Mid-19th Century Prints and Multiples

Goldfintch is an Etching hand colored realized by Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert - Johann Friedrich Naumann, Illustration from Natural history...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Florida Cormorant" (Plate 417, No. 84) 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: 6.5" x 10.44" Image size: 3.75" x 6.25" Condition: Some minor discoloration upper center in margin. In excellent condition with strong colors Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cleveland, OH. 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 in the Florida Keys on April 26, 1832, Audubon's forty-seventh birthday. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes and in coastal areas and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is entirely black except for a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin and some extra plumage that it exhibits in the breeding season when it grows a double crest in which black feathers are mingled with white. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like all cormorants, are not waterproof, and it must dry them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years. 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...

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...

Artist: Nathaniel Wallich (Danish, 1786-1854) Title: "Impatiens puberula (Soft Pink Balsam)" (Plate 193) Portfolio: Plantae Asiaticae Rariores; or, Descriptions and Figures of a Select Number of Unpublished East Indian Plants Year: 1830-1832 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Lithograph on J. Whatman paper Limited edition: 254 Printer: Engelmann, Graf, Coindet & Co., London, UK Publisher: Richard Taylor for Treuttel & Würtz, London, UK Reference: Nissen BBI No. 2099; Pritzel No. 9957; Stafleu-Cowan No. 16583; Dunthorne No. 326 Sheet size: 21.13" x 14.13" Condition: Has been professionally stored away for decades. In excellent condition with strong colors Rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Aspen, CO. Lithography by Maltese artist...

Lithograph realized by Daumier in 1845, belonging to the Series "Les Gens de Justice" Table no. 17 of the Series. Hand monogrammed in the plate. Very good condition. Ref. Delteil...

The Bride And Groom Cats On the Roof is an original lithograph on ivory-colored paper realized by J.J. Grandville from Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Publishe...

Portrait is a Lithograph realized by Auguste Raffet (1804-1860). Good condition on a yellowed paper. Hand signed and dated by the artist on the lower right corner. Denis Auguste M...

Eugene Delacroix, After by Eugene LeRoux, French (1798 - 1863) - Marphise (Tire de l'Arioste), Year: circa 1850, Medium: Lithograph, Image Size: 10.5 x 13 inches, Size: 19.25 x 2...

Diseases of the Liver, Spleen and Epiploon is a lithograph hand colored by Ottavio Muzzi for the edition of Antoine Chazal, Human Anatomy, Printers Batelli and Ridolfi, 1843. The wo...

Lithograph realized by Daumier in 1845, belonging to the Series "Les Gens de Justice" Table no. 16 of the Series. Monogrammed in the plate. Very good condition. Ref. Delteil 1352

Kabuki Actor is a woodcut print realized by Utagawa Kunisada in 1848/49. Lifetime impression in very good condition, except for some very minor sign of time.

Lithograph realized by Daumier in 1845, belonging to the Series "Les Gens de Justice" Table no. 13 of the Series. Hand monogrammed in the plate. Very good condition. Ref. Delteil...

Uses and Customs - Altenbourg 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 gover...

Bijinga is an original artwork realized in 1844 by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). From the series "Hyakunin isshu esho" (Girl's pictures and 100 poets' card games), 14th sheet. You...

Lithograph realized by Daumier in 1845, belonging to the Series "Les Gens de Justice". Monogrammed in the plate. Very good condition. Ref. Delteil 1358

Owls is an Etching hand colored realized by Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert - Johann Friedrich Naumann, Illustration from Natural history of birds in pictures, published by Stuttgart ...

Ancient Ships 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 la...

Ancient Ships 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 la...

This is a hand-colored folio sized lithograph entitled "Iyngipicus Gymnophthalamus" (Ceylonese Pygmy Woodpecker) by John Gould from his monograph "The Birds of Asia", published in London in 1850-1883. The print, which was drawn by Gould and W. Hart and lithographed by Hullmandel and Walton, depicts two striped brown and ivory-colored woodpeckers with white and black on their heads. One is perched on a tree limb with pea green-colored leaves and the other on a round rose, brown-colored fruit. Both are pecking at fruit. This beautiful Gould hand-colored woodpecker lithograph measures 21" x 14.13". There is minimal faint focal discoloration in the lower margin. It is otherwise in excellent condition. The original text page is included with a round blindstamp in the right lower corner. There are several other unframed Gould woodpecker and other bird lithographs available via our 1stdibs storefront. Two or more of these would make an attractive display grouping. A discount is available for purchase of a set depending on the number. These additional Gould hummingbirds...

Guitar Player is an original print, realized in 1861 by the French artist François Bonvin. Black and white etching on paper. The artwork is attached o...

