The Graphic Arts Collection along with Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Collections recently acquired a large group of illustrated Russian sheet music from the 1920s and 1930s for the Princeton University Library. We are in the process of transcribing, translating, and conserving the material but until that is finished, here is a taste of the wonderful lithographic covers. Don’t miss Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford below.
The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired three small DIY books for graphic design from the 1890s, 1920s, and 1950s. Here are a few samples.
K. Lönberg-Holm (1895-1972) and Ladislav Sutnar, Catalog Design Progress (New York: Sweet’s Catalog Service, 1950). Planned and developed by the research department of Sweet’s Catalog Service. Graphic Arts Collection GA in process
Mark M. Maycock, A Class-Book of Color: including Color Definitions, Color Scaling, and the Harmony of Colors (Springfield, Mass.: Milton Bradley Co., 1895). Graphic Arts Collection GA in process
Making Show Windows Pay: a Self Study Course with Complete Instructions for Making and Arranging Window Displays for Every Occasion (Framingham, Mass.: Window Display Studio of the Dennison Manufacturing Co., 1928). Graphic Arts Collection GA in process
[left] 2nd edition 1584 Zurich; [center] 3rd edition 1619 Frankfurt; [right] 4th edition 1620 Rochelle
Thanks to a recent acquisition, made jointly by the rare book division and the graphic arts collection, Princeton researchers now have the opportunity to study Georgette de Montenay’s rare emblem book through three consecutive editions, three publishers, and three unique physical volumes. In addition, we can follow the transfer of the one hundred copper plates by the French goldsmith, painter, and sculptor Pierre Woeiriot (1532-1599) as they moved from Switzerland to Germany to France for more than fifty years, reprinted with no visible damage or deterioration and outliving both the artist and the author.
On zealous affection and intelligence
Spirit, heart, speech and voice
All in agreement; instrument, books, fingers
I sing to my God’s excellence
O’ quill in my hand, not in vain,
From which I write
The praises of Christ
The promise of financial reward is not what leads you on [an anagram for the author’s name:]
“Georgette de Montenay has been the object of enduring scholarly interest, not only as the first woman author of an emblem book, but also as the creator of a new literary and artistic genre: the religious emblem. Most probably converted to Protestantism under the influence of Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre (to whose court she was attached after her marriage to Guyon de Gout, c. 1562), de Montenay composed a series of one hundred militant Christian octets in the mid-1560s and closely supervised their illustration by a gifted Lyonnaise etcher, Pierre Woeiriot, who was also of the reformed persuasion.
The Emblesmes ou devises chrestiennes were finally published in 1571 by a brother in religion, Jean Marcorelle, and were to have an immediate success.”—Sara F. Matthews Grieco, “Georgette de Montenay” Renaissance Quarterly 47, no.4 (Winter 1994). Since this article, a copy found in the Royal Library in Copenhagen suggests that Montenay’s book may have appeared even earlier.
Note that the words “Vera effigies Reginae Navarrae” have been added to the first engraved emblem in our newly acquired 1619 edition.
Georgette de Montenay (1540-approximately 1581), Georgiae Montaneae, nobilis Gallae, Emblematum Christianorum centuria / cum eorundem Latina interpretatione = Cent emblemes chrestiens (Tigvri: Apud Christophorum Froschouerum, 1584). Translation of Emblemes ou devises chrestiennes; text in Latin and French. Engravings by Pierre Woeiriot (1532-1599). These plates were used for the first French ed., 1571.-cf.Landwehr. Rare Books: Miriam Y. Holden Collection (ExHolden) N7710 .M66 1584
Georgette de Montenay (1540-approximately 1581), Monumenta Emblematum Christianorum (Frankfurt am Main: Jean Charles Unckel, 1619). Illustrations printed from plates engraved by Pierre Woeiriot (1532-1599). Polyglot edition with engraved title page by Peter Rollas and added engraved portrait of Jeanne d’Albret. Purchased with funds from Rare Book Division and Graphic Arts Collection
Georgette de Montenay (1540-approximately 1581), Emblèmes, ou devises chrestiennes (Rochelle: Par Iean Dinet, 1620). Illustrations printed from plates engraved by Pierre Woeiriot (1532-1599). “The sheets are those of the 1571 edition, with a new title page.” Cf. Praz. Rare Books (Ex) N7710 .M66 1620
Same author, same publisher, same photographer, and only three years apart but very different books. A recent acquisition helps to demonstrate how many photographically illustrated publications vary enormously from one to another. The negatives were created and hundreds of positive prints pasted into the volumes with little or no consistency. In the case of this book, the negatives may have been discarded or worn out and so, new photographs were taken of the same landmark views.
