Mid-19th Century Prints and Multiples

Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia is a lithograph realized in 1864. Good conditions. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe, or...

The Duchess Owl Sings For The Duke Owl is an original lithographs on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Publi...

Customs of the Merovingian kings in France in the 5th and 6th centuries is a lithograph made by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork ...

'A Mill' Mezzotint on steel by David Lucas (1802-1881) after John Constable (1776–1836). From 'English Landscape Scenery', 1855. John Constable RA was an English Romantic landscape...

An original 19th century John James Audubon hand colored lithograph entitled "Northern Meadow Mouse", No. 26, Plate CXXIX, 129, from Audubon's "Quadrupeds of North America", printed ...

Artist: Lady Jane Webb Loudon (British, 1800 - 1858) 9.5 x 8 in. page. 12 x 14 in. frame. A "chromolithographic" plate from The Ladies' Flower-Garden of Ornamental Annuals. By Mrs. ...

Uses and Customs - the Customs in Venice is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History o...

Example of Doric Proportion is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the governm...

The Bat is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper, realized by Paul Gervais (1816-1879). The artwork is from The Series of "Les Trois Règnes de la Nature", and was published i...

This is an original 19th century hand-colored folio-size McKenney and Hall lithograph of a Native American entitled "Wa-Kawn, A Winnebago Chief", after a painting by Charles Bird Kin...

The bowing scene from "The Life and Death of Saint Genoveva" is an original etching artwork on Ivory-colored paper, realized in the 1830s by Joseph Ritter von Führic also known as Jo...

Intendency of the Army is a lithograph by Antonio Zezon. Naples 1854. Interesting colored lithograph which describes some members of the Army: on the left, a Class Officer ; on the ...

"Medinet Abou, Thebes" is a 19th century folio sized hand-colored lithograph from the Egypt and Nubia volume of David Roberts’ large folio edition, published in London by F. G. Moon ...

'Flatford Mill' Mezzotint on steel by David Lucas (1802-1881) after John Constable (1776–1836). From 'English Landscape Scenery', 1855. John Constable RA was an English Romantic landscape...

Columns of the Temple of Minerva Poliade is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History o...

Royal Gendarmerie on horseback is a lithograph by Antonio Zezon. Naples 1852. Interesting colored lithograph which describes an Officer of the Royal Gendarmerie riding his horse. I...

Ronde Antique is a black and White etching realized by Auguste Feyen Perrin in the 1860s  Titled in the lower Image Size: 23x30 Very good impression. Realized for the "Société de...

Return from Elba is an Etching realized by P.Bellange in 1837. Good conditions. The artwork is realized in a well-balanced composition. the artwork and belongs to the suite suite "...

Image dimensions: 17 x 26 cm. Coblenz is a beautiful watercolored lithograph on paper, realized by F. Foltz and published by v. J. Halenza, Mainz. This modern artwork representing ...

Drawing Lesson is a Woodcut print on paper realized by an unknown japanese master in the mid-19th century. Included a Passepartout: 51 x 36 cm Good conditions. The artwork represe...

Macarena and Penguin is an Etching hand colored realized by Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert - Johann Friedrich Naumann, Illustration from Natural history of birds in pictures, publish...

Wisdom is an original lithographs by J.J. Grandville from "Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published by Manesq & Harvard, Paris. Good Conditions but aged. T...

A hand-colored lithograph by Joseph Nash of the Frontespice "The Mansions of England in the Olden Time", 1839-1849, printed by Charles Joseph Hullmandel (Pub. London: T. M'Lean, 1839...

'Crustacea' Copper-line engraving with original hand-colouring. From Baron Georges Cuvier's (1769-1832) 'Animal Kingdom', published in London in 1837. 210mm by 130mm (sheet)

Uses and Customs - Ducal Palace in Venice is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History ...

Une Visite Aux Bains is a b/w lithographed plate (n. 2o), from the suites of caricatures on political themes topic “Croquis d’Été”. Realized by Honoré Daumier (France, 1808-1879), ...

Botocudos is a hand colored lithographs realized by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Good conditions. The artwork belongs to the Suite Moeurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du mond...

Uses and Customs - Saint Clement Basilica of Rome is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " ...

Silente Cinema is an amusing satirical illustration by the French illustrator and caricaturist, Cham (alias Count Amédée de Noé, 1818-1879). Beautiful b/w lithograph on ivory colore...

