The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          John Davis Hatch                                             

Title:               Collection

Dates:             1801-ca.1950

Call No.:         Col. 331          

Acc. No.:         75x82, 64x110

Quantity:        1 box, 1 folder, and 2 volumes

Location:        30 E 1

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

John Davis Hatch was an art historian, collector, and art consultant, originally from Lenox, Massachusetts.  He served as the director of several institutions during his career, including the Norfolk (Virginia) Museum.  His specialty was American art. 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The collection consists of letters, sketches, research notes, and miscellaneous documents both by and about American artists.  The items serve to trace the development of American painting.  Some of the materials include instructions for how to do certain kinds of paintings and recipes for making paints and crayons.

 

At one time the manuscript items were merged with the letters in the Carson Autograph Collection (Col. 66).  The collection was then reconstructed; however, its integrity is questionable.  More than six hundred books owned by Hatch accompanied the manuscripts; these were transferred to the Printed Books and Periodicals Department of the library.  The books collected by Hatch bear his bookplate, but are interfiled with the rest of the book collection, not shelved separately.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The collection is organized into several series: letters, illustrations, research notes, financial documents, and miscellaneous.  Items within each series are arranged by artist’s last name.  A folder of oversized materials and 2 volumes come at the end of the collection.  

 

 

PROVENANCE

 

Gift of Louise du Pont Crowninshield.

 

Edward Greene Malbone account book gift of John Davis Hatch.

 

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

(Note: attached to the Downs Collection copy of this inventory is an index to names in the collection and a name index to the Malbone account book, which is in Folder 15)

 

            People:

                        Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822-1888

                        Tice, Clara.

                        Nast, Thomas, 1840-1902.

                        Sartain, John, 1808-1897.

                        Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784.

                        Mount, William Sidney, 1807-1868 - Biography.

                        Sawyer, Charles - Biography.

                       

            Topics:

            Artists - History - 19th century.

            Art - Collectors and collecting.

            Painting - Technique.

            Women in art.

            Men in art.

            Art, American.

            Letters.

            Notes.

            Sketches.

            Receipts.

            Artists.

            Painters.

            Art historians.

            Art collectors.


 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 30 E 1

 

(Note: all accession numbers begin with 75x082, unless otherwise noted)

 

 

Folder 1: Letters

 

.1         A.L. Bancroft & Co. to Alfred Stebbins, Dec. 25, 1871, San Francisco.  Wishing him seasons greetings.

 

.2         Alan S. Cole to Mr. Grasberger, London, England, n.d.  Regarding a watercolor drawing by Thackeray, with a rough sketch of it.

 

.3         F.O.C. Darley to Mrs. Cushman, Jan. 1855, Claymont, De.  Declining an invitation.

 

.5         Francis Gourand to Sir, May 20, 1840, Providence, R.I. Regarding a display of French daguerreotype drawings.

 

.14       Mr. Grasberger from Emil Orlik, New York, N.Y., n.d.  Regarding a portrait.  Written on letterhead from the Hotel Majestic, with an engraving of the hotel.

 

.15       C.H. from Robert Reid, n.d.  About a photograph of him and his studio.

 

.16       Peter Frederick Rothermal (historical and portrait painter) to George H. Cushman, n.d.  About visiting.

 

 

Folder 2: Letters

 

.21       J.C. from Walter A. Taylor, Philadelphia, Pa., March 10, 1920.  Regarding a check for a subscription.

 

.22a-b  George from Clara Tice, Brooklyn, n.d.  Two letters regarding prints.

 

.22c     Colonel from Clara Tice, n.d.  Regarding a book he sent to her.  On stationary with a pencil sketch of nude women in various poses.

 

.23       Grasberger from Walter Title, New York, Nov. 23, 1932.  Regarding matting prints.

 

.25       From Charles Amedee Phillippe Van Loo (painter) Paris, 1780.  In French.

 

 

Folder 3: Letters

 

.26       L.E. Jones from J.Q.A. Ward (artist) New York, N.Y., 1882.  Regarding the sculptor Henry Kirke Brown.

 

.27       From Otto Weber (artist) Nice, France, n.d.  in French.

 

.28       Carter Hale from Harrison Weir (artist), Staplehurst, Kent, England, Sept. 11, 1878.  About a drawing.

 

.29       Dr. E.F. Strickland from Robert Walter Weir (landscape, portrait, and genre painter), New York, Jan. 29, 1886.  Regarding a photograph.

 

.30       Mrs. Mann from James Abbott McNeill Whistler (portrait, figure, and landscape painter), Paris, n.d.  Thanking her for advice.

 

.32       To Edward J. Kuntze, England, 1860.  Regarding an apology for printing an inappropriate photograph.