Wilson employed thirty assistants who were constantly printing, tinting, mounting and filling orders while Wilson traveled throughout Great Britain capturing picturesque views. His business flourished for more than twenty years, leaving dozens, if not hundreds, of variant editions of his books.
Walter Scott (1771-1832), The Lady of the Lake; with all his introductions, various readings, and the editor’s notes ; illustrated by numerous engravings on wood from drawings by Birket Foster and John Gilbert. Author’s ed. (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1869). Ten albumen silver prints by George Washington Wilson (1825-1893). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) TR647.W546 S36
Walter Scott (1771-1832), The Lady of the Lake (Edinburgh: A. and C. Black, [1866]). Eleven albumen prints by George Washington Wilson (1825-1893). Graphic Arts Collection GAX in process
“Perhaps there is not another name among the galaxy of bright stars in the photographic firmament that shines more brightly than that of George Washington Wilson, of Aberdeen, Scotland. Like the wise men of the East, have the photographic fraternity watched the brilliant effects which radiate from this photographic star. . . Mr. Wilson commenced his photographic career some twenty years ago. His first experience in connection with the art was in painting or coloring miniatures on ivory and paper. While engaged in this class of artistic labor he became greatly enamored with the photographic art. It dawned upon him one day that he must either advance with the tide or get drowned in the flood of photography, which was swelling up in the distance.”
“Another season he concluded to try his skill in the production of instantaneous views, and with this purport in view he lodged for a month or two, near one of those beautiful small lakes, which abound in Scotland, watching and waiting for a favorable opportunity, and whenever a prominent sunset view made its appearance, photographed it to the best of his ability. It was these sunset and cloud views that brought his name prominently before the photographic world. Although it has been nearly thirteen years since these cloud and sunset views were secured, the popular demand for them has not abated in the least. Only the day before Mr. Wilson sent us the negatives from which our illustration is printed, did he complete the filling of an order for forty-six dozen of those views. Since he made those cloud and sunset views, he has visited many famous places, and in many instances the same places have been visited over and over again, making new negatives and for the purpose of renewing old ones. –Richard Walzl, The Photographer’s Friend: A Practical, Independent Magazine, Devoted to the Photographic Art 2 (1872): 48-50.
Note the books illustrated in this religious broadside are only ones sold by the publisher of the sheet.
Francis Hoffman (active 1706-1750), The Heavenly Aurora, or, Dawn of Christ’s 1000 years reign [written, designed, and engraved by Hoffman] ([London]: Sold by B. Bragg in Pater Noster Row, [ca. 1710]). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) in process.
Very little is known about the writer and printmaker Francis Hoffman, who was active at the beginning of the 1700s. An attempt at a bibliography was published by Edward Solly in Walford’s Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographical Review (Vol. 9, 1886). “When I commenced this article, I had utterly failed to find any record of Francis Hoffman as a writer, and thought I should have to end by the admission that I could find no evidence of the existence of such a person in 1712; but, even as I write, I have, by one of those curious little accidents which used so much to please Horace Walpole, met with a piece of evidence which is highly suggestive, if not conclusive.
Having read the valuable bibliographical note by Mr. Buckley in Notes and Queries, October 31, 1885, on the first edition, of Gulliver’s Travels, 1726, it was natural to turn to copies of the book and examine them by the light of his notes. . . . Attention was drawn to the head-piece, [where] the artist had placed his initials in the centre of the two end flower ornaments, a thing by no means common in such head-pieces, and these initials were F. H. . . . [and] there was clearly at the foot of the altar, “F. Hoffman.”