The Skeleton is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper, realized by Paul Gervais (1816-1879). The artwork is from The Series of "Les Trois Règnes de la Nature", and was publis...

Demolitions pour le Percement de la Rue des Ecoles is a black and White etching realized by Maxime Lalanne in the 1860s.  Titled in the lower. Image size: 24x32. Very good impress...

Mezzotint with etching, stipple, and roulette work on woven paper. Good conditions.

'Crustacea' Copper-line engraving with original hand-colouring. From Baron Georges Cuvier's (1769-1832) 'Animal Kingdom', published in London in 1837. 210mm by 130mm (sheet)

'Crustacea' Copper-line engraving with original hand-colouring. From Baron Georges Cuvier's (1769-1832) 'Animal Kingdom', published in London in 1837. 210mm by 130mm (sheet)

Propylaea is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the government, of the laws, ...

Map of Spain and Portugal is an Etching realized by Pierre François Tardieu in 1837. Good conditions. The artwork is realized in a well-balanced composition. the artwork and belong...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Booby Gannet" (Plate 426, No. 86) Portfolio: The Birds of America, First Royal Octavo Edition Year: 1840-1844 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on wove paper Limited edition: approx. 1,200 Printer: John T. Bowen, Philadelphia, PA Publisher: John James Audubon and J.B. Chevalier, New York, NY and Philadelphia, PA Sheet size: 10.38" x 6.75" Image size: 5.94" x 5.5" Condition: Two small tears at top edge. In otherwise excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Seattle, WA. Lithography and hand-coloring by American artist John T. Bowen (1801-c.1856). Comes from Audubon's famous seven volume portfolio "The Birds of America", First Royal Octavo Edition (1840-1844), which consists of 500 hand-colored lithographs. Based on a composition painted May 14, 1832. Audubon wrote: "I am unable to find a good reason for those who have chosen to call these birds 'boobies'. Authors, it is true, generally represent them as extremely stupid; but to me the word is utterly inapplicable to any bird with which I am acquainted". The view of the Florida Keys is based on a drawing by George Lehman. The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulids, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The 10 species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. To make 'The Birds of America' more affordable and widely available, in 1839 John James Audubon began the first octavo edition, a smaller version of the folio which was printed and hand-colored by J. T. Bowen in Philadelphia. Employing a new invention, the camera lucida, the images were reduced in size, rendered in intermediate drawings by John James Audubon and his son John Woodhouse, and then drawn onto lithographic stones. These miniatures exhibit a remarkable amount of attention to quality and detail, as well as a meticulous fidelity to the larger works. Some compositional changes were made in order to accommodate the smaller format. Like the Havell edition, John James Audubon’s first...

Herault de Timor is a hand colored lithograph realized by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Good condition. The artwork belongs to the Suite Moeurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du...

Outlaw Birds And Dog Go To Rebel is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published b...

Miss. Wolf Greeting Mr. Hedgehog is an original lithographs on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published b...

Uses and Customs - Indian Dancer is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the go...

John Phillip, Scottish (1817 - 1867) - Auguste Rodin. Medium: Lithograph, signed, numbered and titled in pencil mounted to board, Edition: 1/10, Image Size: 12.25 x 9.75 inches, Size...

'Gillingham Mill, Dorsetshire' Mezzotint on steel by David Lucas (1802-1881) after John Constable (1776–1836). From 'English Landscape Scenery', 1855. John Constable RA was an English Romantic...

Spinal Cord Diseases is a lithograph hand colored by Ottavio Muzzi for the edition of Antoine Chazal, Human Anatomy, Printers Batelli and Ridolfi, 1843. The work belongs to the Atla...

Un Train de Plaisir is the b/w lithographes plate (n.6) from the satirical print series “Les Trains de Plaisir”, composed of caricatures “de mœurs” (of behaviours), realized by Honor...

William Hogarth was an English painter and engraver, the outstanding British artist of his period. During his childhood, his father, a schoolteacher, was imprisoned for debt, and this early experience of the seamy side of life left a deep mark on Hogarth (much of his output is concerned with the contrast between success and failure, and he depicted prisons in several works). He trained as an engraver of silver plate and by 1720 had set up his own business in London, doing various kinds of commercial work. In his spare time he studied painting, first at the St Martin's Lane Academy and later under Sir James Thornhill, whose daughter he married in 1729. By the early 1730s he had achieved some success as a painter of conversation pieces and at about the same time he invented the idea of using a sequence of anecdotal pictures ‘similar to representations on the stage’ to point a moral and satirize social abuses. From a set of 12 original engravings illustrating Industry and Idleness, after the drawings by William Hogarth, printed in 1833. The engravers are F Jordan, E Smith, C Armstrong, S Davenport, H Adlard, W H Worthington, H Fernell, A Duncan and F F Walker. The engravings, which are in excellent condition, would be mounted and ready to frame Edward Smith (fl. 1823-49) The landscape, figure, and portrait engraver Edward Smith may have been a native of Edinburgh but appears to have worked mostly in London. His earliest recorded plates...

