John Chapman is also doing a few designs for the magazine without receiving payment. “I will have also to arrange with him to wait until I can send him a check to pay both of you. I will be able to do this in the course of a month at farthest. . . . [Asking if Orr will continue his work] I think this would be the best way and I will pay you for it… Do so, if you please, and I will be grateful to you.“

Two weeks later Brennan wrote again, promising to pay Orr in a few weeks.  Chapman’s name does not appear in the magazine, refusing to work without pay while Orr, a devoted Freemason, continued to supply the publication with images. In the end, Brennan was unable to secure financial backing and the magazine only last for two years (although the title is revived again later by others).

The American Freemason’s New Monthly Magazine ([New York: J.F. Brennan, 1859- ). Recap HS351 .A512

 

New York’s historic Masonic Hall is located in the heart of the Chelsea, home to the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York, along with the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Library and Museum. To get tour information or request a tour, e-mail TourGuides@nymasons.org. Free public tours of the Grand Lodge Building and Masonic Hall are conducted Monday through Saturday between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

Prince George, Duke of Albemarle

Robert Sheppard (active 1730-1740) after David Loggan (1635-1700?), The Most Illustrious and Noble Prince George, Duke of Albemarle, 1735. Engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2005.01636

The Graphic Arts Collection holds this three-quarter length portrait of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, (1608–1670) dressed as an English soldier. Monck was the leading figure in effecting the Restoration of the Monarchy to King Charles II in 1660.

This is a plate from Mechell’s edition of Paul de Rapin-Thoyras, The History of England. 1735 ((Ex) Oversize 1426.749.11f). Sheppard did most of the portraits in History of England, as well as a portait of Edward Kidder (frontispiece of his Receipts, 1740), and three plates in a series of six Battles of Alexander, after Le Brun.

 

See also Thomas Gumble (died 1676), La vie du general Monk duc d’Albemarle, &c., le restaurateur de Sa Majesté britannique, Charles Second / traduit de l’anglois de Thomas Gumble …(Londres: Chez Robert Scot, 1672). Rare Books Off-Site Storage 1444.649.42.11

A Speech made to the Lord General Monck, at Clotheworkers hall in London the 13. of March, 1659 [60] … ([London, 1660]). Broadside, in two columns. Rare Books: South East (RB) RHT Oversize 17th-756

The Fountain of Love


Now hanging in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) painted The Fountain of Love around 1785 [top]. In the 20th century, the British artist Fred Millar reproduced this and other Rococo masterpieces as color engravings for easy home decoration. The Graphic Arts Collection holds this slightly faded copy of Millar’s Fountain of Love.

Below is a Photoshopped image that better represents Millar’s print. The soft romanticism of Fragonard has been simplified, emphasizing the female form and the drama of the scene.

Fred Millar (active 1900-1923), after a painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), Fountain of Love = Fontaine d’amour, 1907. Color engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2011.01460

 

 

Fritz the Elephant

Many people have heard the story of Jumbo the Elephant, who was killed by a freight train, or of Topsy, who was electrocuted at Coney Island, but how many know the history of Fritz the elephant? We recently discovered vintage photographs that tell this tragic story.

Fritz (ca. 1870-1902) was an Asian elephant measuring 2.90 meters and weighing about 7.5 tons. Given the large number of animals who died during the five year European tour of Barnum and Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth (1897-1902), Fritz was added to the company during the tour’s final year. In May 1902, while performing in Bordeaux, Fritz the elephant killed an employee of the circus who was greasing his feet and workers started keeping him in chains.

During a parade through the city of Tours, in front of the Place Nicolas Frumeaud, Fritz the elephant became agitated and then, uncontrollable. There are several versions of this story. Perhaps someone burned the elephant with a cigar or fed him something inedible. Perhaps it was a physical condition, due to the chains and unhealthy treatment. Circus workers surrounded him, wrapped him in chains, tied him up with ropes, and eventually strangled him. After several hours, Fritz died in the public street on June 11, 1902, as onlookers watched in horror.

Circus director J.A. Bailey (1847-1906), who was with the company, decided to leave the elephant in Tours. Fritz was stuffed and his body remains on view at the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Tours (Tours Museum of Fine Arts). Read the memoir of Fritz’s trainer: George Conklin (1845-1924), The Ways of the Circus: Being the Memories and Adventures of George Conklin, Tamer of Lions, Set Down by Harvey W. Root, with a foreword by Don C. Seitz (New York: Harper [1921]). Recap 4298.264

 

 

Photographer unidentified.

Fritz on exhibit

The Spanish Civil War

The Graphic Arts Collection holds several billboard-size propaganda posters from the Spanish Civil War, 1936 to 1939. Here is one honoring Madrid’s elite 5th Regiment and one from the Delegacion de Propaganda y Prensa del C.E.P. Valencia.

 

 

Juan Borrás Casanova (1909-1987), Los trabajadores españoles luchan por la libertad y la cultura de todos los pueblos. ¡Solidarizaros con ellos! = Spanish Workers Fight for the Freedom and Culture of All Peoples. Work with them! (Valencia: Delegación de Propaganda y Prensa del C.E.P. de Valencia, printed by Ortega, 1936). Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process

 

[below] 5o Regimiento. Los Cazadores de Lanques Fascistas: Coll, Carrasco, Cornejo, Grao, Molina. Honor y Gloria a Los Hijos del Pueblo (Madrid: printed by Graficas Reunidas, U.H.P., ca. 1937). Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process.

The Fifth Regiment (Spanish: Quinto Regimiento, full name Quinto Regimiento de Milicias Populares), was an elite corps loyal to the Spanish Republic at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. Made up of volunteers, the Fifth Regiment was active in the first critical phase of the war and became one of the most renowned units loyal to the Republic.—Eduardo Comín Colomer, El 5º Regimiento de Milicias Populares. Madrid 1973.