The hint thus given soon led to further inquiry, and, on looking into Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters, 1816, vol. ii. p. 695, something like evidence was found. He says: ‘This artist was probably a native of Germany, but he resided in England about the year 1711. He engraved a plate representing the portraits of the Right Honourable Henry St. John, one of the principal Secretaries of State; the Right Honourable William Bromley, Speaker of the House of Commons; and the Right Honourable Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Underneath is a printed account of the transactions of the House of Commons for the year 1711. It is etched in a coarse tasteless style, and inscribed Francis Hoffman fecit aqua forte. In Mr. Gulstone’s Collection was a portrait of Francis Hoffman drawn and engraved by himself, in which he is styled the inventor of Ships with three bottoms.'”
Sully goes on to list a number of books enhanced with ornaments and engravings by Hoffman, including T. Warner, Dennis’s Remarks on Steele’s ‘Conscious Lovers’ (1723); W. Meadows, Heywood’s Poems (1724); H. Woodfull, Davys’s Works (1725); B. Lintot, Somerville’s Poems (1727); T. Astley, Mrs. Thomas’s Poems (1727); and C. Ackers, Ralph’s Poems (1729) among others.
See also: John Bunyan (1628-1688), The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is To Come . . . And now done into verse [by Francis Hoffman] (London: printed by R. Tookey, 1706). Rare Books (Ex) 3653.372.15
Francis Hoffman, Secret Transactions During the Hundred Days Mr. William Gregg Lay in Newgate (London: [s.n.], printed in the year 1711). Rare Books (Ex) 14454.471
Copies of this Paper may be had Gratis for posting on Church and Chapel boards.
Instruments of Torture in Use in English Convents ([London]: Published by the Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union… [no date, ca.1865]). Broadsheet, wood engraving & letterpress. Sheet size 755 x 500 mm (29¾ x 19¾ inches). Graphic Arts Collection GA2016- in process
Various scourges and belts supposedly used by Catholic nuns are displayed in this anti-Catholic propaganda broadside distributed free of charge by the Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union. “[The organization] had its start as the sponsor of public lectures by William Murphy, an itinerant lecturer whose violent anti-Catholic rhetoric kept England north of the Trent in an uproar from 1866 until his ultimately fatal beating in 1871. After the loss of its champion, the group continued a shadowy existence into the early 1900s, reprinting salacious tracts by Pierce Connelly, Blanco White, and Maria Monk.” –Denis G. Paz, Popular Anti-Catholicism in Mid-Victorian England (Stanford University Press, 1992).
See also: Monthly record of the Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union (London: Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union, 1871- ).
A report of a public discussion on transubstantiation held in Victoria Rooms, Doncaster, on Saturday, December 2nd, 1866, between Mr. William Murphy, the Protestant Electoral Union, London, and Mr. Saynor, Roman Catholic of Leeds (London: Published at the Offices of the Protestant Electoral Union, 1866).
Howard Samuel Eckels (born 1865), Eckel’s Anatomical Aid. First edition (Philadelphia: H. S. Eckels & Co., no date [ca. 1903]). Oblong folio wallet with leaves mounted on guards, chromolithographic flaps. The signature of ‘Owen L Walker’ is at head of the front pastedown.
Eckel’s anatomical aid with moveable flaps was produced specifically for the use of embalmers. Beginning with “The Body” (ten flaps), the user is then introduced to “The Head” (three flaps), the “Eye and Ear” (eight flaps in all), the “Skeleton,” the “Transverse section of the neck in region where the carotid arteries are raised,” the “Muscles, Veins Arteries and Nerves,” the “Transverse section of the leg in region where the femoral artery is usually raised,” a “Diagram of the Nervous System,” the “Organs of the Thoracic and Abdominal Cavities,” “Blood Formation, Absorption and Circulation,” “Reproduction of Original Arterial System,” concluding with “Sections of Upper and Lower Extremities” (ten flaps in all).
