The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

                                   

Title:               American Artists’ Autographs                       

Dates:             1816-1960

Call No.:         Col. 425         

Acc. No.:        64x36, 64x37, 99x147.2, 09x113, 12x168

Quantity:        1 box

Location:        9 C 3; map case D, drawer 5

 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The focus of this collection is autographs of American artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Many of the autographs are from lesser-known artists, although some are from well-known names.  The autographs appear on letters, sketches, drawings, watercolors, business cards, and postcards.  Many of the letters are addressed to members of the Pratt family of Brooklyn, New York, who founded the Pratt Institute.  The collection also includes photographs of artists’ signatures as found on paintings.

 

As well, the collection includes some autographs of musicians, politicians, authors, and a cabinetmaker; many of these were collected by an unknown person in Los Angeles.  This person also collected some artists’ autographs, and a few of these are accompanied by sketches or watercolors.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

           

The autographs are arranged in three groups: the signatures collected by someone from Los Angeles, some accompanied by sketches (acc. 64x36); the letters from artists, in alphabetical order; and the photos of signatures, also in alphabetical order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.  The photographs of signatures can only be reproduced with the permission of the owner of the painting.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Charles Hamilton and from Scott Petersen.

Accession 09x113 transferred from DAPC.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

See also the John Trumbull Papers (Col. 391) and the John La Farge Papers (Col. 443) at this repository.

 

See also Doc. 536, an album with photographs and autographs of American and European artists.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Pratt, Frederic B. (Frederic Bayley), 1865-1945.

                        Pratt, Charles.

                        Pratt, Herbert L.

                        Church, Frederic Edwin, 1826-1900

                        Crawford, Thomas, 1813 or 14-1857.

                        Dougherty, Paul, 1877-1947.

                        Edwards, George Wharton, 1859-1950.

                        Flagg, James Montgomery, 1877-1960.

                        Fraser, James Earle.

                        Hunt, Leigh H. (Leigh Harrison), 1858-1937.

                        Kemble, E. W. (Edward Windsor), 1861-1933.

                        Kent, Rockwell, 1882-1971.

                        La Farge, John, 1835-1910.

                        Leutze, Emanuel, 1816-1868.

                        MacManus, Seumas, 1869-1960.

                        Rhead, Louis, 1857-1926.

                        Moses, Grandma, 1860-1961.

                        Searles, Victor A.

                        Schurman, Jacob Gould, 1854-1942.

                        Seymour, Thomas, 1771-1848.

Shaw, Samuel T., 1861-1945.

                        Spicer-Simson, Theodore.

                        Stevens, Gorham Phillips, b. 1876.

                        Trumbull, John, 1756-1843.

 

Topics:

            Salmagundi Club.

            Artists - Autographs.

            Artists – California.

            Artists – United States.

            Musicians – Autographs.

            Politicians – Autographs.

            Authors – Autographs.

            Sketches.

            Watercolor painting.

            Drawings.

            Letters.

            Autographs.

 

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 9 C 3; map case D, drawer 5

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:

 

64x36.1-.16     Autographs of artists, musicians, writers, politicians, and others, some with watercolors, sketches, or music, mostly from Los Angeles, 1904-1925. 

                        Apparently, many of the sketches were done in books (perhaps guest books) which have now been disassembled. 

                        Many of the names are difficult to read.  Those which are legible are as follows:

 

                        Gutzon Borglum (with sketch of ox and cow, San ‘ton, Tex., Nov. 13, 1925);

                        Emil Orlik (inscribed to Lisa Bodanzky, Japanese scene, Jan. 20, 1924);

                        Kyd (“The Patriarch” from Little Dorrit; Kyd was the artistic signature of Joseph Clayton Clark, a British artist noted for his illustrations of Dickens’ works);

                        R. J. Sterrett (man with gun and bear listening to a bird);

                        Lyman J. Gage (banker, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury);

                        Emil Sauer (25th April 99; Emil von Sauer, German composer),

                        Tina Lerner (Russian pianist);

                        Fritz Kreisler (Los Angeles, March 4, 08; a violinist);

                        Anton Molkenboer (“Detail of the Figur Wisdom,” with inscription to Miss Mathilda Baruch, Los Angeles, Juin 1908);

                        Beatrice, Baroness [illegible, with German phrase];

                        Teresa Carreno (Los Angeles, March 1901;Venezuelan pianist);

                        Shaban Bey Gotsha (drawing of head of woman with long black hair, Los Angeles, 26 Dec.(?) 1908; an Albanian prince and military engineer);