The Samurai Genta Kajiwara - Japanese Woodblock Diptych in Ink on Paper Boldly colored woodblock by Utagawa Yoshitora (Japanese, active c.1840-1880)...

Original lithograph hand-colored at the time of publication from "Groups of Cattle Drawn from Nature" by Thomas Sydney Cooper. Mounted on artist'...

Cockateil is an Etching hand colored realized by Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert - Johann Friedrich Naumann, Illustration from Natural history of birds in pictures, published by Stutt...

Ancient African Customs is a lithograph realized by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Africa" and subtitle ...

Muertos recogidos is an original modern artwork realized by Francisco Goya in 1810. Third edition Black and white etching. Dimensions: Image 18 x 24 cm Sheet 33 x 24 cm. Good condition except for some foxings The artwork is the plate n.73 and belongs to the famous series Los Desastres de la...

Kabukie is an original modern artwork realized by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 – 1861) in the half of the 19th Century. Original woodcut from the series...

Brain Diseases is a lithograph hand colored by Ottavio Muzzi for the edition of Antoine Chazal,Human Anatomy, Printers Batelli and Ridolfi, realized in 1843. Signed on plate on the l...

Uses and Customs - Temple of Neptune Pesto 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...

Persian, Man of the People is a lithograph made by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Perse. Homme du Peuple...

Une Rue à Sienne is an original artwork realized by Louis-Auguste Leconte de Roujou in 1863. Original etching. The sheet is glued on cardboard. Titled on the lower margin. The name...

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

Courtesan is an original modern artwork realized by Keisai Eisen in the first half of the 19th Century. Signed and inscribed on plate. Total dimension...

The 1862 original lithography by François-Edmond Pâris, titled "Souvenirs de Jérusalem - Grotte de la nativité," is a remarkable testament to the artistic and historical significance...

Visit to a Prisoner is an original lithograph by J.J. Grandville from "Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux, 1852. Published by Manesq & Harvard, Paris. Good Conditions....

Africa is a lithograph realized by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Africa" and subtitle "Marcia trionfale...

Le Comte De N is a lithograph on ivory-colored paper, realized by the French draftsman Paul Gavarni (alias Guillaume Sulpice Chevalier Gavarni, 1804-1866) in the mid-19th Century. S...

Persian Dervish is a lithograph made by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Derviche persan". The work is pa...

Aguarda que te unten is an original artwork realized by the artist Francisco Goya and published for the first time in 1799. Original etching on woven paper. The etching belongs to ...

Uses and Customs - Wurtemberg 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 gover...

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...

Correccion is an original artwork realized by Francisco Goya and published for the first time in 1799. Etching on wove paper. This artwork belongs to the Third Edition published in...

Fairy is a lithograph on paper realized by Hégésippe Moreau in 1838. The artwork is in good conditions. Hégésippe Moreau (1810-1838) was a French ly...

Uses and Customs - Ruins of the Temple of Cybele in Sardis is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the uni...

Uses and Customs - Valachie 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...

Elevation of the Temple of Balbek 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 Histo...

Figures of Women is an original lithograph on ivory-colorated paper by an unknown artist in 1840s. In very good condition. Not signed. Monogrammed J.P.

Woodcut shunga print attributed to Keisai Eisen and realized in the early 19th century. Good condition except for some signs of time.

Costumes of the 17th century 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 govern...

Interior 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, o...

Kabuki - Scene in the snow is an original artwork realized in 1864 by Utagawa Kunisada II (1823 – 20 July 1880). Oban from a triptych. Scene in a snowy ...

Uses and Customs - Consular Street in the Entrance of the City of Pompei is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peop...

Ancient View of Piraeus is an original modern artwork realized in the mid-19th Century. Original B/W Lithograph on Ivory Paper. Inscripted on the lower margin in Capital Letters:...

Roveroto in Tyrol 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 th...

Ancient View of Lago Maggiore is an original modern artwork realized in Italy in the first half of the 19th Century. Original Lithograph on Ivory Paper...

Medium: original etching. This impression on laid paper was printed in London in 1868 for the rare first volume of Philip Gilbert Hamerton's "Etching and Etchers". Image size: 3 3/8 ...

Circassian is a lithograph made by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Hand colored. Good condition. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Circassien". The work is part of Suit...

Two kabuki actors posing a samurai's. The print is printed on rice paper and is not framed. It is stamped by the artist with details about the actors in ...

Uses and Customs - Colonnade of the File Islands is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " H...

Etching on laid paper Sheet size: approx. 65 × 50 cm Signed in plate lower left: F. Bracquemond Published by Cadart & Luquet, Éditeurs, 79 Rue Richelieu, Paris With the blinds...

Church of the Sorbonne in Paris is a lithograph made by Auguste Wahlen in 1844. Good condition. Drawing in black and white. At the center of the artwork is the original title "Chi...