Bone Diseases is a lithograph hand colored by Ottavio Muzzi for the edition of Antoine Chazal, Human Anatomy, Printers Batelli and Ridolfi, 1843. The work belongs to the Atlante gen...

This is an original John James Audubon hand-colored royal first octavo edition lithograph entitled "Semipalmated Snipe, Willet or Stone Curlew, 1. ...

The Conversations of Maids, Pleading Mrs. Fox is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852...

Entrée du Port de Honfleur is a black and white etching realized by Jongkind (1819-1891) in 1863. Titled in the lower. Image size: 30.5cmx22cm. Good condition. Signed and dated o...

Immerse yourself in the epic journey of the past with the Illustrated Historical Planisphere of 1864 by Charpentier! 🗺️ This cartographic treasure transports you through the intrica...

A Venerable Spider And A Buzzing Fly is an original artwork realized by John Doyle in 1831. Original colored lithograph. Published by Thomas McLean, London (as printed on the lower ...

Interior of the Odeum of Pericles is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the g...

The Skull is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper, realized by Paul Gervais (1816-1879). The artwork is from The Series of "Les Trois Règnes de la Nature", and was published...

This splendid lithograph Interieur de Geneve. L'Hospital is part of the series of 20 prints dedicated to views of the city of Geneva, engraved by the Italian artist Antonio Fontanesi...