                        Rene T. de Quelin (watercolor, poem, includes his signature and a monogram signature; head designer of Tiffany glass studio and an artist in his own right);

                        Gertrude Atherton (1909; author);

                        Marie Berthe Roy (30 janvier 1900);

                        Josef Lhe[illegible] (with two bars of music, Godard, “En route,”, Los Angles, 3-3-09);

                        Ben.(?) Buckelman(?);

                        Marie van Cantereu(?);

                        Lulu Glaser (1908; an actress in the early 20th century musical theater);

                        Clyde Fitch (1909; a playwright);

                        David Graham Phillips (Feb. 1909; journalist and novelist);

                        Berhevy(?) (“Things One Meets in Vadueville,”12 caricatures of men, including an African American, a clown, an Irish man);

                        W. J. Bryan (with postmark Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 5, 1908);

                        David Starr Jordan (scientist, university president);

                        M. A. Hanna (U.S. senator from Ohio);

                        Aug. [illegible];

                        [illegible name];

                        Richard Kruger (watercolor of trees and hills, 1908; American artist);

                        Richard Mansfield (pen sketch of mountains and shrubs,1905; actor who had studied painting);

                        Hobart Bosworth (desert scene, 1907; actor, movie director, had studied art);

                        Joseph Greenbaum(?) (Oct. 15, 1907, bespectacled man looking at bottle, saying something in German; American painter);

                        Richard Pearson Hobson, May 10, 08 (Rear Admiral and Congressman from Alabama);

                        Frederic Belasco, Oct. 27, 08 (theater manager in California);

                        Marcella Lembrick, Los Angeles, Dec. 1909 (concert singer);

                        James Swinnerton (sketch of boy holding a ball, Swinnerton 09; written on back: “Little Jimmy”) (artist and first newspaper comic artist);

                        F. Opper (Jan. 13, 09, caricature of a man; written on back: “Happy Hooligan”; Frederick Burr Opper, cartoonist);

                        Prince Shaban (watercolor: head of a bearded man);

                        Gordon Grant, Jan. 23, 38, to Louis Hollister (with sketch of sailboat; illustrator)

 

Folders 2-45: (one artist per folder, arranged alphabetically):

                          

64x37.1           Alda, Frances

                        [operatic soprano]

                        thank you letter to unknown newspaperman for a fair notice of her work, New York, no date, on stationery for The Ansonia

                       

64x37.2           Blashfield, Albert D.

                        [American illustrator]

                        signature from letter, with sketch of man with red nose blowing smoke rings

 

64x37.3           Brauner, Olaf M.

                        [professor of art at Cornell]

                        Letter, Ithaca, July 3, 1902, to Mrs. Pratt, his young child is very sick; arranging time to do Mrs. Pratt’s portrait; mentions portrait of Mrs. Adams

 

64x37.4           Bulfinch, Charles

                        [architect]

                        Letter, Boston, April 18, 1837, to Charles Russell, Princeton, Mass., about a petition to incorporate the N.W. Coast discovery company

 

64x37.5           Carter, Pruett

                        [illustrator, teacher]

                        letter, May 3, 1934, to Eltonhead(?), about the layout of an illustration, with sketch

 

99x147.2         Church, Frederic E.

                        [artist]

                        signature from letter

 

64x37.49         Clarke, Caspar Purdon

                        [director, Metropolitan Museum of Art]

                        typed letter, signed, Jan. 16, 1908, to Mr. Frederick B. Pratt, Pratt Institute, forwarding a photo of a Titian painting, on Metropolitan Museum stationery

 

64x37.56         Corbett, Gail Sherman

                        [artist]

                        Letter, April 27, 1903(?), to Mrs. Pratt, about the cost of a sundial, to include a little figure in bronze, signed Gail Sherman

 

64x37.7           Crawford, Thomas

                        [sculptor]

                        Note to Mr. Green, asking Green to send something to him, no date

 

64x37.6           De Cordoba, Mathilde

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, Feb. 9, 1916, to Mrs. Pratt, about commission to paint portraits of children; appreciates Mrs. Pratt’s support; Dorothy’s etching purchased by Congressional Library

 

64x37.8           Dewey, Charles Melville

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, New York, no date, to Mr. Pratt; invitation to come view his work

 

64x37.9           Dewing, T.W. [Thomas Wilmer]

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, April 16, no year, to Geo D. Pratt, Mrs. Twatchman has some paintings she is willing to show Mr. Pratt; will sell them eventually

