Engravings and Lithographs
Although lithographs and pre-1821 engravings are
cataloged, later engravings are arranged by subject and by size.
Among the major divisions are the following: United
States views,
portraits of Americans active through 1900,
Hawaiian engravings,
nineteenth-century engravings generally removed
from books and periodicals (arranged by the name of the engraver),
historical scenes, religious subjects, and
English political
prints.
The emphasis on the collection of American engravings has
always been on the works of colonial engravers, particularly those
active in New England, more specifically, Boston. The formation of
this portion of the collection dates back to the bequest of William
Bentley, a Salem clergyman. After his death in 1819, his paintings
and prints came to the Society. Bentley was particularly interested
in portraits, and many of our Peter Pelham mezzotints dating from
the first half of the eighteenth century, as well as about a dozen
chalk drawings by Samuel Harris (d. 1810), came from his
collection. The woodcut portrait of Richard Mather (the earliest
American portrait print) also adorned the walls of Bentley's home
in Salem. Other early prints, including portraits of the first six
presidents of the United States, came from the Society's founder Isaiah
Thomas after his death in 1831.
Clarence S. Brigham compiled the definitive work on the
engravings of Paul Revere, which the Society published in 1954.
During the years leading up to the publication of this monograph,
Brigham scouted out impressions of Revere's engravings until the
Society had at least one of each, except for the portrait of
Jonathan Mayhew. Since then, three engravings by Revere have
surfaced; AAS has impressions of two (a meeting notice for the
Relief Fire Society and the bookplate of John Butler) but not of
the other (a billhead for Mr. John Piemont, owned by the town of
Danvers, Massachusetts). The Society has holdings almost as strong
for other major Boston engravers of the eighteenth century--James
Turner, Nathaniel Hurd, and Thomas
Johnston. Like Revere, these
craftsmen engraved maps, bookplates, currency, membership
certificates, book illustrations, and political prints.
With generous gifts from member Jay T. Last, nineteenth-century engravings
have
become an important collection. Portrait prints, city and town views, and
reproductive engravings of historical and genre paintings have been
acquired in substantial numbers.
Access to American engravings and book illustrations issued
before 1821 has been greatly improved by
a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the
H.W. Wilson Foundation, the Getty Trust, and several individuals.
The Catalogue of American Engravings Project has located and
described some 16,800 engravings in the collections of the Society
and in libraries and museums across the country.
The Catalogue of American Engravings is
available online. Georgia
B. Barnhill described this resource in "The Catalogue of American
Engravings: A Manual for
Users" published in volume 108 of the Proceedings.
The lithograph collection was established as a separate entity
within the department in 1928, when Charles H. Taylor, publisher of
the Boston Globe and one of the Society's most generous donors,
gave AAS his lithograph collection. He continued to give the
Society hundreds of lithographed items each year, especially prints
and illustrated books. There are approximately 6,000 separately
cataloged lithographs. The catalog for this collection has been
expanded to reflect new acquisitions and segments of other
collections that have been integrated into the lithograph
collection including panoramic views, portraits, circus posters,
and political cartoons. The online catalog provides access to this
significant collection, supplying information about the content
and iconography of prints, creators, publishers, and copyright
holders.
Taylor also donated books illustrated with lithographs. These
volumes have been indexed by lithographer and by subject. Although
additions are not made to this index, it remains a useful reference
tool to those interested in lithographs by a specific firm.
In recent years, the purpose of additions to the lithograph
collection has been to acquire lithographs with significant historical
content, whether political, social, or cultural. Following
Taylor's own collecting interests, the Society still tries to
obtain the products of the early Boston lithographic presses--those
of the Pendletons, Thomas Moore, and John H. Bufford. Gifts from Jay
T. Last have enriched this collection and have enabled AAS to acquire
prints of American subject matter published abroad, such as views and
reproductions of American paintings.
Important collections that should be mentioned include the Cross Familiy
Art Archive, the Dubois Family Collection, the
David Claypoole Johnston
Collection,
the Thomas and Eno Collection, Art Union
Prints, and the Prang Collection.
The segments of the print collection can be used by scholars
who have various interests. Documenting the physical aspects of
cities and towns, understanding land use, examining architectural
features of specific buildings are possible by examining views of
the United States, whether engraved, lithographed, or photographed.
Illustrations of familial relationships, rural and urban pastimes,
trades and occupations, for example, can be located through the
catalog to the lithograph collection, making that collection
useful to historians and picture researchers from many disciplines.
Because of the thorough cataloging of the lithographs, art
historians can trace the careers of specific designers and
lithographers with ease.
- Georgia B. Barnhill, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Graphic Arts
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The collection of American engravings includes Emancipation. Glorious
First of August 1834, a mezzotint engraved by Stephen H. Gimber after
a
painting by the British artist Alexander Rippingale. This print
celebrates the end of slavery in the British West Indies and was published
in New York by the American Antislavery Office.
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Paul Revere's The Bloody Massacre is the best-known American
print. A
contemporary image of the seminal event that led to the American
Revolution, this print inflamed patriotic passions in Boston in 1770. AAS
has an almost complete collection of Revere's engravings.
The Presentation of a Gold Snuff Box to the Rev. R.J. Breckenridge,
D.D.
Baltimore, 1846.
This lithograph celebrates the advocacy efforts of the Reverend Robert
Jefferson Breckenridge, a lawyer, politician, and minister.
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For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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