The present print is one of several examples produced for Nathaniel Currier by his longtime collaborator Frances F. "Fanny" Palmer. Harry T. Peters wrote of her: "There is no more interesting and appealing character among the group of artists who worked for Currier & Ives than Fanny Palmer. In an age when women, well-bred women in particular, did not generally work for a living Fanny Palmer for years did exacting, full-time work in order to support a large and dependent family ... Her work ... had great charm, homeliness, and a conscientious attention to detail." One of a series of four prints showing American country life in different seasons, the image presents the viewer with a picturesque view of a successful American farm. In the foreground, a gentleman rides a horse with a young boy before a respectable Italianate country house. Two women and a young girl pick flowers in the garden and several farm workers attend to their duties. Beyond are other homes and a city on the coast. 16.63 x 23.75 inches, artwork 28.13 x 33.38 inches, frame Entitled bottom center "American Country Life - May Morning" Signed in the stone, lower left "F.F. Palmer, Del." Signed in the stone, lower right "Lith. by N. Currier" Copyrighted lower center "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1855 by N. Currier in the Clerk's office of the Southern District of N.Y." Inscribed bottom center "New York, Published by N. Currier 152 Nassau Street" Framed to conservation standards using silk-lined 100 percent rag matting and Museum Glass with a gold gilded liner, all housed in a stained wood moulding. Nathaniel Currier was a tall introspective man with a melancholy nature. He could captivate people with his piercing stare or charm them with his sparkling blue eyes. Nathaniel was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27th, 1813, the second of four children. His parents, Nathaniel and Hannah Currier, were distant cousins who lived a humble yet spartan life. When Nathaniel was eight years old, tragedy struck. Nathaniel’s father unexpectedly passed away leaving Nathaniel and his eleven-year-old brother Lorenzo to provide for the family. In addition to their mother, Nathaniel and Lorenzo had to care for six-year-old sister Elizabeth and two-year-old brother Charles. Nathaniel worked a series of odd jobs to support the family, and at fifteen, he started what would become a life-long career when he apprenticed in the Boston lithography shop of William and John Pendleton. A Bavarian gentleman named Alois Senefelder invented lithography just 30 years prior to young Nat Currier’s apprenticeship. While under the employ of the brothers Pendleton, Nat was taught the art of lithography by the firm’s chief printer, a French national named Dubois, who brought the lithography trade to America. Lithography involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing in mirror image on the stone with a special grease pencil. After the image is completed, the stone is etched with a solution of aqua fortis leaving the greased areas in slight relief. Water is then used to wet the stone and greased-ink is rolled onto the raised areas. Since grease and water do not mix, the greased-ink is repelled by the moisture on the stone and clings to the original grease pencil lines. The stone is then placed in a press and used as a printing block to impart black on white images to paper. In 1833, now twenty-years old and an accomplished lithographer, Nat Currier left Boston and moved to Philadelphia to do contract work for M.E.D. Brown, a noted engraver and printer. With the promise of good money, Currier hired on to help Brown prepare lithographic stones of scientific images for the American Journal of Sciences and Arts. When Nat completed the contract work in 1834, he traveled to New York City to work once again for his mentor John Pendleton, who was now operating his own shop located at 137 Broadway. Soon after the reunion, Pendleton expressed an interest in returning to Boston and offered to sell his print shop to Currier. Young Nat did not have the financial resources to buy the shop, but being the resourceful type he found another local printer by the name of Stodart. Together they bought Pendleton’s business. The firm ‘Currier & Stodart’ specialized in "job" printing. They produced many different types of printed items, most notably music manuscripts for local publishers. By 1835, Stodart was frustrated that the business was not making enough money and he ended the partnership, taking his investment with him. With little more than some lithographic stones, and a talent for his trade, twenty-two year old Nat Currier set up shop in a temporary office at 1 Wall Street in New York City. He named his new enterprise ‘N. Currier, Lithographer’ Nathaniel continued as a job printer and duplicated everything from music sheets to architectural plans. He experimented with portraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, and any thing that he could sell to the public from tables in front of his shop. During 1835 he produced a disaster print Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two O’clock on the Morning of the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of whom Escaped with their Lives. The public had a thirst for newsworthy events, and newspapers of the day did not include pictures. By producing this print, Nat gave the public a new way to “see” the news. The print sold reasonably well, an important fact that was not lost on Currier. Nat met and married Eliza Farnsworth in 1840. He also produced a print that same year titled Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat Lexington in Long Island Sound on Monday Evening, January 18, 1840, by which melancholy occurrence over One Hundred Persons Perished. This print sold out very quickly, and Currier was approached by an enterprising publication who contracted him to print a single sheet addition of their paper, the New York Sun. This single page paper is presumed to be the first illustrated newspaper ever published. The success of the Lexington print launched his career nationally and put him in a position to finally lift his family up. In 1841, Nat and Eliza had their first child, a son they named Edward West Currier. That same year Nat hired his twenty-one year old brother Charles and taught him the lithography trade, he also hired his artistically inclined brother Lorenzo to travel out west and make sketches of the new frontier as material for future prints. Charles worked for the firm on and off over the years, and invented a new type of lithographic crayon which he patented and named the Crayola. Lorenzo continued selling sketches to Nat for the next few years. In 1843, Nat and Eliza had a daughter, Eliza West Currier, but tragedy struck in early 1847 when their young daughter died from a prolonged illness. Nat and Eliza were grief stricken, and Eliza, driven by despair, gave up on life and passed away just four months after her daughter’s death. The subject of Nat Currier’s artwork changed following the death of his wife and daughter, and he produced many memorial prints and sentimental prints during the late 1840s. The memorial prints generally depicted grief stricken families posed by gravestones (the stones were left blank so the purchasers could fill in the names of the dearly departed). The sentimental prints usually depicted idealized portraits of women and children, titled with popular Christian names of the day. Late in 1847, Nat Currier married Lura Ormsbee, a friend of the family. Lura was a self-sufficient woman, and she immediately set out to help Nat raise six-year-old Edward and get their house in order. In 1849, Lura delivered a son, Walter Black Currier, but fate dealt them a blow when young Walter died one year later. While Nat and Lura were grieving the loss of their new son, word came from San Francisco that Nat’s brother Lorenzo had also passed away from a brief illness. Nat sank deeper into his natural quiet melancholy. Friends stopped by to console the couple, and Lura began to set an extra place at their table for these unexpected guests. She continued this tradition throughout their lives. In 1852, Charles introduced a friend, James Merritt Ives, to Nat and suggested he hire him as a bookkeeper. Jim Ives was a native New Yorker born in 1824 and raised on the grounds of Bellevue Hospital where his father was employed as superintendent. Jim was a self-trained artist and professional bookkeeper. He was also a plump and jovial man, presenting the exact opposite image of his new boss. Jim Ives met Charles Currier through Caroline Clark, the object of Jim’s affection. Caroline’s sister Elizabeth was married to Charles, and Caroline was a close friend of the Currier family. Jim eventually proposed marriage to Caroline and solicited an introduction to Nat Currier, through Charles, in hopes of securing a more stable income to support his future wife. Ives quickly set out to improve and modernize his new employer’s bookkeeping methods. He reorganized the firm’s sizable inventory, and used his artistic skills to streamline the firm’s production methods. By 1857, Nathaniel had become so dependent on Jims’ skills and initiative that he offered him a full partnership in the firm and appointed him general manager. The two men chose the name ‘Currier & Ives’ for the new partnership, and became close friends. Currier & Ives produced their prints in a building at 33 Spruce Street where they occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor was devoted to the hand operated printing presses that were built by Nat's cousin, Cyrus Currier, at his shop Cyrus Currier & Sons in Newark, NJ. The fourth floor found the artists, lithographers and the stone grinders at work. The fifth floor housed the coloring department, and was one of the earliest production lines in the country. The colorists were generally immigrant girls, mostly German, who came to America with some formal artistic training. Each colorist was responsible for adding a single color to a print. As a colorist finished applying their color, the print was passed down the line to the next colorist to add their color. The colorists worked from a master print displayed above their table, which showed where the proper colors were to be placed. At the end of the table was a touch up artist who checked the prints for quality, touching-in areas that may have been missed as it passed down the line. During the Civil War, demand for prints became so great that coloring stencils were developed to speed up production. Although most Currier & Ives prints were colored in house, some were sent out to contract artists. The rate Currier & Ives paid these artists for coloring work was one dollar per one hundred small folios (a penny a print) and one dollar per one dozen large folios. Currier & Ives also offered uncolored prints to dealers, with instructions (included on the price list) on how to 'prepare the prints for coloring.' In addition, schools could order uncolored prints from the firm’s catalogue to use in their painting classes. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives attracted a wide circle of friends during their years in business. Some of their more famous acquaintances included Horace Greeley, Phineas T. Barnum, and the outspoken abolitionists Rev. Henry Ward, and John Greenleaf Whittier (the latter being a cousin of Mr. Currier). Nat Currier and Jim Ives described their business as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures" and produced many categories of prints. These included Disaster Scenes, Sentimental Images, Sports, Humor, Hunting Scenes, Politics, Religion, City and Rural Scenes, Trains, Ships, Fire Fighters, Famous Race Horses, Historical Portraits, and just about any other topic that satisfied the general public's taste. In all, the firm produced in excess of 7500 different titles, totaling over one million prints produced from 1835 to 1907. Nat Currier retired in 1880, and signed over his share of the firm to his son Edward. Nat died eight years later at his summer home 'Lion’s Gate' in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Jim Ives remained active in the firm until his death in 1895, when his share of the firm passed to his eldest son, Chauncey. In 1902, faced will failing health from the ravages of Tuberculosis, Edward Currier sold his share of the firm to Chauncey Ives...