 

64x37.10         Dougherty, Paul

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, New York, Jan. 5, 1907, to H. Adams, Editorial Rooms, [illegible] Life; has no photos of his work in the Academy of Design exhibition, but the Academy may be able to supply photos

 

64x37.11-.18   Edwards, George Wharton

                        [engraver, illuminator]

                        8 letters, 5 addressed to Mrs. Pratt, 3 to Mr. Pratt, mostly on stationery of The National Arts Club, New York, 1903-1904 and undated; about illumination of a wedding certificate, printing a book on vellum, the possibility of doing a “Book of Hours,” and his panel painting of Henry Hudson to be installed at West Point

 

64x37.19-.20   Flagg, James Montgomery

                        [illustrator, artist, author]

                        Letter, March 4, 1936, to Mr. Munson(?), about writing a short introduction to a brochure on illustration;

                        Specifications for how to draw “beautiful neck and arms”

 

64x37.21-.23   Fraser, James Earle

                        [American medalist and sculptor]

                        3 letters to Mrs. George Pratt, New York City, April and October 1906 and Dec. 1908, about busts of children, a medal, a sculpture(?) of  mountain sheep, also mentions doing a bust of President Theodore Roosevelt

 

64x37.24         Fuller, Lucia Fairchild

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, Jan. 22, 1912, Hotel Bellevue, Boston, to Mrs. Pratt, prices for painting a miniature

 

64x37.25         Gaugengigl, I. M. [Ignanz Marcel]

                        [German painter]

                        Letter, no date, to Mr. Brauner, very glad to receive a visit from him or the Pratts

 

64x37.27         Guetary, P.G.

                        [probably Pedro G. Guetary, the Spanish tenor, who was also probably the same P.G. Guetary who wrote the music for the comic opera “The Pride of Spain,” with lyrics by S.L. Gleinster]

                        Postcard with printed New Year greetings, addressed to H. Adams, Brooklyn, with New Year greetings written in Spanish, postmarked Brooklyn, Dec. 30, 1908

 

64x37.28-.29   Hassam, Childe

                        [American artist]

                        Letters, to Mr. Pratt (1907) and to Mr. and Mrs. Pratt (1914), inviting them to come see some of his art, including a decoration made for the library of Mr. C. E. S. Wood

 

64x37.30-.32   Hills, Laura Coombs

                        [American painter and miniaturist]

                        Letters, Boston and Newburyport, 1902-1903, to Mr. and Mrs. Pratt, mentions painting a miniature of Mrs. Pratt

 

64x37.33         Inness, George

                        [American painter]

                        Letter, Montclair, N. J., 1886 (no month, no date), to Edgar F. Gladwin, about Greek art, mentioning Elgin marbles

 

64x37.34         Jacob, Leonard

                        [wealthy New Yorker, married to Emma Lawrence]

                        Letter, New York, no date, to Mrs. Pratt, encloses a copy of patent or deed to East Island; Pratt house is built “within the precincts of this patent, and I think you can rightfully call it ‘Killenworth’ if you elect to do so.”

 

64x37.35-.36   Kemble, E.W. [Edward Windsor]

                        [illustrator and author]

                        Letters, 1887 to Mr. Johnston (apology for a late payment), and 1910 to Gus (had a very pleasant visit – “seemed like old times”)

 

64x37.40-.43   Kendall, William Sergeant

                        [painter]

                        letters and signature from a letter, 1897-1898, 1915, to Mrs. Pratt, about a drawing; about selecting a frame for “Amber Beads”

 

64x37.37-.39   Kent, Rockwell

                        [painter, illustrator, graphic artist]

                        typed letters, signed, 1931 (to Philip W. Lowry, New York, wants his originals back for an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum); 1957 (to Alton F. Davis, Shaker Heights, Ohio, thanks for a booklet Davis sent at Christmas); and 1960 (to Mr. Trombly’s Fifth Grade, about freedom for artists and writers)

 

64x37.44         La Farge, John

                        [painter and author]

                        Letter, July 1, 1909, New York, to Mr. N. U. Johnson, about talking to Mr. Johnson about the Academy

 

64x37.45         Leutze, Emanuel

                        [painter, born in Germany, active in the U.S.]