 

 

 

Folder 4: Letters of Daniel Huntington

 

.7         Letters (12) written by Daniel Huntington to various individuals.

 

            The content of the letters varies, but included are an expression of Huntington's religious views, his comments on exhibitions and works by other artists, information on happenings at the National Academy, and a note excusing his nephew from college.  One of the letters was written to John Sartain and is about a portrait.

 

 

 

Folders 5-7: Letters of W.E. Norton

 

.13       Letters (38) from W.E. Norton (marine painter) to Frank T. Robinson, 1875‑1880.

 

            Consists of 38 letters written from Norton to Robbie (Frank T. Robinson) from 1875 to 1880.  Taken together, they chronicle Norton's life in Paris and his travels to London and elsewhere during the five year period.  While many of the letters are social in nature, they also describe painting and  drawing techniques, studies for painting, art exhibitions, and Robinson's work as a newspaper publisher.

 

 

 

 

 

Folder 8: Illustrations

 

.12a-c  Sketches (3) by Thomas Nast, ca. 1879.  Two are self-portraits and one is a brownie-like figure.

 

 

Folder 9: Illustrations

 

.10       Sketch by Anna Lea Merritt (artist) after George Richmond of a gentleman, perhaps Gilbert Scott, 1879.

 

.17       Engraving of John Sartain by M.A. Root.

 

.18       Sketch of a boy by Edward Simmons.

 

.31       Sketches of four individuals (on one sheet of paper)  by an unidentified artist.  Captions under each sketch suggest an English origin.

 

 

Folders 10-12: Research notes

 

.11       Typescript, notes, and correspondence regarding William S. Mount.  Includes biographical information, transcriptions of some of his letters, a list of his portraits, and his comments on Rembrandt.

 

 

Folders 13: Research notes

.18       Typescript of the final draft of an article about Charles Sawyer entitled "Naturalism in America."

 

 

Folder 14: Financial documents: John Evers Notebook, 1848-1853

 

.4         John Evers Notebook, 1848-1853:

            This volume was used by Evers to record instructions, recipes, and other artistic techniques along with costs for painting murals and other scenes. Included are instructions for painting on glass, notes on "prepared colors" and "transparent colors," the ingredients of cement for picture ornaments, and  descriptions for making flexible paint for canvas, crayons to draw on glass, landscape paintings, cloud tints, and trees.  Entries documenting works created by Evers indicate that he charged customers by the hour and contain the name of the customer and the title of the work.  For example, he painted a "Diorama of Creation" for W.H. Harrington.

 

 

Folder 15: Financial documents: Edward Green Malbone account book and register of portraits, 1794-1807

 

.9         Malbone, Edward Greene.  Account book and register of portraits, 1794‑1807: 

            Records Malbone's expenditures and money received from 1794 to 1807 along with lists of pictures painted in 1794 and 1795, with the names of the sitters as well as the amounts paid for the portraits.  Purchases of such items as pictures, glasses, frames, carpet, furniture, shoes, hats, wine, and wood are noted.  Also included are receipts for lodging and a listing of expenses associated with a trip from Charleston, S.C. to New York.  Income from miniature sittings is recorded among the expenses.  The back page of the volume features a pencil and a pen and ink sketch.  Both are of men's bust, but opposite profiles are depicted.

 

 

 

Folder 16: Miscellaneous

 

.6a-b    Invitation from Robert Ball Hughes (sculptor and wax-portraitist) to Col. Trumbull to see a monument in memory of Bishop Hobart, New York, N.Y.  Also a bill from Hughes to Trumble regarding a marble bust, 1833.

 

.24       Receipt to John Trumbull from Rufus for bringing boxes from Boston, Dec. 23, 1818.

 

 

Folder 17: Miscellaneous (oversize)

 

.8         Inventory of the estate of Samuel Johnson, painter, Philadelphia, Pa., 1755.  Includes house furnishings, kitchen items, and articles of clothing.

 

.33       Manuscript notes in Dutch regarding Sara Bayard and others.

 

 

 

Volumes 1 and 2

 

(note: these are accession number 64x110)

 

Alfred Stebbins autograph collection, 1834‑1872.

 

            Consists of letters, autographs, reproductions of pictures, and photographs of artists solicited by Stebbins and pasted in his copy of Henry T. Tuckerman's Book of the Artists: American Artists Life … (2 v.   New York: G.P. Putnam & Son, 1867).  Among the artists are Christopher P. Cranch,  F.O.C. Darley, Sanford R. Gifford, Eastman Johnson, Miner K. Kellogg, John F. Kensett, Jervis McEntee, Samuel F.B. Morse, Thomas Nast, Erastus D. Palmer,  George H. Smillie, John Vanderlyn and Worthington Whittredge.  The volumes were specially bound for Stebbins in San Francisco in order to accommodate his collection.