Eckel’s first published his anatomical aid in conjunction with an accompanying volume of text, The Practical Embalmer, though both stand alone and are rarely found together in contemporary collections. The format was possibly inspired by, and may even have obtained the plates for, David Graham and James Knox’s Embalmers’ Anatomical Aid (1884), or from Ira E. Bunn & Company’s Physicians’ Anatomical Aid (ca. 1890).
Bourne Hall Draper (1775-1843), Scientific Conversation Cards (London?, no date]. 53 pink cards printed in letterpress housed within the original ribbed pink and green paper slip case. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2016- in process.
Dealer’s note: “A scarce educational card game, intended not only to impart information, ‘but [so] that persons may be induced to think for themselves’. Listed in the 1834 issue of the Monthly Literary Advertiser, and the 1835 January-April issue of the Metropolitan magazine, the game was the brain child of Reverend B. H. Draper.”
“According to the rules, the cards were to be distributed ‘in equal proportions to the company. Then let a question be read; and, when all have given their thoughts on it, let the card answering to the number of the question be produced and read’”
An ordained Baptist minister, Bourne Hall Draper was the author of a number of books for children including The Juvenile Naturalist (1839), Bible Illustrations (1831) and The Youths’ Instructer (Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1830). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Hamilton 1674(b)
A search of the collection uncovers several other sets of conversation cards, suggesting that Draper was not the inventor of the game. Geographical conversation (London: John Wallis, 1799. (CTSN) 7186278); Instructive conversation cards (London: W. Darton, 1813. (CTSN) Cards 23152); and Conversation cards or pleasing pastimes ([England. ca. 1815?]. (CTSN) Cards 17027).
Isaac Taylor (1730-1807) after design by Reverend John Clark, The Golden Chain of Salvation (Published as the Act directs March 1, 1776 by the Rev. J. Clark). Engraved broadside. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2016- in process
At the bottom of this illustrated broadside are two columns of printed text explaining the biblical allegory taken from the verse: Romans 8: 29-30. The journey to salvation is depicted as a chain of interlinking circles. According to the Dictionary of National Biography Isaac Taylor (1730–1807), “worked successively as a brassfounder, a silversmith, and a surveyor, owing this versatility to his father, who cast a chandelier for the Worcester town-hall in successful competition with a Birmingham firm, and who also engraved cards for tradesmen and silver plate for the county families.”
“About 1752 Isaac, thinking himself ill-used at home, made his way to London, walking by the side of a wagon. He found employment first at a silversmith’s, and then with Thomas Jefferys, the geographer, at the corner of St. Martin’s Lane. Under his guidance he executed a number of plates for the Gentleman’s Magazine. He gradually concentrated his attention upon book illustration, among the first that he illustrated being Owen’s Dictionary and Andrew Tooke’s Pantheon. Soon after its incorporation, in January 1765, Taylor was admitted a fellow of the Society of Artists, and in 1774 he was appointed secretary as successor to John Hamilton, being the third to hold that post.”
The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired an unsigned folio broadside for an Oath of Allegiance to King George II dated 1747. The Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue lists six printings of the oath, only two dated (1700 and 1702).
George II, King of Great Britain (1683-1760) was the only son of George I. His reign as King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire lasted from 1727 to his death in 1760.
“I A.B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King George. So help me God.
I A.B. do swear, that I do from my Heart abhor, destest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable Doctrine and Posit ion, that Princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or any Authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects, or any other whatsoever.
And I do declare, that no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Preeminence, or Authority, ecclesiastical or spritiual, within this Realm.
So help me God. London: Printed by Thomas Baskett, Printer to the King’s most excellent Majesty; and by the Assigns of Robert Baskett. 1747.”
Watermark
James Granger (1723-1776), A Biographical History of England (London: Printed by the illustrator, [1856]). Rare Books (Ex) Oversize 1497.4055.12q v.23