                        Letter, Jan. 16, 1862, Washington, to L.J. Cist, St. Louis, sending his address

 

64x37.46         MacManus, Seumas

                        [Irish writer and story-teller]

                        Postcard, to Miss Lord, Librarian, Pratt Institute, postmarked Jan. 21, 1909, can give her an hour next Tuesday evening

 

64x37.51         Moses, “Grandma” Anna Maria Robertson

                        [artist]

                        maiden name written on back of a copy of a photograph of her at age 4, with note “signed by Grandma Moses”

 

64x37.47         Myers, Jerome

                        [painter and printmaker]

                        Letter, March 30, 1915, to Mr. Pratt, invitation to his exhibit of drawings and pastels at Ehrich Galleries

 

64x37.48         Osborne, Duffield

                        [author, Samuel Duffield Osborne]

                        letter; Oct. 16, 1901, to Mrs. Pratt, about how to obtain a past issue of Harpers with Helen Sherman’s article

 

64x37.50         Rhead, Louis J.

                        [painter and illustrator]

                        letter, Brooklyn, no date, to unknown person, about a illustrated copy of Tennyson’s “Idyls of the King” presented to Queen Victoria, and about his upcoming plans to illustrate Shakespeare, Boccaccio, and others;

                        calling card from Henry Sherman Adams, used to introduce Louis Rhead, “artist & expert angler”

 

64x37.26         Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

                        [sculptor]

                        Letter, 1903, to John Flanagan, setting an engagement

 

64x37.52         Sanus[?]

                        [name uncertain; signature only]

 

64x37.54         Schurman, Jacob Gould

                        [president of Cornell University]

                        Letter, July 8, 1904, to Mr. Trowbridge, about hiring a professor of design for Trowbridge’s alma mater

 

64x37.53         Searles, Victor A.

                        [illustrator]

                        Letter, March 15, 1895, Boston, to Mr. Hardy, about illustrations for a book for Mr. Hardy

 

12x168            Seymour, Thos.

                        [presumably this is from the cabinetmaker Thomas Seymour (1771-1848) of Boston]

                        Signature removed from a document

 

64x37.55         Shannon, J.(?)

                        [if the signature is J.J. Shannon, then this was artist James Jebusa Shannon (1862-1923), born in New York but worked in London]

                        letter; Aug. 16, 1907(?), to Mrs. Pratt, mentions portraits and hope to travel to New York in November

 

64x37.57         Shrady, Henry Merwin

                        [sculptor]
his initials on an invitation from Roman Bronze Works of Brooklyn to view a sculpture by Shrady cast for the General Grant Monument in Washington

 

64x37.58         Spicer-Simson, Theodore

                        [sculptor and medalist]

                        Letter, Paris, Jan. 23, 1903, to Mr. Trowbridge, with news of American artists and Americans in Paris

                        [note: in this letter, Spicer-Simson refers to Mr. Trowbridge’s brother Alex, an architect, dean of School of Architecture at Cornell University, and brother-in-law of George Pratt]

 

64x37.59-.61   Stevens, Gorham Phillips

                        [architect with McKim Mead and White; director of American Academy in Rome; director of American School of Classical Studies at Athens, which holds his papers]

                        Letters, Rome, May-June 1915, to Mr. Evans, about a drawing board Mr. Evans offered to the academy and about shipping a statue to him at Elmsford

 

64x37.62         Trumbull, John

                        [painter]

                        Letter, New York, Sept. 24, 1816, to S. [or L.] W. Hopkins, Moscow, Genesee [Livingston County, New York], about rental of properties to Baldwin, Dr. Camp, Jedh. Horsford, Fred. L. Mills, Ma. Mills, Ayrault, Ogden, Erving, Mrs. Gannon, G. Minier; plant fruit trees this fall – Mr. Wadsworth has the plan of the nursery

 

64x37.63         Weldon, C.D. [Charles Dater]

                        [painter]

                        Letter, New York, Feb. 9, 1900, to Geo. D. Pratt, Brooklyn, about Weldon’s watercolor “Bent on Mischief,” with a note that it was received and paid for

 

64x37.64-.66   Wolf, Henry

                        [engraver]

                        Letters, New York, Arpil, Juen 1908, to George D. Pratt; about borrowing Dougherty’s painting “The Onrush” from Pratt so Wolf can make an engraving of it for Harper’s Magazine; and about Wolf’s collection of engravings

 

 

Folder 46: Artists’ signatures (photos), A-H (acc. 09x113.1-.34)

 

09x113.1         Ainsworth, William Fisk

09x113.2         Alexander, Francis

09x113.3         Allston, Washington

09x113.4         Bard, James

09x113.5         Bierstadt, Albert

09x113.6         Bingham, George Caleb

09x113.7         Blythe, David Gilmour

09x113.8         Boutelle, DeWitt Clinton

09x113.9         Brecht, T. C.

