Description

259. Bettina A. Norton, “Benjamin and Samuel Blyth’s Roles in Printmaking,” Vol. 44, No. 1 (Spring 2019), 2-23, 15 illus.

Bettina Norton’s examination of impressions of Revolutionary War era portraits by the brothers Benjamin Blyth (1746-1811) and Samuel Blyth (1744-1796 reveal their reworking of plates and complex relationships between artists, engravers, and publishers. The Blyth brothers worked in Salem, Massachusetts, from the mid-1770s to the early 1780s, and participated in producing mezzotints and one pair of engravings.

260. James S. Brust, “Nineteenth-Century Historical and Popular Prints Reproduced on Vintage Carte de Visite Photographs,” Vol. 44, No. 1 (Spring 2019), 24-54, 108 illus.

For many years, James S. Brust has been exploring the relationship between the carte de visite, a small card-mounted photograph popular during the 1860s and 1870s, and prints produced for the general market of that time. His article demonstrates the multiple iterations of popular imagery in the mid-nineteenth century. Traditionally, a painting that was well-received would be copied as an engraving or lithograph, creating relatively inexpensive multiple copies to be sold. After the invention of photography, the carte de visite took this a step further, enabling everyone to amass their own personal art collection for a price so low that the pictures could be acquired, traded, or discarded at whim.