Potto is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper, realized by Paul Gervais (1816-1879). The artwork is from The Series of "Les Trois Règnes de la Nature", and was published in ...

Parc a Moutons is a black and White etching realized by Charles-François Daubigny in 1860s  Titled in the lower Image Size:21x38 Very good impression. Realized by Cadart for the ...

L’inconvénient d’être dans un wagon is a b/w lithograph (plate n.5) from the satirical print series “Les Trains de Plaisir”, composed of caricatures “de mœurs” (of behaviours), realized by Honoré Daumier (France, 1808-1879) in 1852. This plate, published by the Maison Martinet, Paris, appeared on the French periodical, Le Charivari, in 1852. Printed by the lithographer Charles Trinocq. Reference: H. Delteil, Catalogue Raisonnée, 2329. Inscriptions: Monogrammed on stone, h.D, 433. Complete Caption: L’inconvénient d’être dans un wagon où il y a des voyageurs qui deviennent susceptibles dis qu’ils ont un peu trop bu. Superb specimen, full margins, depicting a dark train-wagon with the consequent human chaos, is in excellent condition, with imperceptible aging signs (light redness and some traces of oxydation on the margins). A copy of the same plate is preserved at the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.S. Bibliography: 1906 Delteil, Loys. Le peintre-graveur illustre. 31 vols. Paris: Published by the author, 1906-1926. Reprint. New York: Collectors Editions, Da Capo Press, 1969. Vol. 30 (Albert Besnard) is by Louis Godefroy...

Uses and Customs - Tombs of the Scaligeri in Verona is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: ...