Description

23. Baragwanath, A. K. “The Print Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.” Vol. 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1979), 18-20.

Founded in 1929, the print collection of the Museum of the City of New York focuses on the iconography of the City, attempting to collect every view published. At the time this article was written, the collection included about 6,800 prints including Harry T. Peters’ collection of lithographs by Currier & Ives donated in the 1950s. There are also about 200,000 photographs and negatives and thousands of reproductions and uncatalogued images.

24. Looney, Robert F. “Thomas Doughty, Printmaker.” Vol. 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1979), 2-10.

Although Thomas Doughty (1793-1856) is recognized as a painter of landscapes, his work as a printmaker is not well known. Looney focuses on Doughty’s contributions to The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports published in Philadelphia in 1830-31 and on several separately published prints. Looney provides the outlines of Doughty’s life and discusses several engravings for gift books that reproduced Doughty’s early landscapes and views. The Cabinet was published by Doughty and his brother John until John Doughty published it on his own beginning in 1833. Looney documents Thomas’s role in producing the illustrations for this magazine. This is a reprint of his essay in Philadelphia Printmaking (1976).

25. Telian, Diane M. “The Print Collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.” Vol. 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1979), 21-25.

Some of the highlights of the print collection of the Historical Society are presented in this article. Mentioned are William Birch’s Philadelphia views, William S. Baker’s Washingtoniana Collection, ink and wash drawings by Benjamin West, lithographs, and twentieth-century prints by Joseph Pennell and Henry Pullinger. The Society also has rich holdings of maps, photographs, and architectural plans.

26. Ugast, Ann. “American Pictorial Lettersheets.” Vol. 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1979), 2-10.

Lettersheets were issued to comply with postal regulations promulgated about 1845. Some publishers, particularly Charles Magnus of New York and many California stationers, included illustrations on the lettersheets to increase their commercial appeal. Most were produced lithographically in black and white, but occasionally colors were added. Of particular interest are the lettersheets issued in California depicting the Gold Rush. Ugast provides sketches of the firms that issued most of these fascinating pictorial vignettes.