The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Worth, Thomas, 1834-1917.
Title: Papers,
Dates: circa 1915-1917
Call No.: Col. 449
Acc. No.: 71x107.24-.31
Quantity: 8 items (one folder)
Location: 34 J 2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Thomas Worth was a comic and genre artist, working
from the mid 19th century until the early 20th. He was born in New York City in 1834, the son
of Lydia Dakin and Gorham Akin Worth. Worth’s father was a banker and hoping his son
would follow in his footsteps, he found Thomas a job in his bank, but Thomas
spent his spare time sketching and drawing caricatures. In 1855 he sold his first sketch to Currier
& Ives which led to the subsequent publishing of a number of his horse
racing scenes. He was also known for his
“Darktown” series, which at the time was considered to be humorous. He lived most of his adult life on Long
Island or Staten Island, New York, but in his later years he moved to New
Brighton, Staten Island, where he died in 1917.
Thomas Worth was married to Maria Louise Stellenwerf
(1838-1917), and they had several children.
Harry Twyford Peters (1881-1948) joined his father’s
coal business upon his graduation from Columbia University in 1903. He was also a sportsman, especially enjoying
equestrian sports, and an avid collector of Currier & Ives prints. Peters wrote several books, including a
two-volume work about Currier & Ives.
(His papers are held by the Museum of the City of New York.)
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
This collection contains primarily letters from
artist Thomas Worth to Harry T. Peters, offering his pictures for sale and
admitting his financial difficulties.
Also included are several anecdotes about the sale of his first sketch
to Nathaniel Currier; a story of an African-American who did not like a comic
sketch published by Currier & Ives; and tales about two of his journeys to
Long Island, one by stagecoach and the other at night during a thunderstorm.
ORGANIZATION
The letters are in chronological order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Gift
of Harry T. Peters, Jr.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Currier, Nathaniel,
1813-1888.
Ives, James Merritt, 1824-1895.
Peters, Harry Twyford, 1881-1948.
Worth, Thomas, 1834-1917 – Anecdotes.
Topics:
Currier & Ives.
African Americans.
Aged men.
Artists - United
States.
Anecdotes.
Artists as
authors.
Horses.
Painting.
New York (State)
- Description and travel.
Cartoonists.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 J 2
All accession numbers being with 71x107.
All letters were written by Thomas Worth
.24 to Mr. Peters, Jan. 2, 1915: sends a
small painting: “if you do not want it, will you kindly let have $10; will
surely pay it next week.”
.25 to Mr. Peters, written from New Brighton,
S.I., July 11, 1916: sends some “stuff”: please see if he can keep any of them;
not in good health
.26 to Mr. Peters, written from New Brighton,
S.I., Jan. [unclear], 1915: two paintings: one of Paul Revere, and the other
called “Telling Jokes Against the Old Man” – an old painting; will Peters give
him $10 for them? very short of funds;
.27 to Mr. Peters, Dec. 11, 1917: sends a
photograph which he drew and colored, and a book of scrapbook pictures; please
buy one of them so has money for medicine and coal;
.28 to Mr. Peters, no date: have been ill and
unable to get up; sends two pictures for which would like to have $25;
.29 note about a painting of an old sportsman
who arrived too late for the season; painted summer of 1882;
.30a-c story: “The Old Print-House of Currier &
Ives of Nassau St., New York,” written at New Brighton, April 1915:
Worth’s reminiscences,
including recounts of his first sale of a comic picture to Mr. Currier, the
people who worked in the Currier & Ives store, visiting trotting tracks
with Mr. Ives, the way Mr. Ives handled an objection to “Darktown pictures,” a
purchase by the Duke of Newcastle, etc.
.31a-d story: “A Sunday Morning Trip on the Long
Island R.R. to Babylon, A Matinee in the Woods; and an awful ride by night in a
thunderstorm behind a team of colts,” no date.
The “Sunday Morning
Trip” also involved a trip by stagecoach which was interrupted by a broken bolt
on the coach. Actor Harry Placide was
traveling with another (unnamed) actor, and the unnamed actor proceeded to give
an entertainment while they waited repairs [this entertainment was the
matinee].
The “ride at night” was
a result of Worth’s rushing from Newport to Islip because of his wife’s
illness. The team of colts were driven
by Selah Smith of Babylon.