09x113.10       Brown, George Loring

09x113.11       Brush, George DeForest

09x113.12       Bundy, Horace

09x113.13       Burridge, Walter

09x113.14       Calyo, Nicolino V.

09x113.15       Cappaluni, Phillippus

09x113.16       Chalfant, Jefferson David

09x113.17       Chandler, Joseph Goodhue

09x113.18       Chapman, John Gadsby (1808-1889)

09x113.19       Church, Frederic Edwin

09x113.20       Danner, J. Adam

09x113.21       Deming, Edwin Willard

09x113.22       Durand, Asher Brown

09x113.23       Earl, Ralph

09x113.24       Ellinger, D.

09x113.25       Feke, Robert

09x113.26       Frothingham, James

09x113.27       Francis, John F.

09x113.28       Garneray, Louis

09x113.29       Gilbert, I.

09x113.30       Haberle, John

09x113.31       Harley, James Kimball

09x113.32       Harnett, William Michael

09x113.33       Hassam, Childe

09x113.34       Henry, Edward Lamson

 

Folder 47: Artists’ signatures (photos), I-W, and Chinese artist (acc. 09x113.35-.72)

 

09x113.35       Inness, George

09x113.36       Johnson, Eastman

09x113.37       Kyle, Joseph

09x113.38       La Farge, John

09x113.39       Leutze, Emmanuel Gottlieb

09x113.40       Lyman, Charles

09x113.41       Mathies, J. L. D.

09x113.42       Melrose, Andrew

09x113.43-44  Moran, Thomas

09x113.45       Mount, William Sidney          

09x113.46       Neagle, John

09x113.47       Peale, Charles Willson

09x113.48       Peto, John Frederick

09x113.49       Polk, Charles Peale

09x113.50       Potthast, Edward Henry

09x113.51       Prendergast, Maurice Brazil

09x113.52-56  Prior, William Matthew

09x113.57       Revere, Paul [silversmith, engraver]

09x113.58       Richardt, Joachim Ferdinand

09x113.59       Roesen, Severin

09x113.60       Salmon, Robert

09x113.61-62  Shallus, Francis

09x113.63       Spencer, Frederic R.  

09x113.64       Tait, Arthur Fitzwilliam

09x113.65       Valdenuit

09x113.66       Vanderlyn, J.

09x113.67       Waas, A.

09x113.68       Wall, William Allen

09x113.69       West, Benjamin

09x113.70       Wilder, Frances Hills

09x113.71       Wollaston, John

09x113.72       Sunqua (Chinese artist)

 

 

Oversize folder in map case:

 

14x79              print of a landscape painting copyrighted by Samuel T. Shaw, 1905, mounted on board which has been signed by many artists and given to Joseph Thompson, esq. The list of names follows.  (Some names are difficult to read.)

 

                        Chas. Schreyvogel

                        Charles Warren Eaton

                        Edw. H. Potthast [Edward Henry Potthast]

                        Mathias Sandor

A Wiehl

F. Luis Mora

Lewis E. Marshall

[first name broken off] Alberts [?]

Geo. H. McCord [George Herbert McCord]

J. Francis Murphy

Frank Ballard Williams

Joseph S. Isidor

J.A. Thompson

F.K.M. Rehn [Frank Knox Morton Rehn]

Emil Carlsen

[illegible] Hawthorn [?]

E. Irving Couse

William F. Reeves

Charles Battell Loomis

J. Scott Hartley

Robert David Gauley

Wm. Ritschel

E. S. [illegible]

J. E. Linde [?]

Albert L. Groll

W. H. Hutton [?]

Carl Kier [?]

W. G. Schneider

[illegible initial] B. [?] W[illegible]sler

J.B. Carrington

Henry B. Snell

Geo. Inness Jr.

F. De Haven

Chas. C. [?] Curran

W. Granville-Smith

Leigh Hunt

E. [illegible]

S. [?] Ronti [?]

Wm. L. Groll [?]

 

[note: Samuel T. Shaw (1861-1945) was an art patron and hotel entrepreneur in New York City.  He was a member of the Salmagundi Club, and some, if not all, of the above artists were members as well.  The Archives of American Art holds a print of a landscape painting by Shaw, signed by 44 artists in 1917.  The New-York Historical Society holds some of his papers.  The name Joseph Thompson is too common to identify this man with certainty; he may have been Joseph A. Thompson, a secretary of the club, although he was also one of the signers.]